Author : Sanchez Gonzalez, Jose de Jesus; Corral, Jose Ariel Ruiz

Summary : Mexico is among the areas with the greatest wealth of flora in the world. It has been identified as the center of origin and diversity of cultivated plants that have acquired considerable importance on a global level. Some of the crops that have originated and/or been domesticated in Mesoamerica are maize, beans, chili, squash, and tomatoes, which are staples in the Mexican diet. Overall, approximately 10 million ha throughout the country are cultivated with these crops under a variety of production systems. In this paper, the geographic distribution of teosinte populations are described for Mexico and results presented for research to determine the climatic requirements of different teosinte populations and potential areas of distribution, based on geographic information system data. The information should be useful for planning field tests or deciding whether to authorize commercial use of transgenic maize.