Transformation of dairy activity in Mexico in the context of current globalization and regionalization

To explain globalization of the Mexicandairy production more precisely, globalization indairy systems worldwide and within Mexico ispresented, using an intensive dairy operation in theregion of La Laguna (North Mexico), and a traditionaldairy operation in Los Altos de Jalisco (West Mexico)as examples. The focus is on the economic aspects ofregionalization, and how it relates to theglobalization process. In this context, the process ofregionalization of the North American dairy systemsand their relationships with the local systems in LaLaguna and Los Altos de Jalisco are presented. Themain thesis in this paper is whether globalization hasacted as a factor to help homogenize the dairy systemsin terms of economic, political, and culturalprocesses affected by world tendencies as well aslocal trends.     

Neoliberal restructuring, neoregulation, and the Mexican poultry industry

The US poultry industry based on flexible accumulation has been advanced as the model of agro-industrial development for agrifood globalization. Similarly, Mexico has been presented as a noteworthy example of the negative effects of neoliberal restructuring associated with the globalization project. In this paper we use both of these assertions as points of departure to guide an investigation of the case of the restructuring of the Mexican poultry industry. Informed by a commodity systems analysis, archival data and key informant interviews are used to generate an overview of the history of the poultry industry in Mexico. A sociology of agrifood theoretical framework informed by regimes theory is employed to analyze the events of the case. We conclude that neoregulation related to the IMF and NAFTA restructuring in Mexico facilitated the diffusion of the US model of poultry production.     

Hegemony, commodification, and the state: Mexico's shifting discourse on agricultural germplasm

In this work, we examine the debate over thecommodification of agricultural germplasm in Mexico using aneo-Marxist theoretical framework. Specifically, we examine Mexico's movement away from a ``Farmers' Rights' framework, whichtreats germplasm as a ``common good' towards the passage of theMexican Federal Law on Plant Varieties, which sees germplasm as acommodity. In order to understand this legal change, the recenthistory of this discourse in Mexico is examined. Usingtheoretical insights based in an analysis of this discourse, weexamine the ideological elements of this debate. It is arguedthat an international hegemonic bloc has arisen to address thisissue, superceding the bounds of any single state entity andfunctioning through the international bodies of free trade.Taking the Mexican state to be relatively autonomous fromcapital, we argue that the hegemonic bloc influenced the changein Mexican policy. We conclude with a discussion of the possibleeffects of this legal change in Mexico.     

Consumption strategies in Mexican rural households: pursuing food security with quality

Food quality is an important issue on the global agenda, particularly in high- and middle-income economies, but of little concern in designing Mexico’s food policy. Food policy has focused on quantity and in the case of maize, on satisfying domestic demand by supporting large commercial agriculture and importing from abroad. However, and as argued in this paper, obtaining a food staple (maize-tortilla) of quality is also an important issue for rural households and contributes to motivating continued smallholder production. Based on case studies in the rural district of Atlacomulco, in the state of Mexico, as well as in two regions of the state of Chiapas, this paper analyzes the production and consumption strategies of rural households. We focus on goals of food security and quality and note differential trends among households of varying characteristics and local contexts. We find that the motivation of small-scale producers to grow maize should be supported by Mexico’s food policy.     

墨西哥牧草导入普通玉米后对植株生长发育和产量的影响

[目的]发掘利用墨西哥牧草生长繁茂和抗逆能力强等优良遗传特性,改良普通玉米材料的抗逆性和创制新型饲草材料。[方法]以墨西哥牧草与4个普通玉米自交系杂交后,研究了墨西哥牧草和4个杂交材料的植株生长发育和生物产量及饲用品质的差异。[结果]杂交材料植株生长加快,叶龄增长速度和植株高度生长明显快于墨西哥牧草,生物鲜产量和干产量明显增加,饲用品质更好,但平均单株分蘖数减少。[结论]墨西哥牧草的生长繁茂和生物产量高的特性能转育到普通玉米中,培育出新型高产饲草玉米新材料。     

Science and technology in Mexico: toward self-determination

During the last decade Mexico has moved progressively to develop and naturalize its scientific and technological capabilities, a decision requiring long-term government investment in education and research. The areas in which Mexico's National Council of Science and Technology selected to focus a national development program include the following: scholarships for middle- as well as high-level researchers and technicians; indicative programs to support research and basic or new industries in fields such as energy, electronics, metalworking, and agronomy; a government-industry shared risk program; research centers, many located in the provinces; and international scientific agreements. The translation of scientific classics and contemporary publications into Spanish and their widespread dissemination in Mexico have received special attention as has the dissemination of Mexico's work worldwide.     

