Mexico is sticking to a plan to stop importing genetically modified corn and a ban on a widely used herbicide, a senior official told Reuters, doubling down on a policy that has pleased green advocates but alarmed industry leaders.

The plan announced late last year by executive order aims to replace some 16 million tonnes of yellow corn imported mostly from U.S. farmers and nearly all of it genetically modified, with new, local production by 2024. The imports represent more than a third of the country’s demand for the grain, and mostly feed Mexico’s large livestock industry.

Victor Suarez, the deputy agriculture minister and a key architect of the order, argued that GMO corn and the herbicide glyphosate are too dangerous and that local output and sustainable “agroecological” practices must be prioritized.

Poster Comment:

An American woman was hired to help market Mexican agriculture to the US. She told them to go organic as people worry about Third World pesticides. Now with GMO free produce, she can market corn and other vegetables I have refused to eat until I can find non-GMO sources.