Sunday, March 23

Mexico plant banned GM corn

In the dry state of Chihuahua, south of the Texas border, 68-year-old Amado Trevizo became an accidental outlaw last year when his son planted 10 sacks of seeds of GM corn, banned in Mexico. Trevizo was left with the 10-hectare (25-acre) harvest when his son was killed in a car accident, making him the unwitting owner of a technically illegal crop.

That fact aside, Trevizo is delighted with his harvest."The other corn stalks were completely eaten by worms, but on those ones the worms only took a little bite and then fell off," said Trevizo. With genetically modified, or GM, corn he also saved money by using less water and pesticides. GMO foods, whose DNA is altered to be resistant to pests, are pushed by supporters as a way to boost world food supplies, but opponents question their safety. In Europe consumers dub them "Frankenstein" foods.

The debate over GMOs is now dividing the Mexican countryside, known as the birthplace of corn, which was first grown in the region thousands of years ago. Some farmers in the arid northern flatlands are planting banned GMO corn to boost productivity. But farmers in the south fear stray GMO pollen will ruin native corn varieties, and environmentalists also decry any entry of GMOs into Mexico. The seeds are smuggled across the border from the United States, the world's largest corn producer. More than 70 percent of U.S. corn is genetically modified.

At least they grow …corn because reading it I was expecting something else that according some researches is pretty high in planning and …using in Mexico!

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