Nowadays, however, Mexican agriculture is dominated by agroindustry and pursuing an agricultural model that has had serious social and environmental impacts in the country’s rural areas. Moreover, it has provoked the disappearance of milpa-based family farming – once the largest food producing sector of the country and a major source of labour. Industrialised agriculture is also a serious threat to native maize diversity and Mexican cuisine, which was declared an intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2012.
Rescuing our maize: Building a network
A network of communities in West-Central Mexico has rescued its traditional landraces of maize. This experience shows that the benefits of defending an ancestral good is not only limited to regaining cultural identity and agrobiodiversity. The defence of native maize has become a space where old and new knowledge redefined agriculture and where people achieved food sovereignty, technical autonomy, and a new sense of community.
Throughout history, the ‘milpa’ has been the basis of Mesoamerican agriculture. The milpa is an agroecological practice where maize (Zea mays), edible gourds (Cucurbita spp), and beans (Phaseolus spp) are intercropped in association with woody, medicinal, and fodder plants, as well as fruit trees. Maize is more than a crop in Mexico, its centre of origin and diversification. It is the backbone of the rural diet and culture; it lies at the heart of rural life. It is central to Mexican identity and a vital resource for all Mexicans.
Title of publication: Farming Matters: Rescuing our maize: Building a network
卷号: 32
期号: 1
页数: 26-28
作者: Jaime Morales Hernández
组 织: ILEIA - centre for learning on sustainable agriculture
其他组织: RASA
年份: 2016
国家: Mexico
地理范围: 拉美和加勒比海国家共同体
类别: 杂志文章
内容语言: English