Mexico, the birthplace of corn, becomes the first country on the American continent to ban genetically modified corn as well as glyphosate, a herbicide that is often associated with it.
By a decree which entered into force on 1is January, the government of left-wing President Andrès Obrador decided to “Revoke and refrain from granting permits for the environmental release of GMO corn seeds”, in other words to prohibit on its soil the cultivation of these plants whose genetic heritage has been manipulated to endow it with characteristics that it does not naturally possess.
Protect native corn
“There are two main types of transgenic maize, recalls the agronomist Marc Dufumier. The one in which we introduced a gene that secretes a protein that kills the borer, an insect pest of the plant. And the one whose introduced gene makes it resistant to broad-spectrum herbicides, in particular glyphosate, developed under the Roundup brand by the American firm Monsanto, which has since been acquired by the German Bayer ”, he specifies.
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The decree also underlines that the use of glyphosate will also be definitively prohibited on January 31, 2024, the time for the food industry to find sustainable alternatives to this controversial herbicide. Finally, the text provides for a gradual reduction in imports of GMO corn until no more permits are issued within three years.
According to the Mexican government, these measures aim to “Protect native corn and contribute to food sovereignty” from the country where this cereal is a staple food ingredient, consumed in particular in tortillas, corn flour cakes.
An argument severely criticized by the powerful agro-industrial complex of the country. Proccyt, its representative organization, even speaks of a “An affront, manifest and opportunistic, which affects the entire Mexican countryside and endangers the stability of prices and the availability of strategic food. “
Epilogue of 21 years of struggle
“Not only will this put Mexican farmers at a disadvantage over our competitors, especially corn growers in the United States. But also destabilize the agrifood chain for which the import of genetically modified cereals is essential ”said Laura Tamayo, spokesperson for the National Agricultural Council of Mexico and regional director of Bayer, whose Monsanto unit makes Roundup weedkiller and the GMO corn that goes with it.
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Conversely, opponents of GMOs are claiming victory. The environmental NGO Greenpeace Mexico and the Collective Without corn, no country which brings together various farmers’ organizations, consumer associations and personalities, welcomed the adoption of a decree that “21 years of common struggle”.
Since the end of the 1990s, part of Mexican civil society has been mobilized against the claims of multinationals and agribusinesses to impose GMO corn. A fight waged in the name of the protection of the sixty species of corn Creole (traditional) of which Mexico is the historical cradle and which are judged “Essential for self-sufficiency and food sovereignty” from the country.
A pioneer on the continent
“By disseminating its pollen in nature, GMO corn can contaminate local varieties, compromising precious biodiversity”, confirms Marc Dufumier. To this are added the “Serious damage to human health and the environment” that, according to Greenpeace Mexico, would cause GMOs and glyphosate.
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Although the danger of these products remains a scientifically controversial subject, their detractors won a first victory in 2013, when the Mexican federal justice system opposed plans to cultivate transgenic corn on thousands of hectares in six northern states. . But in 2015, this decision was challenged and, above all, Mexico – the world’s fourth largest producer with more than 20 million tonnes per year – has since continued to import transgenic maize on a massive scale, particularly from the United States.
By committing to abandon both GMO corn and glyphosate, the Obrador government is a pioneer on the continent. But we will have to wait a few years to see if the bet is held and paid.
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