Relationship between Maize Seed Productivity in Mexico between 1983 and 2018 with the Adoption of Genetically Modified Maize and the Resilience of Local Races

Alberto Santillán-Fernández, Yolanda Salinas-Moreno, José René Valdez-Lazalde, Mauricio Antonio Carmona-Arellano, Javier Enrique Vera-López and Santiago Pereira-Lorenzo
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Alberto Santillán-Fernández: Catedrático-Conacyt, Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Campeche, Champotón, Campeche 24450, Mexico
Yolanda Salinas-Moreno: Department of Genetic, Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, Campus Altos de Jalisco, Tepatitlán de Morelos, Jalisco 47600, Mexico
José René Valdez-Lazalde: Department of Forestry, Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Montecillo, Texcoco, Estado de México 56230, Mexico
Mauricio Antonio Carmona-Arellano: Department of Agricultural Sciences, Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Campeche, Champotón, Campeche 24450, Mexico
Javier Enrique Vera-López: Department of Agricultural Sciences, Colegio de Postgraduados Campus Campeche, Champotón, Campeche 24450, Mexico
Santiago Pereira-Lorenzo: Department of Plant Production and Engineering Projects, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. Galicia, 27002 Lugo, Spain

Agriculture, 2021, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-15

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.

Keywords: Zea mays L.; transgenic maize; rainfed agriculture; irrigation agriculture; Procampo; MasAgro (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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