Who Doesn't Love Fresh Corn on the Cob in the Summer?

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Who Doesn't Love Fresh Corn on the Cob in the Summer? Corn Ahh - who doesn’t love fresh corn on the cob in the summer? It is so good, and so good for you! It not only provides the necessary calories for daily metabolism, but is a rich source of vitamins A, B, E and many minerals. Its high fiber content ensures that it plays a role in prevention of digestive ailments. Growing info: We're expanding our sweet corn production this year by popular demand. The issue with corn, is it takes a lot of space. You can get about 100 ears from every 100 row-feet of planting. When a share consists of 8 ears of corn, this is 8 feet for one share! We plant corn in succession starting in mid May. This will give us a constant supply through summer. Common Problems: Corn ear worms are the TIPS: major pest we deal with in corn. They are tiny little worms that crawl into the tip of the ear and Short-term Storage: Corn converts it's start eating. By the time they get an inch down sugars into starch soon after peak the tip of the ear, they will have grown to a large ripeness, so best to eat it soon. and ugly size. We prevent ear worm by injecting Otherwise, store in a very cold a small amount of vegetable oil into the tips refrigerator. before the worms have a chance of crawling in. Long-term Storage: Cut kernels off the cobs and freeze. You’ll probaby see mostly white corn in 2011. Recipes--Corn Summer Corn Salad 2 pinches kosher salt Core the tomatoes and cut a 8 ears fresh corn 6 ears corn, husked and cleaned small X on the bottom of each. 1 sprig fresh rosemary, bruised 3 large tomatoes, diced Brush with olive oil, season with 1 tablespoon sugar 1 large onion, diced salt and pepper, and place on 1/4 teaspoon turmeric 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil the grill, X side down, away from 2 tablespoons yellow cornmeal 1/4 cup olive oil direct heat. Cover the grill and 1 cup heavy cream 2 tablespoons white vinegar cook until the tomatoes begin to Fresh ground black pepper salt and pepper to taste soften but are not cooked all the way through (or they will melt In a saucepan over medium 1.Bring a large pot of lightly through the grate!), about 15 heat, sweat the onion in butter salted water to a boil. Cook corn minutes. Set aside until cool and salt until translucent. in boiling water for 7 to 10 enough to handle, then peel. Cut minutes, or until desired the tomatoes in half crosswise In a large mixing bowl, place a tenderness. Drain, cool, and cut and squeeze out the juice and paper bowl in the middle of the kernels off the cob with a sharp the seeds through a sieve into a bowl. Resting the cob on the knife. bowl. Reserve the juices and bowl in a vertical position 2.In a large bowl, toss together chop the flesh. remove only the tops of the the corn, tomatoes, onion, basil, kernel with a knife, using long oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Put the onions in the non- smooth downward strokes and Chill until serving. reactive medium bowl and toss rotating the cob as you go. After with 2 tablespoons of the the cob has been stripped, use from Allrecipes.com vinegar. Let marinate until the the dull backside of your knife to color changes, about 10 scrape any remaining pulp and Grilled Corn Salsa minutes. milk off the cob. 10 large ears corn, husked Add the chopped tomatoes, Add the corn and pulp mixture to 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus reserved tomato juice, onions, the saucepan and cook over more for brushing basil, and 1/3 cup olive oil to the medium high until the juice from Salt and freshly ground pepper corn. Toss well. Taste for the corn has tightened. Add the 8 vine-ripened tomatoes, about seasoning and adjust with salt, rosemary. Sprinkle the corn with 1 pound total pepper, and remaining vinegar. the sugar and turmeric. Stir 1 cup diced red onion, 1/4-inch The salsa is best eaten the constantly for about 2 minutes. dice same day but will keep, covered Sprinkle the cornmeal onto the 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar, and refrigerated, a day or so. corn, using a whisk to combine or more to taste well. Add the heavy cream and 1/2 cup julienne fresh basil Serve with tortilla chips or as a cook until the corn has softened, leaves topping for tacos. from about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove Michael Chiarello the rosemary. Season with Brush the corn liberally with freshly ground black pepper. olive oil and season well with Better Than Grannie's salt and pepper. Grill, turning Creamed Corn every few minutes, until light from Alton Brown gold all over and cooked, about 12 minutes. Let cool and cut off 1/2 onion, diced the kernels. Discard the cobs. 1 tablespoon butter .
