Mexico's Corn Dilemma: Climate, Culture, and GMOs

Many people in our own country do not know that the corn used for masa in the chain of tortilla and other good Mexican foods mainly comes from white varieties. I’ve heard people debating about some tortillas being yellow because of the corn used, when it is white corn but has a yellow color since it is slightly oxidized by the amount of “cal” (calcium hydroxide) used in nixtamalization and kept as a natural conservative. This is important to mention since Mexico is the largest yellow corn importer in the world and most of that corn is genetically modified but is not normally used in the production of masa. In this article we will not dive into the issue of GMO food, but rather how that distinction, that choice from the consumer not to use it for human consumption, has a direct impact on the production of grain, and how climate change threatens our most important food chain.

In our world today corn is a staple grain produced almost everywhere. Since the time when European explorers met with the Americas, and many products were brought to the continent, corn was especially important, mainly as feedstock. It is a plant that grows fast, produces a lot of grain, and can be planted almost everywhere. Mexico holds with pride the distinction of being the place where corn was first domesticated. The same is true of tomatoes, avocados, vanilla, and many other foods that you will find on your table. Fast forward to this century and Mexico is not the largest producer of corn. Other countries found places and technology that allow them to produce in larger quantities. But it is mainly used as feed for livestock, to produce animal proteins such as eggs, poultry, beef, and pork, starch, edible oil and some ethanol, but that is another story.

Around 30 years ago scientists genetically modified corn to allow traits from bacteria into the DNA of yellow corn. The objective of this was to make the corn more resistant to plagues and enhance production. Using technology in this manner increased the output of a hectare, and productivity. Nevertheless, the public felt uneasy consuming this grain directly from their plate. People actively rejected foods coming from GMO grain.

In those days, white corn had a face-off at a major US chain of Taco restaurants. The story goes that some traces of GMO corn were found in taco shells. When traced backward along the food chain, the masa-flour manufacturer proved that the corn they used was a white variety and non-GMO. Having a robust traceability and supply-chain capacity allowed the manufacturer to trace the corn to the specific field where it was grown, because in order to have white corn grown in the United States, you need to contract it long before planting. Once they got there, they found out that the white corn was planted in a field adjacent to a yellow corn field, and that cross pollination was the culprit: white corn got tainted with that GMO strand. Since then, and because some consumers are still wary of eating GMO food, farmers must plant white corn several meters away from yellow corn fields. And in Mexico, it is now forbidden even to produce GMO corn, which is yet another story that bears a lengthy article due next time.

Mexico lives and thrives upon corn. Compared with other countries where cereals such as rice or wheat are the main staple food, our culture and even our traditions say we are made of corn. On average, around 24 million metric tons of corn are grown in the country, when subtracting 2 million for auto-consumption in remote regions, 2 million for industrial uses, and 2 million of yellow corn, we have an average of 18 million metric tons of white corn for feeding the masa and masa-flour chain. Now, split the total production into two. We have areas of Mexico with irrigation that allow for an early harvest in May-June, mainly the state of Sinaloa with roughly 6 million tons annually, and the rest is planted in dryland and, hoping for rain, is harvested by October-November. Remember now: irrigation and dryland.

In recent years, corn production in Mexico has waned. Planted areas and yields have decreased in both dryland and irrigated zones. There is a direct correlation between irregular rain cycles and availability of grain. The case of the state of Sinaloa is worth mentioning. This state lies to the west of the country's largest mountain range, called the Occidental Sierra Madre, and for many years it has been a powerhouse in food production. This is due to the rivers coming down from the mountains and the investment in large reservoirs to capture and spread the water along the coast to produce tomatoes, grains such as corn, wheat, sorghum, orchards of mangoes and blue berries. Water, warm winters, and good soil allow for an ideal scaffold. However, in the last three years, drought has depleted reservoirs and the lack of rain limited dryland production, so much so that Sinaloa only produced one-third of their normal white corn output, merely 2 million metric tons in June this year.

This is the real dilemma. Already being the largest importer of yellow corn to support its protein food chain, Mexico has the challenge of producing enough white corn for human consumption. But in years of deficient rain to uphold the demand, it must rely on imports. This year, white corn imports from the United States doubled to 400,000 metric tons, out of a total production of 6 million tons; two-thirds of that white non-GMO corn is already contracted for domestic consumption, so there is a limited supply available for exports. All being said, in Mexico, we must come to terms with either accepting GMO corn for human consumption or improve and enhance our use of water.

Better technology for irrigation is already available for farmers, who need finance to improve their usage. Reservoirs must be managed with higher conservation goals, optimizing water for the production of food. Government policies must address the need of all the participants to have better access to water and not waste it. Plus, the principles of regenerative agriculture like zero tillage, keeping the soil covered to avoid loss of moisture, and maintaining good soil health, help to minimize the use of water. Farmers working fields like this — toward conservation and better water use — will have a great impact on maintaining the white corn chain in Mexico for the future.

Please feel free to reach me at paco_salas@yahoo.com