The Agriculture Department said Assistant Secretary Jeffrey Max Jones resigned after reportedly saying farmers "should follow the example of drug traffickers, because they produce what the market demands."

"Today, on the other hand, farmers produce (crops) and later check to see if there is any demand in the market," Jones said in remarks widely cited by local media Wednesday.

The department statement Thursday did not give a reason for the resignation. It said a replacement would soon be named.

Drug traffickers in Mexico frequently plant marijuana and opium poppies, while Mexico's traditional grain producers have struggled to stay afloat amid unpredictable rains, small or eroded plots and international competition.

Also Thursday, federal police and soldiers raided a house in the western state of Michoacan, after a man detained with a weapon in the street told them about a cache of weapons hidden there.

The Public Safety department said 25 pistols, four assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition were found there, as well as what appeared to be drums of chemicals used to make methamphetamines.

And in the northern state of Nuevo Leon, the army reported it had found 62 grenades in a car abandoned on a local highway.