Cultivating genetically modified corn is banned in Mexico, but the country still imports it from the United States
Date: Feb. 9, 2022
Source: AlJazeera
No food can rival corn in either material or symbolic importance to Mexico, where the ancient grain was first cultivated some 9,000 years ago. As the saying goes: “sin maíz, no hay país” – no corn, no country.
For Rojas, a spokesperson for the organisation Red Tsiri (Tsiri is the Indigenous Purépecha word for corn), if genetically modified (GM) corn is planted in Mexico, the grain’s great biodiversity and deep cultural knowledge would be threatened.
Mexico currently bans the cultivation of GM corn – a status quo the Supreme Court reinforced in October when it affirmed the right of Mexican authorities to refuse applications to plant GM corn.
But the government appeared to signal that could just be the start of a wider crackdown.