“INIFAP, EAT-PpB, CIMMYT, and GRUMA specialists develop technologies to improve the quality of corn crops in the state, including the Agroecological Transition.”.

Mexico City, November 2, 2022.- After four years of research and development of innovative agroecological practice formulas, with the financial aid provided by Grupo Maseca (GRUMA), farmers in the State of Tamaulipas harvested the white corn grown on 500 hectares during the autumn/winter 2021-22 cycle, ensuring the grain’s suitability for human consumption with significant improvements in crop yields.

The plan, which also implied an Agroecological Transition Plan, included the participation of the Secretariat of Agriculture and Rural Development through the Undersecretariat of Food Self-Sufficiency, the National Institute of Forestry, Agriculture, and Livestock Research (INIFAP), the International Center for Maize and Wheat Improvement (CIMMYT), seed companies, and farmers in the municipalities of Díaz Ordaz, Río Bravo, and Abasolo in the State of Tamaulipas who harvested 3,500 tons of corn. Maseca purchased 1,400 tons of this corn.

Before this, Maseca could not buy maize harvested in Tamaulipas because it failed to meet the company’s quality requirements. The Tamaulipas 500 plan is expected to grow to include 5,000 hectares of farmland next year when the name will be changed to Tamaulipas 5,000.

GRUMA and CIMMYT signed the Technological Support and Research Program for the Sustainable Production of Maize contract in 2018, aimed at enhancing productivity by small-scale white maize farmers in Tamaulipas and promoting food self-sufficiency across the state.

Subsequently, as of the autumn/winter 2019-20 cycle, the SADER Production for Well-being Program and its Technical Accompaniment Strategy (EAT) joined efforts to launch a plan incorporating the Farm Worker’s Agriculture method for Integrated Knowledge and Comprehensive Management of Induced Crops (ACCI-MICI) characterized by sustainable practices and close collaboration between scientists, technicians, producers to address crop health problems, increase yields, and induce the agroecological transition in Tamaulipas.

In 2018, Gruma pledged to contribute USD 290,000 per year, contributing USD 1.5 million to date.

With the successful results obtained through this plan, Tamaulipas advances in food self-sufficiency and the substitution of imports. In addition, for the autumn/winter 2022-2023 harvest, the planted area is expected to increase ten times to 5,000 hectares to obtain quality grains for human consumption, with the support and commitment made by the state governor, Américo Villarreal, and his Secretary of Rural Development, Dámaso Anaya Alvarado.

The project involved 10 hectares in the fall/winter 2018-19 cycle; the autumn/winter 2020-21 cycle included 90 hectares, and 500 hectares were added in the autumn/winter 2021-22 cycle.

In Tamaulipas, corn crops are exposed to extreme environmental conditions, degraded soils with limited organic matter, poor agricultural management, and the presence of fungi, some in the soil, which can put public health at risk.

The public and private organizations participating in the plan believe in the need to prioritize corn health and food safety care, thus ensuring food quality grains.

During the four years of work, specialists from the INIFAP and the CIMMYT, the Technical Support Strategy (EAT) for the Production for Well-being Program (PpB), and GRUMA evaluated different technologies, including the Agroecological Transition, to meet this objective with the valuable support of Tamaulipas farmers and seed companies.

The technologies applied to obtain the corn crops in the 500 hectares of the program with optimal levels as listed as follows:

1. INIFAP technological package:

• Appropriate planting dates, timely irrigation, and pest management. . 
  
  

2. Agroecological management of the Production for Well-being Program of the Secretariat of Agriculture, ACCI-MICI.

• Optimum microbiological balance of the soil.
• Soil health.
• The use of bio inputs, including biofertilizers.

3. Biocontrol of crops.

4. Use of hybrids adapted to the region.

• Good corn cob coverage.
• Less exposure time to weather conditions.
  
   

In 2018, Grupo Maseca pledged to purchase crops compliant with Official Mexican Standard NOM-188 and with the quality requirements of its corn flour plants, and today that commitment to support Tamaulipas farmers has come true: the Maseca plant in Río Bravo has begun to purchase corn in the state, thus benefiting its farmers.

On these important achievements for the benefit of the farmers of Tamaulipas and the population in general, the Undersecretary of Food Self-Sufficiency of the Secretariat of Agriculture, Víctor Suárez Carrera, congratulated and recognized the project’s participants for their interest in the health of Mexicans and their commitment to the country’s farmland, food self-sufficiency, and domestic farmers.

“The achievements obtained through this important program for Tamaulipas farmers and inhabitants are proof that the Government-Company-Research Institutions combination is an excellent formula for food self-sufficiency in Mexico,” said Undersecretary Suárez Carrera.

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