The INIA analysed the source and quantity of maize imports, records of seed cultivars, their genetic diversity and planting location. Evidence of transgenes was discovered in only some of the poultry grain samples. This finding is not surprising. We believe that the Barranca region today is unlikely to be a primary centre of maize diversity. However, farmers there may be growing maize hybrids and other cultivars that have seeds of foreign origin.

Background: The genetic diversity of maize in Peru includes several landraces (within race clusters) and modern open pollinated and hybrid cultivars that are grown by farmers across various regions, thereby making this country a secondary center of diversity for this crop. A main topic of controversy in recent years refers to the unintended presence of transgenic events in locally grown cultivars at main centers of crop diversity. Peru does not yet have biosafety regulations to control or permit the growing of genetically modified crops. Hence, the aim of this research was to undertake a survey in the valley of Barranca, where there were recent claims of authorized transgenic maize grown in farmers fields as well as in samples taken from feed storage and grain or seed trade centers. Results: A total of 162 maize samples (134 from fields, 15 from local markets, eight from the collecting c...