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Nov 07, 2009 (The News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Agriculture and Food Production Secretariat (Sagarpa) is distancing itself from comments made by undersecretary Jeffrey Max Jones, in which he criticized Mexican farmers, saying they should follow the tactics of drug traffickers for more business success.

Sagarpa issued a statement indicating that Jones's statements do not reflect the views of the secretariat. The statement called the undersecretary's remarks "unfortunate."

Jones, Segarpa's undersecretary of agribusiness promotion, suggested Wednesday that Mexican farmers could learn a thing or two from drug traffickers. He said farmers "should follow the example of drug traffickers because they produce what the market demands."

"On the other hand, farmers produce, and later check to see if there is any demand in the market," he said.

Jones made the remarks in a press conference after inaugurating the forum "Agricultural politics in a global economic crisis."

When asked if he realized what he was saying, Jones said, "Of course. [Drug traffickers] identify their market and create their logistics. Unfortunately, they are involved in illegal cultivation."

He continued, "This is the logic we have to learn to use in the fields: define the market and then orient production, with logistics to be able to supply those markets."

Jones also pointed out that drug traffickers have managed to serve and dominate markets without receiving any government subsidies. "When somebody learns the logic of the market, everything else falls into place through inertia, and that's what we have to learn in rural Mexico."

In Sagarpa's statement responding to the stir the undersecretary's remarks created, the office said Jones's comments do not contribute to themes that the secretariat and farmers in Mexico are dealing with. In the statement, the secretariat emphasized its commitment to work with producers, farmers and rural families to create more profitable fields, with the participation of all the members of the agricultural chain.

Sagarpa added that it shares and completely supports the goal of fighting organized crime and creating more security for Mexican families.

More than 13,800 people have died in drug violence since late 2006, when President Felipe Calderon ordered a nationwide crackdown on traffickers.

The forum "Agricultural politics in a global economic crisis" was attended by members of the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, as well as experts from the United States and New Zealand.

Mexican legislators, state secretaries of agricultural development, and representatives of food production businesses also attended the event

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