This Slime Could Change The World | Planet Fix | BBC Earth Science

Grown for centuries by indigenous farmers in rural Mexico, this incredibly rare corn can self-fertilise. In episode three of 'Planet Fix', we explore how this wonder crop could help tackle world hunger, and even end farming's toxic reliance on chemical fertilisers for good!

#Maize #PlanetFix

[sriharshacv]

People usually do not mind sharing their varieties. The problem starts when someone wants exclusive rights over a natural product.

[CampingforCool]

Just don’t let Monsanto or any of those other giant ag companies control the rights to the seed. It needs to be made public.

[ritaranee]

Food and medicine should never be allowed to be patented

[thelowlytrinity]

mexico is the cradle of so many crops we take for granted all over the world - corn, tomatoes, chocolate, vanilla, chillis, beans, avocado, sweet potato. respect and thanks to the people of mexico who cultivated these amazing plants over the centuries.

[Naptural]

I'm happy that the community is getting royalties for the seeds 🥰 I hope they remain protected and respected

[crab_grows]

I actually grew some maze here in Virginia that started producing this slime and fell in love with it. After they established, I didn't have to do any feedings because of this wonderful goo. I grew them from seeds from decorative Indian corn my mother gifted me.

[giprz]

I live in Michoacán, a state of Mexico. Here we also have those plants with their aerial roots and that gel on them 🙌🏻💚

[critterjon]

I feel like they under stated just how ground breaking this is with corn being able to fix it’s own nitrogen being the plant equivalent of if humans managed to develop gills

[mangarific]

I'm a synthetic biologist developing new types of biodegradable plastic using yeast and bacteria. Love when this stuff is documented, it really motivates me.

[t-squaredrywallsoler]

I am from Oaxaca and as a kid we used to have this type of maiz and it was the sweetest corn we could have, also the maza to make tortillas and to make "shato" it was made fron fresh corn, we didn't need sweet cookies or butter for our popcorn, this variety eventually disappeared don't see it around anymore I hope this research can done for a great benefit.

[danielwu]

The Aztecs were pioneers in agriculture and well ahead of their time. So many amazing crops have been cultivated in Mexico.

[belindanightingale]

A good book to read is Dan Saladino's book "Eating to Extinction". It features this plant and generally how it has survived and been cultivated. It discusses many of the ideas that have been expressed here.

[okbrstq]

This small community deserves all the royalties it can get. To have this unknown variety for 2000 years to themselves still amazes me! This could really help our planet from the destruction caused by nitrogen fertilizers.

[chefgiovanni]

Another solution to the fertilizer problem. Stop throwing away scrap fruits and vegetables, toss them into a bucket for a wet or dry compost, a few weeks later, add to garden plants. Watermelon rinds, corn cobs, tomato ends, limp lettuce, carrot peels, potatoes, even cherry pits and grapes, it all breaks down. You have now created free fertilizer and reduced the land fills.

[thedorito]

There's already enough food to solve world hunger.

[happinessescape]

thank you indigenous farmers and maize-loving biker santa claus, this is extremely cool stuff

[lankanlife]

In Sri Lanka has a grass specious producing slime like this. That grass has 4"/5" long root bunches in every bend of the plant. Those roots are filled with that slime in the morning and disappear when sun is up. It tastes like water jelly. We used to eat and rub on face that slime just for fun when our childhood.

[oakkblackbird]

Awesome to see Santa get involved in science of crop farming 👍👍👍

[quentincompson]

In the late 1970s, I wrote a sci-fi story entitled "Maizine" exactly about this. The plant became so successful, it turned into an invasive species that wiped out all the other plant life on earth. Eventually, this drove the protagonist mad because there was a compound in the food derived from it that only he could taste, and ALL the carbs on earth were made from Maizine. :)

[sineadw]

It’s like this family, for generations, were caretakers to one of the answers that will help heal Mother Earth. Minding it and cultivating until the world needs it. Beautiful ❤️