Livelihood change,farming, and managing flood risk in the Lerma Valley,Mexico

In face of rising flood losses globally, the approach of “living with floods,” rather than relying on structural measures for flood control and prevention, is acquiring greater resonance in diverse socioeconomic contexts. In the Lerma Valley in the state of Mexico, rapid industrialization, population growth, and the declining value of agricultural products are driving livelihood and land use change, exposing increasing numbers of people to flooding. However, data collected in two case studies of farm communities affected by flooding in 2003 illustrate that the concept of flood as agricultural “hazard” has been relatively recently constructed through public intervention in river management and disaster compensation. While farming still represents subsistence value to rural households, increasingly rural communities are relying on non-farm income and alternative livelihood strategies. In this context, defining flooding in rural areas as a private hazard for which individuals are entitled to public protection may be counterproductive. A different approach, in which farmers’ long acceptance of periodic flooding is combined with valuing agricultural land for ecoservices, may enable a more sustainable future for the region’s population.

Developing a platform for genomic medicine in Mexico

Mexico is preparing to develop a genomic medicine program focused on national health problems. Modern Mexicans result from an admixture of more than 65 native Indian groups with Spaniards, leading to a unique genetic makeup and a characteristic set of disease susceptibilities. Since 1999, more than 100 experts from different fields have joined efforts with government, academia, and industry to identify priorities and goals for genomic medicine in Mexico. The plan includes establishment of an Institute of Genomic Medicine with strong intramural and extramural programs. This project is expected to ease the social and financial burden of health problems in Mexico.     

The Bovine Tuberculosis Campaign in Mexico： Present and Perspectives

Mexico is considered by different international organizations as a country where the bovine tuberculosis is an endemic problem. However, there are important and consistent improvements in eradicating the disease by the implementation of government policies and with the livestock organization support. The current situation of the program shows good results regarding decreasing the prevalence, and as a consequence, the risk of this disease for public health and animal health, as well as the improvement in animal production and international and national trade. Today, the bovine tuberculosis distribution is almost known in Mexico. In addition, a series of controls and indicators have been established, which allow maintain consistency and reliability in the data that are managed and analyzed.     

Mineral source and transport in waters of the gulf of Mexico and Caribbean sea

Mineral particles suspended in the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea were analyzed in relation to clay mineral distributions in bottom sediments, to sedimentation processes active in the region, and to the prevailing currents. Circulation in the upper layers of water flowing from the Caribbean, carrying a micaceous-rich mineral assemblage, has exercised an influence on mineral transport into the Gulf of Mexico, different from the montmorillonite-rich load delivered by the Mississippi River. Particulate matter, suspended in North Atlantic water and Amazon River discharge, enters the Caribbean through the Lesser Antilles and contributes to the detrital mineral content of Caribbean water, as does that carried by the wind.     

Early allelic selection in maize as revealed by ancient DNA

Maize was domesticated from teosinte, a wild grass, by approximately 6300 years ago in Mexico. After initial domestication, early farmers continued to select for advantageous morphological and biochemical traits in this important crop. However, the timing and sequence of character selection are, thus far, known only for morphological features discernible in corn cobs. We have analyzed three genes involved in the control of plant architecture, storage protein synthesis, and starch production from archaeological maize samples from Mexico and the southwestern United States. The results reveal that the alleles typical of contemporary maize were present in Mexican maize by 4400 years ago. However, as recently as 2000 years ago, allelic selection at one of the genes may not yet have been complete.     

The huastec region: a second locus for the production of bronze alloys in ancient mesoamerica

Chemical analyses of 51 metal artifacts, one ingot, and two pieces of intermediate processed material from two Late Post Classic archeological sites in the Huastec area of Eastern Mesoamerica point to a second production locus for copper-arsenic-tin alloys, copper-arsenic-tin artifacts, and probably copper-tin and copper-arsenic bronze artifacts. Earlier evidence had indicated that these bronze alloys were produced exclusively in West Mexico. West Mexico was the region where metallurgy first developed in Mesoamerica, although major elements of that technology had been introduced from the metallurgies of Central and South America. The bronze working component of Huastec metallurgy was transmitted from the metalworking regions of West Mexico, most likely through market systems that distributed Aztec goods.     

Biological feedbacks in global desertification

Studies of ecosystem processes on the Jornada Experimental Range in southern New Mexico suggest that longterm grazing of semiarid grasslands leads to an increase in the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of water, nitrogen, and other soil resources. Heterogeneity of soil resources promotes invasion by desert shrubs, which leads to a further localization of soil resources under shrub canopies. In the barren area between shrubs, soil fertility is lost by erosion and gaseous emissions. This positive feedback leads to the desertification of formerly productive land in southern New Mexico and in other regions, such as the Sahel. Future desertification is likely to be exacerbated by global climate warming and to cause significant changes in global biogeochemical cycles.     