Recommended publications
  • Conserving Agrobiodiversity Amid Global Change, Migration, and Nontraditional Livelihood Networks: the Dynamic Uses of Cultural Landscape Knowledge
    Copyright © 2014 by the author(s). Published here under license by the Resilience Alliance. Zimmerer, K. S. 2014. Conserving agrobiodiversity amid global change, migration, and nontraditional livelihood networks: the dynamic uses of cultural landscape knowledge. Ecology and Society 19(2): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06316-190201 Research, part of a Special Feature on Sustaining Ecosystem Services in Cultural Landscapes: Analysis and Management Options Conserving agrobiodiversity amid global change, migration, and nontraditional livelihood networks: the dynamic uses of cultural landscape knowledge Karl S. Zimmerer 1 ABSTRACT. I examined agrobiodiversity in smallholder cultural landscapes with the goal of offering new insights into management and policy options for the resilience-based in situ conservation and social-ecological sustainability of local, food-producing crop types, i.e., landraces. I built a general, integrative approach to focus on both land use and livelihood functions of crop landraces in the context of nontraditional, migration-related livelihoods amid global change. The research involved a multimethod, case-study design focused on a cultural landscape of maize, i.e., corn, growing in the Andes of central Bolivia, which is a global hot spot for this crop’s agrobiodiversity. Central questions included the following: (1) What are major agroecological functions and food-related services of the agrobiodiversity of Andean maize landraces, and how are they related to cultural landscapes and associated knowledge systems? (2) What are new migration-related livelihood groups, and how are their dynamic livelihoods propelled through global change, in particular international and national migration, linked to the use and cultural landscapes of agrobiodiversity? (3) What are management and policy options derived from the previous questions? Combined social-ecological services as both cultivation and food resources are found to function in relation to the cultural landscape.
    [Show full text]
  • The Archaeology of Maize
    chapter 1 The Archaeology of Maize the domesticators domesticated The story of maize begins at least 9,000 years ago in southwestern Mex- ico as small groups of nomadic people found themselves attracted to stands of a rather tall, bushy tropical grass now known as teosinte (fi gure 1.1). We don’t know what name these early indigenous Mexi- cans had for teosinte, but by the time of the Spanish Conquest there were many names for it, including cincocopi, acecintle, atzitzintle.1 Today evidence of these fi rst farmers and the teosinte plants they har- vested is almost invisible—but we can see some traces left behind by the early descendants of both the plants and the people. For example, pho- tographs of the tiny maize cobs, classifi ed as Zea mays ssp. mays, that were found in Guilá Naquitz cave, Oaxaca, by Kent Flannery and his crew in the mid-1960s show parts of the earliest known individual plants that are descended from an ancestral teosinte plant (fi gures 1.2 and 1.3).2 In order for these cobs, which are directly dated to 6,230 cal BP,3 to have existed, not only did the ancient Oaxaqueños living near Guilá Naquitz cave have to have planted individual seeds, but their ancestors and neighbors also had to have planted and harvested teosinte seeds for hundreds of previous generations. We do not know if these particular early Oaxacan maize plants themselves had descendants. After all, their seeds could have been com- pletely consumed by people or animals and not gone on to propagate 17 BBlakelake - 99780520276871.indd780520276871.indd 1717 005/06/155/06/15 99:06:06 PPMM figure 1.1.
