Abstract
Mexico depends on maize imports to satisfy its national demand. The use of native maize varieties among subsistence farmers can help to reduce the cereal’s imports. However, the agricultural policy in Mexico to improve the productivity per hectare has centered on the use of improved varieties; among them, the transgenic variety. In this study, the maize productivity in Mexico from 1983 to 2018 was analyzed to determine the influence of agricultural policies in the sector, and the factors that condition the adoption of transgenic maize. It was found that the agricultural policy improved the productivity of those regions with irrigation; however, for rainfed regions, the expected technological changes were not achieved because the ancestral tradition in cultivation, associated with the greater variety of native maize and to a larger indigenous population, was stronger. The adoption of transgenic maize also had low significance in the rainfed regions, since the increase in field yields is not economically profitable with regards to the increase in production costs. Therefore, the agricultural policy to increase productivity ought to be directed at the protection of subsistence farmers, revaluing the use of native varieties that have shown higher resilience to technological and environmental changes.
Highlights
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the cereal of highest production worldwide, above wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.); it constitutes the basis of the human diet for countries of Latin America [1], where Mexico is considered its center of origin [2]
China in the analysis period was based on the broad surface planted that was destined to the maize crop, and to the good field yields, which for the case of China (5.71 t ha−1 )
The intensive model of maize production that has been developed in USA is the result of the interaction of mechanized systems with the adoption of transgenic varieties, which allows for obtaining the best field yields of the world (9.93 t ha−1 ) [7]
Summary
Maize (Zea mays L.) is the cereal of highest production worldwide, above wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.); it constitutes the basis of the human diet for countries of Latin America [1], where Mexico is considered its center of origin [2]. Mexico is not the main producer of maize in the world; 57.35% of the world production is concentrated in two countries, the United States of America (USA, 35.42%) and China (21.93%) [1]. National consumption is around 39 million tons, so the deficit is resolved with imports of grain from the United States of America [1]. This scenario seems difficult to revert in the short term because the per capita consumption went from 123 kg in 2000 to 196 kg in 2018 [5], with a population that annually increases in one million people with a total of 125 million in 2018 [6]
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