Título

Impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation : the case of Tuxpeño-Derived materials in Mexico

Autor

Mauricio Bellon

Nivel de Acceso

Acceso Abierto

Licencia

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Materias

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA - (CTI) Management Hybridization Germplasm Varieties Agricultural situation Maize Seed production Farmers Poverty

Resumen o descripción

This study documents the use of improved maize germplasm by poor small-scale farmers in lowland tropical Mexico and how it contributes to their well-being. To this end, the direct adoption of improved varieties and their “creolization” process were assessed. Farmers produce what they recognize as “creolized” varieties by exposing improved varieties to their conditions and management, continually selecting seed of these varieties for replanting and, in some cases, promoting their hybridization with landraces, either by design or by accident. Our key hypothesis is that improved germplasm benefits poor farmers through creolization, which

provides them with new options. In creolization, farmers take an improved technology generated by the formal research system and deliberately modify it to suit their needs. Different

methodologies such as participatory methods, ethnographic case studies, household surveys,

collection of maize samples, and agronomic evaluation of those samples were applied in this

study, which was conducted in two areas: the coast of Oaxaca and La Frailesca, in the states of

Oaxaca and Chiapas, two of the poorest in Mexico. The study areas are contrasting—one

subsistence-oriented and the other commercial—but extreme poverty is pervasive in both.

Maize continues to play a key role in the livelihoods of the poor in both areas. Results show

that different maize germplasm types, such as improved varieties and, particularly, creolized varieties, are planted in both areas. The impacts of different types of improved maize germplasm are defined and analyzed based on how well they supply farmers with traits they consider important, and the trade-offs they entail. Results also show that creolized varieties occupy a niche that shifts according to the availability of improved germplasm and the orientation of farmers’ maize production.

Editor

CIMMYT

Fecha de publicación

2005

Tipo de publicación

Libro

Recurso de información

https://hdl.handle.net/10883/1050

Formato

application/pdf

Idioma

Inglés

Audiencia

Investigadores

Repositorio Orígen

Repositorio Institucional de Publicaciones Multimedia del CIMMYT

Descargas

1925