Does Migration Push Exit from Agriculture in Mexico?

Abstract

The decrease in the number of agricultural workers is a serious issue in Mexico. We hypothesized that migration might push the head of the household to exit from agriculture. The effect differs between farming and non-farming households because the former could increase farm income by devoting part of their remittance income to agricultural production. This study examines the relationship between the migration of household heads and their engagement in agriculture after returning home and their use of agricultural inputs. We found no significant relationship between migration and engagement in farming for farming households but a negative and significant relationship for non-farming households. In addition, we found a positive and significant relationship between migration and input use in farming households. This suggests that migration is likely to cause the exit of household heads from agriculture, but the possibility of increased farm income by purchasing more inputs may mitigate this effect.