OUTLOOK, Sask. – Mexico is to bean markets what India is to peas and lentils.
As one of the world’s top importers of the legume, the Latin country carries considerable clout in the bean trade, which explains why Canadian breeders have placed a top priority on developing varieties that appeal to it.
Particular emphasis has been placed on creating a yellow bean suitable for prairie growing conditions, said Kirstin Bett, assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre.
She told growers attending the Irrigation Crop Diversification Corp. dry bean field day in Outlook, Sask., to expect mounting demand for Canadian product from Mexico.
Read Also
Federal government supports soil health strategy
Sophie Beecher, director general at Agriculture Canada, said at a soil conference in Winnipeg that the feds support the idea of a national soil health strategy.
The 2,016 tonne quota stipulated in the North American Free Trade Agreement now handcuffs Canadian exporters. Beans shipped outside that quota face a stiff 46.9 percent duty.
But that duty will drop dramatically each year until it is eliminated by Jan. 1, 2008, opening the door to a market that consumes 1.1 million tonnes of beans annually.
Gildardo Silva applauds the work being done at the Crop Development Centre.
“The future for Canada is incredible,” said Silva, a bean trader for Walker Seeds Ltd., one of Canada’s top exporters of special crops.
An anticipated shift in North American bean production combined with unrestricted access to Mexico should create a booming bean business in Canada, he said.
When the NAFTA trade barriers disappear in 2008, Mexico will gradually surrender production of legumes to the United States and Canada, where growers produce crops that yield three to four times more than their Mexican counterparts.
Some traders speculate Canada will be shipping $30 million worth of product to Mexico in the near future. Silva said prairie growers are perfectly positioned to capture price premiums in Mexico, especially for a product like the coveted yellow bean.
The Mexican harvest happens in March, which means they run out of good quality beans by fall when Canada’s crop comes off.
“(Growers) will hit the market at just the right time to catch the premiums for a brand new yellow bean.”
Mexicans are picky about their beans, preferring them with a nice shiny coat, but by October much of their domestic stock has been picked over or has deteriorated.
Silva said a good quality yellow bean could deliver 25 cents per pound to Canadian growers at that time of year. He hopes breeders can “pull it off” and create a yellow bean suitable to prairie growing conditions.
Bett said the centre’s yellow bean varieties are at least five years away from commercialization. They haven’t even entered yield trials yet.
“We’ll sell them pintos and blacks in the meantime,” she said.
CDC breeders are also attempting to adapt the popular flor de mayo bean to prairie growing conditions. And they are developing a slow-darkening pinto bean that is better able to retain its white colour under the harsh storage conditions associated with the Mexican climate.
Samples of the new pinto were recently shown to Mexican buyers, who were excited by the bean’s colour but put off by its “funny shape.” Bett said they will tinker with that trait to make the bean more alluring.
Silva estimates a slow-darkening pinto might fetch a one-to-two cent premium in the Mexican market.
The new pintos, flor de mayo and yellow beans should also generate considerable interest from Mexicans living in the United States.
