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The 5-Year Agricultural Business Development Plan for Sonora
How the Mexican state of Sonora plans its agricultural development - in 5 years!

Danilo S. Lopez

“Revitalize agriculture in Sonora” -- This is the straight-forward mission statement from Governor Eduardo Bours, the new energetic and business-oriented governor of the state of Sonora, Mexico. And thus starts the challenging project of Novelle Consulting, LLC in Mexico, 2005.

The Mexican state of Sonora lies adjacent to Arizona and shares a 592-kilometer border with the USA . It serves as a natural gateway for products of western Mexico bound for the USA and Canada entering through Nogales, AZ. Sonora possesses hundreds of microclimates produced by a natural geography that starts at the level of Golfo De California in the west and climbs to the Sierra Madre in the east. From the north Sonora starts at 1,173 meters above sea level then comes down to sea level in the south at the Sinaloa state border. The state stretches 1,052 kilometers. The varied temperatures, amount of rainfall, and types of soil influenced by the low humidity of the desert-like environment provide for a place with low pest pressure and where numerous products can be grown commercially for an extended period of time. A historically well-known state for producing political leaders for Mexico , Sonora has a base of agricultural and industrial entrepreneurs.

With the input of business leaders in the state, a set of strategies was developed:

  • Raise public and business awareness of the mission.
    • A well-attended marketing and production symposium was held in Ciudad Obregon , Sinaloa in April, 2005. It brought together 200 leading growers; major development and agricultural lending banks of Mexico ; 30 companies from the USA and Canada ; experts in food safety, production and post-harvest handling; import/export/logistics companies, and state and federal officials of Mexico. The event received extensive state and national media coverage lasting the entire week.
  • Create the Sonora Agricultural Advisory Board (SAAB) consisting of 15 leading growers across the state to:
    • Address complex development issues.
    • Build foundation for future leadership.
    • Gain support of the grower community.
    • Provide input to the governor and the secretary of agriculture.
    • Novelle Consulting was appointed as staff to SAAB to provide market, production and logistics research and expertise.
  • Complete a 5-Year Agricultural Business Development Plan working with SAAB, the grower community, the financial institutions, and the state and federal government.
  • Exploit opportunities within the development framework.
    • Nine projects have been immediately identified during the symposium and subsequent follow-up meetings.
    • One large citrus project is on fast track, and a second post-harvest handling project is scheduled for 2006.
  • Build on current Sonora strengths to attract immediate investments and businesses.
    • Sonora has been designated a fruit fly-free zone providing a significant advantage over other producing areas in Mexico and Central America .
    • The state also has a core group of recognized large professional growers/packers/exporters. They will lead the development process and serve as models for the other growers.
  • Pursue long-term projects within framework of broad development objectives.
    • An integrated strategy for Sonora is being developed with the leadership of the governor. It includes development of highway, rail, seaport, airfreight service and border crossing facilities.

Specific grower needs have been identified in Phase I of the 5-Year Agricultural Business Development Plan including investment; R&D and applied technologies; sales, marketing and promotion assistance; and implementation of good agricultural practices and food safety procedures in farming and post-harvest handling. Six product groups have been identified for new or additional development for Sonora - citrus products, greenhouse vegetables, organic products, melons, asparagus and artichoke, strawberry and other berries. Phase II of the plan will include identifying specific sets of strategies and tactics for each of the aforementioned product groups, implementation procedures, and measurement of results versus objectives and milestones.

We believe that this operationally-oriented approach which brings together the grower, academic, government, business and financial sectors may serve as a model for states or small countries in maximizing the benefits of their unique circumstances in agricultural development.