PAN-AMERICAN ADVENTURE: Chapingo, Mexico

Beyond GMO … the REAL answer to healthy, disease resistant crops

Down in Mexico, two plant scientists, despite lack of funding and support, are staging a true green revolution. By using a strategy called horizontal resistance to breed bean plants with broad genetic resistance to diseases and pests, they are outperforming GMO and commercial crop varieties … without the need for pesticides! This is a must read piece. Be patient with the science and you’ll be richly rewarded.

By Don Lotter, Ph.D.

Dr. Roberto Garcia of the Colegio de Postraduados and Dr. Luis Serrano of the University of Chapingo with Garcia's seventh generation of beans bred for horizontal disease resistance.

Dr. Roberto Garcia and Dr. Raoul Robinson in a field of horizontally disease resistant bean cultivars. Robinson helped develop the techniques for horizontal disease resistance breeding. Photos by Roberto Garcia.