October 26, 2012

 

 

For many years, Mexico has been self-sufficient with corn which plays a central role in its cuisine and culture, but new studies show that it could produce enough corn to meet its needs within 10-15 years.

 

Investing in irrigation and infrastructure projects in the southeast and providing financing for small- and medium-scale farmers would allow this Latin American country to regain its self-sufficiency in corn production, according to the study 'Achieving Mexico's Corn Potential', released this month.

 

"The predominance of the extractive use of resources has resulted in erosion and inefficient irrigation. The country could take better advantage of its land and freshwater reserves, available technology, peasant agriculture and genetic diversity," said Antonio Turrent, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture and Livestock Research and one of the study's authors, along with Timothy Wise and Elise Garvey, director of policy research and researcher, respectively, at the Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE) at Tufts University, in the US.

 

Within 10-15 years, Mexico could increase its annual corn production to 33 million tonnes, meeting the current deficit of 10 million tonnes, and could even add another 24 million tonnes to meet its growing demand, expected to reach 39 million tonnes a year by 2025, states the study, published in English by the GDAE and in Spanish by the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars, based in Washington.

 

Mexico currently needs to import between eight and 10 tonnes of corn a year, mostly from the US. The country has some three million corn producers who raise the crop on an area of eight million hectares. But more than two million grow corn for their own family consumption. Domestic production focuses primarily on white corn, while yellow corn, used for animal feed, is imported.

 

Corn (Zea mays) is a symbolic crop in Mesoamerica, the region covering southern Mexico and Central America, because of its vital importance in pre-Hispanic culture.

Mexico is the birthplace of corn, and has 59 landraces (native strains) and 209 varieties of the grain. Only 10 landraces have been used in genetic improvement.

 

If the efficiency of irrigation were improved by 60-70%, it would be possible to extend cultivation to another 4.1-4.9 million hectares, using runoff water, which is abundant in south and southeast Mexico.

 

The researchers rule out the need for biotechnology, the government's strategy for raising productivity and resistance to the effects of climate change.

 

Transgenic corn is a 'false and dangerous promise' that has not led to higher yields than native or traditionally improved seeds, represents a threat to native varieties and biodiversity, and has not proven to be more resistant to drought than other varieties, they maintain.

 

Since 2009, the Mexican government has authorised 177 permits for experimental and pilot planting of genetically modified corn on an area of 2,664 hectares. In September, the US-based transnationals Monsanto, Pioneer and Dow Agrosciences submitted six requests for authorisation of commercial planting of transgenic corn on some 1.7 hectares of land in Sinaloa (northwest Mexico) and Tamaulipas (northeast).

 

Mexico has some eight million hectares of arable farm land that are not being used and which "offer an opportunity to start from zero to confront the food crisis and high food prices," researcher Antonio Yunes from the College of Mexico, a public institution, told TierramÚrica.

 

"This potential could be harnessed without the need for subsidies, by using sustainable practices," he said.

 

In 2011, US$549 million in subsidies were granted to producers, including US$15 million to the organic agriculture sector. The report concludes that the most effective strategy is 'the provision of basic farmer-led extension services on rain-fed lands using existing technologies.'