    [Show full text]
  • A STUDY on the USE of METAL SILOS for SAFER and BETTER TS ORAGE of GUATEMALAN MAIZE José Rodrigo Mendoza University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected]
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research in Food Food Science and Technology Department Science and Technology 7-2016 FROM MILPAS TO THE MARKET: A STUDY ON THE USE OF METAL SILOS FOR SAFER AND BETTER TS ORAGE OF GUATEMALAN MAIZE José Rodrigo Mendoza University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/foodscidiss Part of the Agricultural Economics Commons, Agricultural Science Commons, Environmental Microbiology and Microbial Ecology Commons, Food Microbiology Commons, Food Security Commons, Other Food Science Commons, and the Toxicology Commons Mendoza, José Rodrigo, "FROM MILPAS TO THE MARKET: A STUDY ON THE USE OF METAL SILOS FOR SAFER AND BETTER TS ORAGE OF GUATEMALAN MAIZE" (2016). Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research in Food Science and Technology. 75. http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/foodscidiss/75 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Food Science and Technology Department at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations, Theses, & Student Research in Food Science and Technology by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. i FROM MILPAS TO THE MARKET: A STUDY ON THE USE OF METAL SILOS FOR SAFER AND BETTER STORAGE OF GUATEMALAN MAIZE by José Rodrigo Mendoza A THESIS Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science Major: Food Science & Technology Under the supervision of Professor Jayne Stratton Lincoln, Nebraska July, 2016 ii FROM MILPAS TO THE MARKET: A STUDY ON THE USE OF METAL SILOS FOR SAFER AND BETTER STORAGE OF GUATEMALAN MAIZE José Rodrigo Mendoza, M.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Cy an Entrée Consists of One Item As Listed in the Entrée Section
    Cy MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY Week 1 Week 1 Week 1 Week 1 Week 1 Week 1 Week 1 10/14/2019 10/15/2019 10/16/2019 10/17/2019 10/18/2019 10/19/2019 10/20/2019 BREAKFAST ENTREES BLUEBERRY FRENCH TOAST WAFFLES PANCAKES FRENCH TOAST PANCAKES WAFFLES PANCAKES SAUSAGE PATTIES CORNED BEEF HASH COUNTRY HAM SAUSAGE PATTIES SMOKED SAUSAGE SAUSAGE LINKS SPICY CHICKEN BREAKFAST BREAKFAST BREAKFAST BREASFAST HAM & CHEESE EGGS BENEDICT VEGETABLE QUICHE CASSEROLE BURRITOS ENCHILADAS CASSEROLE EGGS LUNCH ENTRÉE FRIED CHICKEN HICKORY HERBED LEMON HONEY GARLIC BEEF STEW W/ MAPLE SMOKED PULLED STROMBOLI GRILLED PORK CHICKEN CORNBREAD TACO THURSDAY PORK CHOPS FRIED PORK HOISIN GLAZED HERB BAKED SEASONED GROUND FRIED CHICKEN BEEF BAYOU CATFISH CUBED STEAK CHOPS RIBS CHICKEN SHREDDED CHICKEN WINGS ** SUNDRIED ** STUFFED **VEGETABLE LO FISH TACOS ** VEG. STUFFED ** TOMATO MEATLOAF TOMATO & TOMATOES MEIN SQUASH BASIL MANICOTTI SPINACH PASTA ** STUFFED POBLANO HUSHPUPPIES PEPPERS SIDES AT LUNCH AUGRATIN WHITE RICE & CILANTRO LIME MOZERALLA SCALLOPED FRIED RICE RED RICE POTATOES GRAVY RICE STICKS POTATOES LOADED MASHED WHITE RICE JASMINE RICE REFRIED BEANS MAC & CHEESE POTATO WEDGES RICE PILAF POTATOES CORN ON THE MANDARIN STIR- SOUTHERN MEXICAN SAUTEED PARMESAN GREEN BEANS COB FRY COLLARDS VEGETABLES CABBAGE BROCCOLI SAUTEED GREEN GREEN BEAN ROASTED BOY CHOY SAUTEED CORN SUCCOTASH BEANS CASSEROLE CAULIFLOWER DAILY SOUPS Soup of the Day Soup of the Day Soup of the Day Soup of the Day Soup of the Day Soup of the Day Soup of the Day CRAB
    [Show full text]
  • Mycotoxins in Corn-Based Food Products Consumed in Brazil: an Exposure Assessment for Fumonisins
    7974 J. Agric. Food Chem. 2007, 55, 7974–7980 Mycotoxins in Corn-Based Food Products Consumed in Brazil: An Exposure Assessment for Fumonisins ,† ‡ ELOISA D. CALDAS* AND ANGELA C. S. SILVA Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Brasília (UnB), 70910-900, Brasília, DF, Brazil, and Department of Nutrition, University Center of Brasilia (UniCEUB), 70790-075, Brasilia, DF, Brazil Samples from 10 different corn-based food products commercially sold in the Federal District of Brazil were analyzed for fumonisins (FB1 and FB2) using HPLC/fluorescence following naphthalene-2,3 dicarboxaldehyde (NDA) derivatization (limit of quantification (LOQ) ) 0.020 mg/kg). Samples were also analyzed for aflatoxins (B1,B2,G1, and G2) on a thin-layer chromatrography (TLC) plate under UV light (LOQ of 2 µg/kg). From the 208 samples analyzed, 80.7 and 71.6% had quantifiable levels of FB1 and FB2, respectively. Mean levels of total fumonisins (FB1 + FB2) ranged from 0.127 mg/kg for corn flakes to 2.04 mg/kg for cornmeal (creme de milho). No FBs were detected in any of the fresh, sweet corn on the cob samples analyzed. Aflatoxins were not detected in any of the 101 samples analyzed. The daily intakes of fumonisins through the consumption of corn-based food products was estimated using consumption data estimated from the 2002/2003 Brazilian Household Budget Survey and the level of fumonisins found in this and other studies conducted in Brazil. In the Federal District, the calculated total daily intake for the total and the consumers-only populations represented, respectively, 9.0 and 159% of the provisional maximum total daily intake (PMTDI) of 2 µg/kg body weight per day.
