Innovation and sustainability in broccoli cultivation in Aguascalientes

In Aguascalientes, approximately 1,046 hectares of broccoli are planted annually (SIAP 2024). This is the crop most commonly used by the local frozen vegetable agroindustry for processing and subsequent marketing in Mexico and abroad.

Given the region's climatic conditions, the availability of natural resources and labor, and an increasingly evident decline in the agricultural frontier, broccoli has had to adapt to current production alternatives.

Climate change has brought with it extreme temperature variations such as frost, heat waves, and changes in precipitation patterns (heavy downpours or droughts), which have generated changes that affect crop yield and quality.

For broccoli, excess heat is significant because it encourages the development of the diamondback moth, a pest that is very difficult to control and can cause significant crop losses and increased production costs due to the high use of agrochemicals.

Furthermore, water scarcity in Aguascalientes is alarming. There is overexploitation of aquifers in the region, and the state's largest dams have very low levels of rainwater capture. For example, the Plutarco Elías Calles Dam recorded a storage level of 18.9% in September 2024, resulting in limited access to water for irrigation.

The agribusiness industry faces an increasingly demanding market, requiring a supply of higher-quality, safe, and sufficient raw materials. It encourages vegetable producers to establish medium- and long-term business relationships that benefit all stakeholders in the supply chain.

On the one hand, the agro-industry obtains fresh broccoli with good flavor, a homogeneous green color, uniform florets, and, above all, with little or no worms.

On the other hand, farmers receive financing, technical assistance, and training to implement technological production packages and the rational use of natural resources.

Therefore, farmers and businesses have promoted alternative practices, such as establishing production bans during the spring-summer cycle with staggered planting times; appropriate integrated pest management, including biological control to combat the diamondback moth; and the use of biofertilizers as soil improvers and root promoters that nourish farmland.

It has also been necessary to switch from traditional irrigation systems to drip irrigation to achieve water efficiency of between 90 and 95%. Finally, the use of technological platforms for satellite crop monitoring has recently begun to spread.

For the Aguascalientes agroclimatic zone, with production technology proposed by the agroindustry with technical support, training, and consulting, production costs per ton are around 6,320 pesos, with yields of 18 tons per hectare and revenues of 9,000 pesos per ton.

It's worth noting that the agribusiness industry improves its price for producers when they deliver broccoli of differentiated quality to their buyers.

Through FIRA's Supplier Development Program, currently being implemented in conjunction with the agroindustry and broccoli producers in Aguascalientes, the program seeks to reduce technological and supply gaps by adopting production alternatives that improve crop quality, reduce production costs, and increase yields, thereby ensuring better sales prices and improving the quality of life for farmers and their families.

Likewise, the Supplier Development Program promotes FIRA's priority objectives outlined in the 2020–2024 Institutional Program, which are:

1. Promote financial inclusion and reduce barriers to access to financial services for producers…, promoting access to credit and guarantee services for producers that allows them to grow and develop their activity;

2. Promote increased productivity and efficiency at all stages of the agricultural value chain through the dissemination and adoption of new technologies that enable improved yields and lower production costs; and 3. Contribute to the development of a responsible and sustainable agricultural, forestry, and fishing sector by adopting sustainable practices that help mitigate climate change and improve the use of natural resources.

*Flor Idalia Reyes Ornelas is a promoter for the agency in León, Guanajuato. “The opinions expressed here are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the official views of FIRA.”