Mexican President Announces Agrarian Reforms: 2014 Will Be 'Year Of The Field'

At the a ceremony commemorating the 99th anniversary of the Ley Agraria (Agrarian Law), Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto has announced comprehensive agrarian reforms saying 2014 will be the year that the field becomes the "greatest strength" of the country. Speaking in Veracruz in front of 7,000 farmers and members of various agrarian organizations from around the country, the President pledged that 2014 would be a year when Mexicans would see significant reforms from 2013 implemented.

The Mexican Government has a budget of 338 billion pesos (25 billion US) set aside for Mexico's farming industry, the President revealed. On top of that, the President pledged an aditional 82 billion to the Secretary of Agriculture, Husbandry, Rural Development, Fishing and Feeding (Sagarpa). Despite having incredibly rich and fertile soil capable of producing almost any agricultural product, Peña Nieto explained that Mexico does not have the same opportunities to profit from its natural resources as have the US and Europe.

"There are farmers with land," he said, "but with few opportunities: without cultivation because of lacking water. Communities where women carry the weight of migration, but are not allowed to make decisions about the land. The reform that we anticipate in the field is geared towards agrarian sovereignty. We have to achieve a farm that is productive, profitable and sustainable."