The Government of Mexico presented this Thursday the program 'Maíz es la Raíz' (Maize is the Root), a national strategy that seeks to conserve, produce, and commercialize native Mexican corn, as well as strengthen community agri-food systems and recognize the historical role of peasants as guardians of biodiversity. 'The objective is to promote the conservation, production, transformation, and commercialization of native Mexican corn, strengthening community agri-food systems,' stated María Luisa Albores, General Director of Food for Well-being, at the daily presidential conference. The plan will begin next year in seven states in the southeast of the country - Oaxaca, Chiapas, Guerrero, Yucatán, Campeche, Quintana Roo, and Tabasco - and will gradually expand until 2030, when it will cover the country's eight agricultural regions and benefit nearly 1.5 million small producers. Among the program's axes, Albores pointed out agroecological production and the collective use of light machinery to strengthen the technological autonomy of communities. Furthermore, this strategy will promote technical accompaniment, knowledge sharing, and organization in 'milpa' communities, made up of groups of one hundred peasants supported by members of the 'Jóvenes Construyendo el Futuro' (Youth Building the Future) program. Albores insisted that the limitation to increasing production 'has never been genetic, it has not had to do with the seed issue. Not one for each producer, no.' 'It is agronomical, and with basic agronomy, production can be tripled,' he stated. For her part, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum highlighted that the plan seeks to rescue the essence of the Mexican countryside and guarantee food sovereignty. 'What we want, because this is the root of Mexico, is that peasant women and men do not stop sowing their own corn and continue to feed themselves from the milpa (traditional cultivation system),' she affirmed. The head of state explained that the program will offer technical accompaniment and machinery adapted to each region, fostering a collective work scheme. 'Those special equipment will be purchased. It is a machinery team for ten producers (...). In such a way that it is something collective, as is the history of our country, collective organization.' In addition, the head of state announced that the transformation and direct sale of native corn will be supported through the creation of tortilla shops, tostadas, and totopos with a seal of origin, managed by women's peasant cooperatives. 'We want the milpa to feed them and, in addition, the surplus can be sold at a higher price... That they form cooperatives, that tortilla is sold at a fair price, and that all profits go directly to the producing families'. The 'Maíz es la Raíz' plan aims for native corn production to increase by 50% per hectare by 2030, guaranteeing peasant subsistence, added value in the surplus, and the preservation of the grain's genetic diversity.
