What are maize landraces?
Maize landraces are forms of maize domesticated by the indigenous peoples of Latin and North America, and adapted to local growing conditions. The initial domestication of maize from teosinte occured about 9000 years ago in southern Mexico (Matsuoka et al. 2002). After that, cultivation of maize spread throughout the Americas, and through artificial selection, indigenous peoples developed landraces adapted to their local growing conditions and crop uses. After the arrival of Columbus, maize cultivation spread to the Old World and additional landraces were subsequently developed in Europe, Africa, and Asia.
