The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Mexican Dairy Federation (Femeleche ,by its Spanish acronym) signed three collaboration agreements to increase the sustainable productivity of small and medium-scale livestock production units, strengthen the prevention and management of diseases such as bovine tuberculosis and train farmers who sell to Liconsa in best practices.
At the ceremony to celebrate World Milk Day, the head of the federal agency, Víctor Villalobos Arámbula, said that the dairy sector is an example of public-private collaboration to meet the challenges faced by the industry.
An example of this, he said, is the signing of agreements between the General Coordination of Livestock of the Ministry of Agriculture, the National Service for Agri-Food Health, Safety and Quality (Senasica, by its Spanish acronym) and Mexican Food Safety (Segalmex-Liconsa, by its Spanish acronym) with Femeleche.
He pointed out that the first agreement establishes training, comprehensive technical assistance and technology transfer to small and medium-scale livestock production units located in priority attention zones and high and very high marginalization localities, to strengthen their productive activities with sustainable criteria.
The agreement signed with Senasica establishes the development of coordination schemes to strengthen preventive, diagnostic and management programs for diseases of importance for the breeding and reproduction of dairy cattle, such as bovine tuberculosis, he said.
The agreement signed with Segalmex-Liconsa includes training in good production practices for farmers who deliver milk to Liconsa's milk collection and cooling network, with a greater impact on quality and improved profitability.
He assured that as a stimulus to production with a fair price, the Mexican Government did its homework and, in this six-year term, implemented the guarantee prices, which serve as a support to our producers and have been updated, always upwards.
In the case of fresh milk, they went from 8.20 pesos per liter in 2019, to 10.60 pesos per liter, currently.
The Agriculture Minister explained that last year Mexico was the fifteenth largest producer of milk, contributing two percent of world production, with a volume of 13,110 million 517 thousand liters.
By 2023, production is estimated at 13,342 million 605 thousand liters, which would represent a growth of 1.8 percent, he stressed.
He stressed that milk is a priority product for the country's food self-sufficiency goals, since it is one of the most complete products, providing vitamins such as B12, magnesium, fats, proteins, minerals and a source of nutrients.
The president of Femeleche, Vicente Gómez Cobo, presented a special recognition to Secretary Villalobos Arámbula, as a sign of the federal government's collaboration with dairy producers to promote this growing sector.
The general director of Segalmex, Leonel Cota Montaño, informed that the guarantee price for fresh milk was increased twice in the last year, to the benefit of the country's dairy farmers and without any precedent of this support in the history of the country.
He pointed out that a year ago, five million liters a week were collected and, at present, the figure stands at 13.4 million liters a week. This is due, he said, to the fact that production is being boosted in regions where historically there was no collection, such as the center and south, in states like Tabasco, Campeche, Veracruz, Jalisco and Chihuahua.
He explained that through Liconsa, all beneficiary lists have been reviewed, more than one million beneficiaries have been replaced and coverage has been expanded to more than 600 thousand people, to register a total of 5.6 million beneficiaries.
He affirmed that in 2023 Liconsa will have the largest number of beneficiaries in its history, to reach the goal of 6.6 million families by the end of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador's administration.
He emphasized that Liconsa is in a stage of profound restructuring in terms of milk, which responds to the government's policy of strengthening the country's producers and consumers for the optimal development of the economy and family health.
Arturo Macosay Córdova, General Coordinator of Livestock, recognized the importance of milk as a foodstuff, as well as the work of Mexican dairy farmers who, thanks to their efforts and dedication, allow Mexican families to enjoy milk and dairy products that are highly valued for their contribution to human health.
He emphasized that the country's producers have shown their ability to adapt to adverse conditions and overcome challenges in terms of technology, genetics and, above all, management, in order to increase production efficiency.
Their dedication and adaptation resulted in Mexico's ranking last year as the fifteenth largest milk producer with 2.0 percent of world production, he stressed.
The president of Femeleche, Vicente Gómez Cobo, underscored the economic and social importance of the milk chain, whose foods provide nutrients and improve the health of the population.
He commented that the objective of World Milk Day is to highlight all the good that is done for consumers, since it strengthens muscle mass, helps in osteoporosis, in the development of children, in the encephalic mass, has amino acids, helps blood pressure, has antimicrobial properties and favors weight control.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recommends three servings per day, that is, 190 liters per year, and Mexico is a country with a deficit in consumption, with around 110 to 120 liters of milk per inhabitant per year, he said.
He reiterated that milk is one of the foods that best helps to balance the diet, and that is one of the great opportunities we have as a society and one of the reasons as a productive chain to promote its consumption in an adequate and balanced way.
At the end, Secretary Victor Villalobos and guests toured the exhibition standards of dairy products from Segalmex-Liconsa and small-scale producers from Queretaro and Hidalgo, who presented different types of cheeses, with varied processes and characteristics, as well as milk and other derivatives, of great taste and quality.
The event was also attended by the president of the National Chamber of the Milk Industry (Canilec), Ricardo Villavicencio Contreras; the secretaries of Agricultural Development of Hidalgo, Napoleón González Pérez, and of Querétaro, Rosendo Anaya Aguilar; the ambassador of Argentina in Mexico, Carlos Alfonso Tomada; the president of the Veterinary Pharmaceutical Industry, Gabriela Espinoza López, and the general director of Laboratorios Nacionales de la Farmacéutica Humana, Alexandra Luna Orta, as well as executives from the Ministry of Agriculture, among others..