Sierra Mixe corn is a traditional variety of

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

grown in the

Sierra Mixe The Sierra Mixe or Mixes District is a district in the east of the Sierra Norte Region of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It comprises 17 municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corp ...

region of Mexico, especially the town of Totontepec Villa de Morelos. It is known locally as and has been grown by indigenous farmers for thousands of years. This variety grows unusually tall—up to sixteen feet—and has

aerial root Aerial roots are Root, roots growing above the ground. They are often Plant development#Adventitious structures, adventitious, i.e. formed from nonroot tissue. They are found in diverse plant species, including epiphytes such as orchids ('' ...

s that secrete a

mucus Mucus (, ) is a slippery aqueous secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. It is typically produced from cells found in mucous glands, although it may also originate from mixed glands, which contain both Serous fluid, serous and muc ...

that drips around the plant. This secretion supports the growth of symbiotic bacteria that fix nitrogen and so fertilize the plant. There is commercial and scientific interest in this variety, and its genetics are being researched to develop other self-fertilizing varieties that would reduce or eliminate need for other fertilizers. A team at

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Davis, California, United States. It is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University ...

is working on this under the auspices of the

Nagoya Protocol The Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity, also known as the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS), is ...

, which aims to encourage equitable sharing of the benefits of such biodiversity.

References

Maize varieties Nitrogen-fixing crops Flora of the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca {{agriculture-stub

Further reading

References