Mexico City, May 29 - Mexico's sugar harvest is set to decline in the 2008/09 cycle by 7 percent to 5.1 million tonnes due to aging plants and heavy rains, the agriculture ministry said on Friday.
"There are plants that are very old ... which obviously means that the cane won't be the same anymore," said Deputy Agriculture Minister Francisco Lopez.
"Also there have been precipitation problems in some areas," he told a news conference.
Mexico's corn harvest is set to rise 4 percent this year to 26 million tonnes because of better crop management, the ministry said.
"This means importing less corn because we are producing in a more competitive way," Agriculture Minister Alberto Cardenas said.