During her participation in the 2025 National Agrobiodiversity Fair, held in the Ejido Unión Zapata, in the municipality of San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Oaxaca, the Undersecretary of Productive Inclusion and Rural Development of the Ministry of Welfare, Columba Jazmín López Gutiérrez, emphasized that biocultural practices and seed conservation are fundamental to the Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life) program, as production cannot exist without safeguarding the heritage that makes it possible.
At the event—which was also attended by the Secretary of the Environment and Natural Resources, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, and the Governor of Oaxaca, Salomón Jara Cruz—Undersecretary López Gutiérrez indicated that, at the instruction of Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, support will be provided for terracing projects in mountainous areas and for rainwater harvesting through collection systems, which are essential to ensuring water availability on family plots and mitigating the effects of climate variability.
“We are going to move forward together, because the governor has authorized us to implement it, and our secretary, Alicia Bárcena, will accompany us in this effort,” he noted.
He added that the central focus of public policies must always be the people, especially the farmers who keep the genetic and cultural richness of the territory alive. “The most important work, and the reason we do it, is for the communities. They have safeguarded and improved the seeds, and thanks to their work, today we can speak of food sovereignty.”
López Gutiérrez recalled that agrobiodiversity cannot be understood without the strength and knowledge of those who work the land every day. The instruction from the President of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, is clear: to directly support the communities, strengthen their productive capacity, and expand the reach of support where it is most needed.
During her participation, López Gutiérrez announced that Oaxaca will be one of the first states to launch the national program “Corn is the Root” in 2026. This program aims to protect the production of native corn varieties and consolidate community seed banks.
She emphasized that these seed banks will be unique in each community and will operate without institutional duplication, ensuring that the seeds remain in the hands of those who have safeguarded them ancestrally. “The seed banks will be unique because the communities that safeguard them are unique,” she noted.
Columba López explained that this effort will strengthen the 35 native corn varieties present in Oaxaca, which are essential for the country’s food supply and for the preservation of its biocultural heritage.
The National Agrobiodiversity Fair was held in a region where corn, squash, beans, and chili peppers were domesticated, and which safeguards one of the most important genetic heritages in Mesoamerica.
The event was attended by: the Director General of Food for Well-being, María Luisa Albores González; the National Commissioner of Protected Natural Areas, Pedro Álvarez Icaza Longoria; the Agrarian Attorney, Víctor Suárez Carrera; and the Secretary of Agri-food Promotion and Rural Development of Oaxaca, Víctor López Leyva, as well as farmers, agricultural workers and ejido members.
Source: hojaderutadigital