252份墨西哥CIMMYT小麦多酚氧化酶的活性差异及品种筛选

[目的]为低PPO活性小麦品种的选育提供参考信息。[方法]按Anderson和Morris等方法并作部分修改对引进的252份墨西哥CIMMYT小麦品种的多酚氧化酶活性进行测定。[结果]PPO活性主要受基因型影响;不同品种间PPO活性相差很大。252份墨西哥CIMMYT小麦的多酚氧化酶(PPO)活性的范围为54.00~285.78AU/(min·g)。其中小于100.00AU/(min·g)的品种有46个,200.00AU/(min·g)以上的有37个,其余皆为100.00~200.00AU/(min·g)。品种PPO活性分布在100.00~200.00AU/(min·g)的个数较多,而在<100.00AU/(min·g)和>200.00AU/(min·g)范围则分布较少,基本上呈正态分布。[结论]通过育种途径可改善小麦制品颜色褐变的现象。筛选出PPO活性低于100.00AU/(min·g)的46个的墨西哥CIMMYT小麦品种,可作为小麦品质育种的材料。     

Cerumen types in Choctaw Indians

Certinen from 432 Choctaw Indians from Mississippi was classified as sticky or dry. The frequency of the autosomal recessive dry type was intermediate between that for Indians of western North America and that for Mayan groups of southern Mexico.     

Glossopterid leaves from the middle jurassic of oaxaca, Mexico

Leaves indistinguishable from those of the late Paleozoic genus Glossopteris occur in Middle Jurassic beds in the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. If they are biologically related to the Permo-Carboniferous Glossopteris, the occurrence in Mexico is the latest report of the genus. Alternatively, these leaves may have belonged to another group of plants with foliage similar to that of Glossopteris, but with a different reproductive structure.     

Development and characterization of a novel common wheat–Mexico Rye T1DL·1RS translocation line with stripe rust and powdery mildew resistance

Rye (Secale cereale L., 2n=2x=14, RR) is a significant genetic resource for improving common wheat because of its resistance to multiple diseases and abiotic-stress tolerant traits. The 1RS chromosome from the German cultivated rye variety Petkus is critical in wheat breeding. However, its weakened disease resistance highlights the need to identify new resources. In the present study, a novel derived line called D27 was developed from common wheat and Mexico Rye. Cytological observations characterized the karyotype of D27 as 2n=42=21 II. Genomic in situ hybridization indicated that a pair of whole-arm translocated Mexico Rye chromosomes were inherited typically in the mitotic and meiosis stages of D27. Experiments using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) and gliadin electrophoresis showed that D27 lacked wheat 1DS chromosomes. They were replaced by 1RS chromosomes of Mexico Rye, supported by wheat simple-sequence repeat markers, rye sequence characterized amplified region markers, and wheat 40K SNP array analysis. The wheat 1DS chromosomes could not be detected by molecular markers and wheat SNP array, but the presence of rye 1RS chromosomes was confirmed. Agronomic trait assessments indicated that D27 had a higher tiller number and enhanced stripe rust and powdery mildew resistance. In addition, dough properties analysis showed that replacing 1DS led to higher viscosity and lower dough elasticity in D27, which was beneficial for cake making. In conclusion, the novel cytogenetically stable common wheat–Mexico Rye T1DL·1RS translocation line D27 offers excellent potential as outstanding germplasm in wheat breeding programs focusing on disease resistance and yield improvement. Additionally, it can be valuable for researching the rye 1RS chromosome’s genetic diversity.     

Silenced voices,vital arguments: smallholder farmers in the Mexican GM maize controversy

Smallholder producers are the collective most likely to be affected by the introduction of GMOs globally, yet the least included in public debates and consultation about the development, implementation or regulation of this agricultural biotechnology. Why are the voices and arguments of smallholder farmers being excluded from national and international GM debates and regulation? In this article, we identify barriers which prevent smallholder farmers in Mexico from having a voice in public political, economic, scientific and social fori regarding the GM maize controversy. Through the analysis of empirical data from a case study in Mexico, we identify political, institutional, economic and ontological reasons that lie behind that exclusion. We conclude with an appraisal of smallholder farmers’ perspectives on GM maize and their visions of Mexico’s rural future, within which they demand a meaningful and rightful space.     

Matanchen complex: new radiocarbon dates on early coastal adaptation in west Mexico

Samples of marine shell from archeological context on the coast of Nayarit, Mexico, have given radiocarbon determinations of 1810 +/- 80 B.C., 2000 +/- 100 B.C., and 2100 +/- 100 B.C. Even with maximum correction for upwelling these are the earliest dates for coastal occupation in West Mexico north of Acapulco, Guerrero. Analysis of the midden contents has provided new insights regarding early coastal adaptation.     

The paredon, Mexico, obsidian source and early formative exchange

In 1975, archeological surface surveys of trade routes located again a pre-Hispanic obsidian source in central Mexico first reported in 1902. Initial trace element studies of the Paredón source through an analysis by neutron activation have been compared with similar studies of the obsidian found at Chalcatzingo 150 kilometers from the source. These comparisons indicate that obsidian from Paredón, rather than Otumba, was of primary importance during the Early Formative in central Mexico.