During 1940-65, Mexico's agricultural output grew 4.6 percent a year while population rose 3.3 percent. The rapid expansion of agricultural production was primarily due to increased use of purchased inputs (including fertilizer and better seed varieties), land, livestock capital, and hired labor, all of which were about equal in importance. Output per worker increased about 3 percent a year. Two Government programs-land reform and irrigation development-contributed to productivity increases. By 1965, public irrigation had affected over 2 million hectares of farmland. Inputs used on this land were those associated with modern agriculture, but such inputs were of little significance on most of the land outside irrigated regions. Under the land reform program, land was expropriated from large farms and distributed to 2.3 million previously landless Mexicans. By 1965, land reform had affected 29 percent of the arable land and 43 percent of the cropland.

Text in English