Traditional Mexican Agricultural Systems and the Potential Impacts of Transgenic Varieties on Maize Diversity

Mauricio Bellon and Julien Berthaud

Agriculture and Human Values, 2006, vol. 23, issue 1, 3-14

Abstract: The discovery of transgenes in maize landraces in Mexico, a center of diversity for this crop, raises questions about the potential impact of transgene diffusion on maize diversity. The concept of diversity and farmers’ role in maintaining diversity is quite complex. Farmers’ behavior is expected to have a significant influence on causing transgenes to diffuse, to be expressed differently, and to accumulate within landraces. Farmers’ or consumers’ perceptions that transgenes are “contaminants” and that landraces containing transgenes are “contaminated” could cause these landraces to be rejected and trigger a direct loss of diversity. Copyright Springer 2006

Keywords: Biosafety; Center of diversity; Genetic erosion; Latin America; Maize; Mexico; Small-scale farmers; Transgenic varieties (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10460-004-5861-z

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