Avocado production, exports soar to feed growing demand north of the border

URUAPAN, Mexico — When Arturo Mendoza’s plot of corn could no longer sustain his family, he joined the stream of illegal immigrants heading toward the U.S. from rural Mexico. During lunch breaks at a California furniture factory, Mendoza would catch himself thinking of home as he wolfed down his typical meal: tortas with chicken and chunks of avocado.

Little did he know that the creamy, green fruit would be his salvation.

Exports of avocados from the state of Michoacan, the top source of the fruit, have risen fivefold since 2004. Mendoza and many other Mexican farmers have found that exporting the crop is lucrative enough under the North American Free Trade Agreement that they don’t need to migrate north to earn a living.

Known here as “green gold,” the avocado has taken on political importance as President Felipe Calderon faces renewed criticism of NAFTA’s role in undermining the livelihoods of farmers.

The once-exotic fruit, meanwhile, has become a mainstream diet item on the U.S. side of the border. That will be clear Sunday when American sports fans will consume an estimated 25,000 tons of avocado as they watch the Super Bowl with bowls of guacamole at the ready — the biggest day for avocado consumption all year.

And in a final twist of globalization, industry officials say it is transplanted Mexicans in the U.S. who are fueling that booming avocado consumption and keeping export prices high back in their homeland.

“What we grow here is corn, but corn doesn’t pay the bills. The government says it supports us, but what they give is laughable,” said Mendoza, now back home in Mexico and general manager of a sprawling, 500-acre avocado plantation. “With the avocado, it is different. Those who work at that have something left for their families.”

This rugged section of western Michoacan is Avocado Country, bustling with roadside stands selling bushels of the fruit. On a side street in Uruapan, someone has painted a mural of pre-Columbian figures brandishing avocado halves like shields.

After a bruising fight as part of the NAFTA debate, the U.S. has gradually let avocados enter its market. U.S. officials said the Mexican avocado presented health risks, forcing Mexico to implement a system of preventing disease caused by fruit flies and other pests. The final barriers fell last year when Mexican avocados could enter California, the top U.S. producer and consumer.

Although three-quarters of Mexico’s avocados remain for domestic consumption, farmers have gravitated to the high prices offered in the U.S. wholesale market, now about $1 per pound, about 50 percent higher than what they can get in Mexico.

Michoacan exported about 200,000 tons of avocados last year, bringing in about $500 million. More than 5,200 orchards in Michoacan are certified to export the fruit, up from only 61 just a decade ago.

The 2007 market was especially lucrative for Mexico because cold snaps in California and Chile damaged the crops of its main rivals.

The avocado boom comes at a time of discontent after NAFTA forced Mexico to remove its final barriers on corn and other key crops as of Jan. 1. Opposition lawmakers are urging Calderon to renegotiate the treaty, but he and U.S. officials have dismissed that idea.

After running a surplus just after NAFTA’s implementation in 1994, Mexico has consistently faced agriculture trade deficits with the U.S. that top $1 billion annually.

In his New Year’s address, Calderon cited avocado exports as one bit of proof that NAFTA, “in general, has been beneficial for Mexicans.” He also pointed to boosts for a resurgent auto industry while other proponents say Mexicans now enjoy lower prices on many consumer goods.