Mexico has amended its Constitution to recognise native corn as an element of national identity and banning the planting of genetically modified (GM) seeds.
The crop has originated in Mexico nearly 9,000 years ago when Mesoamerican farmers domesticated teosinte, a wild grass.
Since then, corn has remained central to Mexican life.
Corn imports surged from 3.1 million metric tonnes in the early 1990s to nearly 23.4 million metric tonnes today.