State of Knowledge: Areas of Consensus Mexico as the center of origin of maize diversity: Present state of the biodiversity of local races and wild teosintes The maize plant is an annual Graminae, Zea mays ssp. mays L., and is the grain with the highest production levels in the world. In Mexico, it is the most important cultivar in terms of production area devoted to it (more than 7 million hectares in 2001, including one million hectares of hybrid corn) and second in terms of gross volume of production (18.6 million tons in 2001). Mexico is the center of origin and diversity of the races of maize, with more than 60 recognized up to now and with many more subraces and local varieties. Mexico is also the home of various wild relatives of maize, the teosintes, among which we find the putative ancestor of maize and the perennial teosinte. Various of these teosintes and races of maize are endangered because of recent changes in the use of land and overall environmental degradation. It is of outmost importance to conserve these species, independently of the possible impact of transgenic varieties. |
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