GROWING CORN 2021

Planting Corn

4th grade manual 2.0

Traditional dishes across Mexico

Observe the picture. What is the ingredient that most Mexican dishes have?

The origins of corn

Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (CONABIO)

http://200.12.166.51/janium-bin/janium_zui.pl?jzd=/janium/Documentos/AP/12943/d.jzd&fn=12943

Watch their videos:

We received two messages from students that left 4th grade:

Generation 2020

Generation 2021

Generation 2022

Now it is our turn to grow corn while we learn about it.

What do we need?

1. A very sunny place 2. Good soil 3. Native seeds (Nal-tel) 4. A lot of water 5. Planting in the full-moon.

Sunshine

Corn plants need a lot of sun. So pick the sunniest place you can find at home to plant your corn. Look for a place where you can see sunlight most of the day.

Good soil

The soil needs to be rich and healthy. To get better results, plant your corn directly in the ground. To plant your seeds: make holes of 4cm deep, distancing the holes 20 cm from each other. Place 3 seeds in the hole. Cover with dirt and press a bit.

Planting in buckets vs. planting in directly in the grownd.

We suggest planting directly in the ground. Along the years that we have been growing corn, we have observed that planting directly in the ground results in taller and thicker plants and in the development of more than 1 ear of corn. You can try planting in buckets or pots but the plants may grow differently.

Native seeds

The seeds we are using are native from the Yucatan peninsula. They are heirloom, and we got them from a family of the community of Xoy in Peto. Those seeds were inherited over generations. The seeds' name is Nal-Tel, and they have a short growth cycle of 3 months. Our corn should be ready by the third week of April.

Water

Maize plants need plenty of water. It is very important to water your plants twice a day: early in the morning and in the afternoon.

Click here

The moon

The Mayan planted corn seeds when the moon was changing from new moon to full moon. The moonlight influences the growth of plants, so the more moonlight our seeds receive when recently planted, the better our seeds will sprout.

Stages of growth

maturity

tasseling & silking

vegetative

What the plant looks like

During the emergence process, you will see a coleoptile or spike. Then, the first leaf will emerge from the coleptile. After a week, your plant will grow more leaves and you will see a whorl in the middle. After the third week, it will look like a grass plant. When the plant is 20cm tall, it is time to plant the beans.

Intercropping

Planting different crops together has a lot of benefits. Plants give mutual help to each other.

The milpa system that Mayan communities use includes corn, beans and pumpkin. The roots of beans enrich the soil, by providing nitrogen which the corn plant needs. The corn plant works as a tutor to guide the growth of the bean plant. The pumpkin helps to keep humidity levels and stops other weeds from growing.

Click here to see how to plant your beans.

Padlet Observation

Last course, students of 4th grade kept their progress in a weekly padlet. Visit their padlet and observe the information that students posted in order to answer the following questions:

1. How is the padlet of your grade different from last year's padlet? 2. What problems did students face on their process? 3. How did they solve these problems? 4. What method seems to work best for planting: bucket or ground?

Bugs and pests

The corn plant is likely to be visited by bugs and pests such as the corn leafhopper (Dalbulus maidis) or "Chicharrita del maíz" in spanish. This bug feeds of your plant sucking out juices. If their population grows, the leaves dry, and they also cause other important diseases to the plant.

To help your plant with a natural insecticide, make a tea with neem leaves and garlic. Drain the tea and use a spray bottle. Spray the tea on your plant every 2 days. Ingredients Watch the video

Learn more about Fundación Tortilla Mexicana.org

In the news

Fundación Tortilla Mexicana announced that there will be important changes in the regulations of Maize tortilla in Mexico.

The modifications made to the norm NOM - 187 were published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación, and they will bring improvements in favor of good health, good nutrition and fair consumer rights. Learn the facts: Full article here

Modifications to the NOM - 187

Pollination techniques

When your corn plant develops its tassel and silk, pollination process begins. During this process, the pollen from the tassel falls in the silks and these tiny tubes transport the genetic information to where the kernel will start growing. Normally, it is bees and the wind that help spread the pollen, but with the numbers of bees decreasing and the lack from air in urban areas, our plant can use a little help:

not pollinated

pollinated manually

1. Use a paper bag and cover the tassel once the polen starts falling. 2. Shake the bag so as to collect as many particles of pollen as possible. 3. Place the bag covering the silks and close it. Shake the bag contonuously for a few days.

Industrialized crop systems

In industrialized crop systems, the plants are sprayed with chemicals to get rid of the bugs and pests. Fertilizers are also used to increase the growth of the plants, but both pesticides and fertilizers include chemicals in their components. These chemicals filter to the soil, damaging it and affecting the ecosystem, the groundwater layer and the biodiversity of the land. Pesticides are potentially toxic to humans and can have health effects, depending on the quantity and the ways in which a person is exposed. Some cheaper pesticides can remain in the soil and water for years. They have been banned in developed countries for agricultural use but are still used in many developing countries. The milpa, on the other hand, helps to preserve the ecosystem, and if it is grown with agroecological practices like intercropping and natural insecticides, the soil stays rich in nutrients and many living organisms can benefit from the healthy and biodiverse land.

Bugs as indicators of good quality

How to know if corn has been sprayed with chemicals? Corn weevil (Sitophilus zeamais) are tiny beetles that love corn. They feed from it and lay their eggs inside the kernels. These beetles sense when the corn has been sprayed with pesticides and so, they stay away from it. But if the bug doesn't feel the presence of chemicals, they eat the corn, which indicates that the corn is free of harmful substances and is not transgenic. In the communities, people know this, and they consider the bugs to be a signal of good quality corn.

How to store your corn to avoid corn weevil? Hermetic storage.

Harvesting, storaging and product ideas

You can harvest your corn two ways: When it is fresh(green) or when it completely dry (yellow), depending what you will use it for.

Products from dry corn: - Cob (when it is still green - for meals) - Dry/hard kernels/seeds - Corn powder (pinole) - Corn plants - Nixtamalized dough - Corn silks tea - Crafts (dry leaves) - Dry cob (for decoration)

NOM - 187 specifications for our products

NOM - 187 specifications for our products

Conversation with Rafa Mier:

NOM - 187 specifications for our products

Conversation with Rafa Mier:

Corn consumption in Mexico

Where does the corn we eat come from?

How is it different from native corn varieties?

Comparing and reflecting

Local agroecological/organic corn

Commercial corn

Grown locally High nutritional value Preserves native seeds and traditions Planting methods that nourish and enrich the soil Preserves biodiversity Supports local producers and their families

Mostly imported from other countries Low nutritional value Competes with local producers (low prices) Planting methods that undress the soil Genetically modified seeds Biodiversity loss

Communities that still grow native corn varieties in Yucatán

Múul Meyaj is a collective of Mayan producers that have inherited seeds for generations. They face challenges to sell their corn products because not many of us know about native corn. The economy of these families depend on the people who support them with their consumption of their corn.

What can we do?

By sharing this project with other schools or other generations, more people will learn the value that mexican corn has. Consuming fresh local corn products is also important, not only for our health, but for the people who produce it.

Our Padlet

https://padlet.com/usuario2aplicaciones/6gaqaf95b7au9vgb

Our video (3rd generation)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vr4qa0-MWJ2_OsIEK-qVy-FK3MF_Fza1/view?usp=sharing

Thank you, and good luck on your corn planting journey!