Sembrando Vida works to strengthen the cultivation of native corn  / @A_MontielR @bienestarmx

#SecretaríaDeBienestar,  #México.– At the opening of the meeting «Toward Participatory Corn Improvement in the Sembrando Vida Program,» Columba Jazmín López Gutiérrez, Undersecretary of Productive Inclusion and Rural Development of the Ministry of Welfare, emphasized the importance of the combined efforts of planters, farmers, and researchers to create synergies and agreements on the second level of Sembrando Vida to strengthen the cultivation of native corn, the basis of Mexicans’ diet, as well as to promote participatory corn improvement.

«We have already passed the stage of crop establishment and are now in the process of diversifying actions,» including participatory improvement, commented López Gutiérrez, adding that the Sembrando Vida program is a strategic pillar for agrifood policy and is working to promote innovative strategies to deepen the achievements made so far and encourage the planting of native corn in the territories to achieve food self-sufficiency.

At the meeting, held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Welfare, he noted that Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) is a program that aims to contribute to food self-sufficiency and cultivate a surplus for commercialization. 416,000 farmers from 24 states across the country participate in the program. The main crops identified in Mexico are: corn, coffee, lemon, cocoa, achiote, beans, plantain, cactus, squash, peach, among others.

The meeting featured keynote addresses: «Experiences, Challenges, and Perspectives on Native Corn in Mexico,» given by researcher Fernando Castillo González of the Colegio de Postgraduados; «Adjustments to Participatory Breeding of Native Corn, Operations, and Practice,» given by researcher Rafael Ortega Paczka of the Autonomous University of Chapingo; and «Participatory Breeding of Native Corn in Mexico,» led by Flavio Aragón Cuevas, Undersecretary of Food Security of the Secretariat for Agrifood Promotion and Rural Development of Oaxaca.

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