Yucatan Peninsula, the main producer of turkey in Mexico

Turkey production in Mexico recorded an important growth estimated at 11 percent during 2018, compared to 2017. By the end of 2018 it is estimated production of 10 thousand 741 tons, informed César Quesada Macías, president of the National Union of Poultry Farmers (A); who added that during the present Christmas season they will be offering around one million 340 thousand Mexican turkeys.

Quesada Macias said that turkey consumption in Mexico is slowly increasing, a situation that is reflected in the market, since it is generating a stimulus to the production of food in the country, as is the case of Yucatan, an entity that today occupies the first place in food production with 18 percent.

According to data from the National Union of Poultry Farmers and the Agrifood and Fisheries Information Service, while Chihuahua had a noticeable decrease in its production by keeping 9% in the national indicator, other entities begin to stand out at the national level as this is the case of the State of Mexico and Puebla with 15% each; Veracruz with 8%; Hidalgo and Tabasco contribute 7% of the national production, each one; Chiapas and Guerrero 5%, each; and Oaxaca and Campeche 3%, also each one.

Per capita consumption of turkey in our country currently stands at 1.43 kilograms, however, there are entities such as Yucatán where this indicator is 5 kg.

On the other hand, the president of the UNA, informed that imports of turkey to Mexico are stopping the growth of the national production, mainly because there is not an integral program of the volume of turkey that will be imported every year, "this causes that the national producers, act with great caution in the design of their production programs, which require at least two years of planning, which is very complicated, "he said.

According to estimates of national production and imports of the bird, by Christmas 2018 there will be little more than 3.1 million turkeys in the national market. The bird poultry entrepreneur said that, according to official reports, 90% of the total volume of turkey meat imports comes from the United States, while the rest come from Brazil (7.4%), Chile (2.4%), and Argentina ( 0.1%), he said.

César Quesada explained that the turkey industry in Mexico, generates 3 thousand 430 direct jobs and 17 thousand 150 indirect, ended. On the other hand, the turkey industry in Mexico consumes more than 34 thousand tons of balanced feed, of which 63% corresponds to forage grains.