Experts at the Autonomous University of Chapingo, on the northeastern flank of Mexico City, unveiled advances in developing seeds for planting to offset corn imports as Mexico battles with the United States, its top trading partner, over its plan to limit use of genetically modified (GM) corn.
Three-meter-high corn stalks rose from the soil across an extensive field at Chapingo, early signs of a potential future alternative for food producers like Kellogg (K.N) and Mexican brand Maseca (GRUMAB.MX), researchers said.
The fields, planted in May, were generating new strands of hybrid seed varieties to be tested in 2024 with release for planting in 2025, they said.
"What we're going to do is make available to the producer the seed that they need ... and the technological package to achieve the desired yields," said Claudio Carballo, operational manager of Chapingo's corn seed production project.
The project aims in two years to develop enough non-GM seed varieties cultivable in Mexico to replace about 6 million of the 18 million metric tons of corn that the country imports from the U.S. annually, most of which is GM yellow corn.
Mexico's government wants to ban GM corn for human consumption, including its national staple, tortilla, on concerns about its health impact. It still permits, for now, GM corn as livestock feed and in industrial use in some processed foods and cosmetics.
After months of tension over the policy, the U.S. requested in August a dispute settlement panel under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade pact, arguing that Mexico's plan is not based in science.
PigUA.info by reuters.com