Deputy minister describes GM corn and glyphosate, which is also being banned, as ‘undesirable and unnecessary’

The federal government will go ahead with its plan to stop importing genetically modified (GM) corn and replace it with homegrown maize, according to Deputy Agriculture Minister Víctor Suárez.

The official also told the news agency Reuters that the government is sticking to its plan to ban glyphosate, a controversial herbicide.

The government announced by executive order on the final day of 2020 that it aims to replace approximately 16 million tonnes of yellow corn imports – most of which comes from the United States and almost all of which is GM corn – with new, local production by 2024, the final year of the current administration’s six-year term.

The imports account for more than a third of Mexican demand for corn, and are mostly used as livestock fodder. Replacing the imports by 2024 with homegrown corn would require an almost 60% increase over current domestic production levels.