The president Claudia Sheinbaum announced her reform initiative to prohibit the planting and cultivation of transgenic cornwhich will be discussed and voted on in both chambers of Congress next February.
The proposal modifies articles 4 and 27 of the Mexican Political Constitution regarding the conservation and protection of native corn and establishes that “Corn is an element of national identity whose cultivation must be free of transgenics in the national territory, prioritizing its agroecological management.“.
“The State will promote the conditions for comprehensive rural development, with the purpose of generating employment and guaranteeing the peasant population’s well-being and their participation and incorporation in national development.will promote agricultural and forestry activity for the optimal use of land free of crops and seeds for planting transgenic corn.”
Why are they seeking to ban transgenic corn in Mexico?
In the explanatory statement, the initiative highlights that the Political Constitution establishes “the right of all people to a healthy environment, enshrining the obligation of the State to guarantee the preservation and restoration of ecological balance, as well as the right to nutritious, sufficient and quality food“.
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It also underlines that the Magna Carta reflects the commitment and obligation of the Mexican State with the protection of biodiversity in Mexican territory under strict observation of respect for human rights and environmental sustainability.
The draft decree warns that The reform is essential to protect diversity and indicates that in some European countries, such as Germany and Italy, the cultivation of transgenic corn is prohibited..
“Mexico’s native corn (…) represents strategic public goods of Mexico, which have intrinsic value as a result of the cultivation and management of the farmers of these lands.who have generated, guarded, conserved and adapted these resources to diverse agroecological conditions for at least eight millennia,” the project emphasizes.
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“Corn is also the basic food and fundamental ingredient of Mexican cuisine. The average daily consumption of corn per person is 328 grams, which provides 39% of the proteins, 45% of the calories and 49% of the daily required calcium.. In 2010, traditional Mexican cuisine was inscribed on the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity, of which more than 600 different dishes are identified.
With information from SUN
MBV