Corn is one of the most ubiquitous crops in the world. From livestock feed to plant-based ethanol, corn permeates our lives far beyond the foods we consume. Yet the crop is shrouded in negative environmental and social narratives—growing corn epitomizes industrial agriculture, degrading soils, threatening biodiversity, and poisoning waterways with chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. Plant scientists take pride in developing varieties that are highly receptive to nitrogen fertilizers. Without inputs of inorganic fertilizers, most modern corn wouldn’t reach knee-high, but this is costly both for farmers and for the health of our planet.
Plant geneticist and founder of the Mandaamin Institute, Walter Goldstein, has taken a different approach and turned to corn’s Indigenous roots to breed varieties that fertilize themselves. Goldstein found that corn can partner with bacteria and endophytic fungi in soils and, like legume crops, these hybrid maize varieties fix nitrogen. Bacteria even reside in the husks, allowing plants to take nitrogen directly from the air, a trait long lost to modern crop varieties.
The Mandaamin Institute works with farmers directly and relies on landraces, Indigenous plant knowledge, and cutting-edge soil biome research to breed corn that can be grown with little to no chemical inputs. A landrace crop is adapted to the environment in which it is grown and has developed unique relationships with its native soil and microbial partners through years of cultivation. These crops are open-pollinated, and by both natural and human-influenced selection, are designed to thrive in the habitats where they’ve developed. Goldstein demonstrates that his corn varieties yield high-performing crops that can feed and protect themselves, regenerating soils and microbiota in the process. While they do not tackle all environmental harm from industrial agriculture, this is the corn of the future, an ancient crop that will sustain us and help us shift towards ecologically positive modes of production.
Learn more about Walter Goldstein’s work and how the Mandaamin Institute breeds climate-friendly corn on their website.
Read about Goldstein’s work.
This article was originally submitted by Willow Gatewood.
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