MACROECONOMIC AND MICROECONOMIC ANALYSIS OF COMPETITIVENESS OF RICE IN MEXICO

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) occupies the fourth place for dietary grain production in Mexico, after maize, bean and wheat. National production has covered part of the internal demand, and the country has resorted to imports and become a net importing country, since 85 % of white rice consumption between 2010 and 2012 came from the exterior. The objective of this study was to evaluate the competitiveness of rice production in Mexico with regard to the US as principal commercial partner, with the aim of suggesting actions that contribute to improving it. A competitiveness analysis was performed at the macroeconomic level using the Additive Revealed Comparative Advantage, Commercial Openness, and Food Self-Sufficiency indexes; in addition, a comparison was done of the subsidies that rice producers receive in Mexico and the US, with information from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), identifying how the US as rice exporter and Mexico as importer contribute to the cereal's competitiveness. At the microeconomic level, the production costs of the 2012 agricultural cycle in the US were compared to the Mexican states of Michoacan, Morelos and Campeche. Rice production was found to be non-competitive in Campeche, but competitive in Michoacan and Morelos.