Daily news
3 August 2017
It took 2000 years to make seed for America’s famous ‘corn belt’
Robert Hsnks/EyeEm Getty
By Rachel Baxter
Maize first arrived in the lowlands of the south-west US 4000 years ago – but it was another 2000 years before farmers living in the region’s highlands began growing it routinely. Now we think we know why: it took millennia to select varieties of the crop that flowered early. This is a necessary trait to make the most of the shorter growing season in the cooler, higher altitude conditions.
In the face of rapid global warming, however, we will probably have to use genetic engineering to help maize adapt quickly enough to cope with today’s challenging growing conditions.
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2142813-it-took-2000-years-to-make-seed-for-americas-famous-corn-belt/
