The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico

This study documents how poor small-scale farmers in lowland tropical Mexico use improved maize germplasm and how this contributes to their well-being. It does this by assessing both the direct adoption of improved varieties and examining the process of their "creolization."" By exposing improved va...

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Main Authors: Bellon, Mauricio R., Adato, Michelle, Becerril, Javier, Mindek, Dubravka
Format: Brief
Language:Inglés
Published: 2003
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157451
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author Bellon, Mauricio R.
Adato, Michelle
Becerril, Javier
Mindek, Dubravka
author_browse Adato, Michelle
Becerril, Javier
Bellon, Mauricio R.
Mindek, Dubravka
author_facet Bellon, Mauricio R.
Adato, Michelle
Becerril, Javier
Mindek, Dubravka
author_sort Bellon, Mauricio R.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This study documents how poor small-scale farmers in lowland tropical Mexico use improved maize germplasm and how this contributes to their well-being. It does this by assessing both the direct adoption of improved varieties and examining the process of their "creolization."" By exposing improved varieties to their conditions and management, continually selecting seed of these varieties for replanting, and in some cases promoting their hybridization with landraces, either by design or by accident, farmers produce what they recognize as "creolized" varieties. Our key hypothesis is that poor farmers benefit from improved germplasm through creolization. Creolization provides farmers with new options, as they deliberately modify an improved technology generated by the formal research system to suit their own circumstances and needs. Different methodologies such as participatory methods, ethnography, household case studies, a household sample survey, and a collection and agronomic evaluation of maize samples were used. This study was carried out in two regions: the coast of Oaxaca and the Frailesca in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, two of the poorest in Mexico. While one study area is subsistence-oriented and the other commercial, in both, extreme poverty is pervasive. Maize continues to play a key role in the livelihoods of the poor in both study areas.
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spelling CGSpace1574512024-11-14T11:37:25Z The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico Bellon, Mauricio R. Adato, Michelle Becerril, Javier Mindek, Dubravka maize poverty alleviation This study documents how poor small-scale farmers in lowland tropical Mexico use improved maize germplasm and how this contributes to their well-being. It does this by assessing both the direct adoption of improved varieties and examining the process of their "creolization."" By exposing improved varieties to their conditions and management, continually selecting seed of these varieties for replanting, and in some cases promoting their hybridization with landraces, either by design or by accident, farmers produce what they recognize as "creolized" varieties. Our key hypothesis is that poor farmers benefit from improved germplasm through creolization. Creolization provides farmers with new options, as they deliberately modify an improved technology generated by the formal research system to suit their own circumstances and needs. Different methodologies such as participatory methods, ethnography, household case studies, a household sample survey, and a collection and agronomic evaluation of maize samples were used. This study was carried out in two regions: the coast of Oaxaca and the Frailesca in the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas, two of the poorest in Mexico. While one study area is subsistence-oriented and the other commercial, in both, extreme poverty is pervasive. Maize continues to play a key role in the livelihoods of the poor in both study areas. 2003 2024-10-24T12:49:53Z 2024-10-24T12:49:53Z Brief https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157451 en Open Access application/pdf Bellon, Mauricio R.; Adato, Michelle; Becerril, Javier; Mindek, Dubravka. 2003. The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico. FCND Discussion Paper Brief. 162.
spellingShingle maize
poverty alleviation
Bellon, Mauricio R.
Adato, Michelle
Becerril, Javier
Mindek, Dubravka
The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico
title The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico
title_full The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico
title_fullStr The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico
title_full_unstemmed The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico
title_short The impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation: the case of Tuxpeño-derived material in Mexico
title_sort impact of improved maize germplasm on poverty alleviation the case of tuxpeno derived material in mexico
topic maize
poverty alleviation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/157451
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