MEXICO CITY, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Mexico's Agriculture Minister Alberto Cardenas said on Thursday it was too early to say if coffee and sugar crops had been damaged or output hurt after the passage of deadly Hurricane Dean.

Dean slammed into Mexico's gulf coast on Wednesday, its heavy rains and lashing winds causing flooding and damage over a half dozen states, including Veracruz, top producer of sugar and the No. 2 coffee region after Chiapas.

The storm hit Veracruz state as a major Category 2 hurricane, knocking over trees and power poles, then moved inland over several states, including Hidalgo and Tlaxcala, still unleashing screaming winds and torrential rain.

Asked about Dean's impact on coffee and sugar crops in Veracruz state, Cardenas said: "For me, at this stage, it would be too bold to set a figure for Veracruz, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and other states.

"This is at times like when a doctor first sees a patient, first before writing out a prescription he has to know exactly what he has," Cardenas told a news conference.

His take on crop damage or losses was more cautious than a spokesman for the Agriculture Ministry who said on Wednesday that Mexico did not expect Dean to cause substantial damage or hurt coffee or sugar crops in Veracruz state.

The spokesman, who asked to remain anonymous, said sugar cane might have been partially flattened but should return to an upright position and coffee should escape damage because coffee cherries were green on trees and firmly attached.

Mexico produced around 4.2 million 60-kg bags of green coffee in the 2006/07 harvest, up from 4 million bags in the previous cycle, the agriculture ministry said in June.

Mexico's sugar output was 5.3 million tonnes of sugar in the 2006/07 harvest ending this month, up 1.9 percent above the 2005/06 crop, Cardenas told the same news conference on Thursday.

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