Agricultural policy and development in Mexico: An evaluation of a twenty years experience in the State of Puebla

During the past two decades, the Mexican agricultural policy has endured significant changes. These changes have impacted the lives of campesino families in a remarkable manner and the services provided by the State institutions supporting the agricultural sector. This study analyses these impacts in the context of a rural development program in Mexico that has experienced both the previous and the most recent policy frameworks developed by the Mexican State during this period.; The primary purpose of this research is to evaluate 20 years of agricultural development policy, resulting from recent changes in the country's economic policy, within the context of the Plan Llanos de Serdán program in central Mexico. This program was developed in 1975 in the framework of an agricultural-economic model suggesting that increases in yield of corn would result into betterment of overall household conditions.; It is argued in this study that this program has successfully achieved the goals related to adoption of technology and increments in yields; however its impact in household welfare has not been significant due to the inappropriateness of the agricultural policy formulated by the Mexican State in behalf of campesinos.