    [Show full text]
  • Sweet Corn! Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D., R.D., L.R.D., Food and Nutrition Specialist Makenzie Forward, Community Nutrition Practicum Student
    FN1799 Sweet Corn! Julie Garden-Robinson, Ph.D., R.D., L.R.D., Food and Nutrition Specialist Makenzie Forward, Community Nutrition Practicum Student weet corn on the cob (or off the cob) is a tasty addition to meals. Corn, also called “maize,” is sold by color, not variety (white, yellow or bicolor). Corn can be preserved in different Sways to be enjoyed year-round. Growing Preservation Plant sweet corn once the soil temperature is Freezing approximately 50 F. Place seeds 8 to10 inches apart Whole-kernel or cream-style corn: Water blanch cobs for four and about 1 inch deep in full sun. If planting more than minutes. Cool promptly, drain and cut the corn from the cob to one row, space the rows about 2½ to 3 feet apart. For about two-thirds of the depth of the kernels. Fill pint or quart well-filled ears, plant in blocks of at least four rows. plastic freezer containers or freezer bags. Leave about ½ inch Pick sweet corn in the cooler temperatures of early of head space to allow for expansion during freezing. Squeeze morning. the air from the bags and seal. Label with the date. Corn on the cob: Water blanch small ears (1¼ inches or less in diameter) seven minutes, medium ears (1¼ to 1½ inches in diameter) nine minutes and large ears (more than 1½ inches Nutrition in diameter) 11 minutes. Cool promptly and completely in ice One 6-inch ear of corn (about ½ cup of kernels) water. Drain and package; press out air from the bag. Seal and has 60 calories, 0.5 gram (g) fat, 2 g protein, 14 g freeze.
    [Show full text]
  • Family Newsletter
    family newsletter NutrieNts FouNd iN CorN growN iN oregoN • Corn is a good source of vitamin Oregon ranks in the top five C and thiamin. of all states for sweet corn • Corn is an excellent source production. In 2011, Oregon of folate. grew over 160 square miles of corn—that is a larger area than • Corn is the only grain that the city of Portland! contains vitamin A. • Frozen corn has slightly less vitamin oregoN C than fresh corn, but is still packed with nutrients! CorN growN For sChools liviNg aNd eatiNg greeN Enjoy days with nice weather by walking or biking to school with your child! healthy, Fit & Just For Kids eady to earN r l Use corn cobs as paint brushes! Gather lots • Visit a Farmer’s Market or grocery store and of corn cobs--some with kernels still on them allow your child to pick out a new fruit or and some without. Pour paint onto a paper vegetable to eat at home. plate. Dip the corn cob into the paint, rolling it to cover all sides. Then, roll the corn cob • Make eating a social occasion—turn off the onto paper to create neat patterns. Exper- television and talk about the day. iment with different corn cobs to see the • Help your child create a face with vegetables differences in the designs they create! Don’t on a plate (e.g. cucumber slices as eyes, eat corn with paint on it, and don’t put it in grated carrot hair, cherry tomato nose and the compost, either.
    [Show full text]
  • TRADITIONAL HIGH ANDEAN CUISINE ORGANISATIONS and RESCUING THEIR Communities
    is cookbook is a collection of recipes shared by residents of High Andean regions of Peru STRENGTHENING HIGH ANDEAN INDIGENOUS and Ecuador that embody the varied diet and rich culinary traditions of their indigenous TRADITIONAL HIGH ANDEAN CUISINE ORGANISATIONS AND RESCUING THEIR communities. Readers will discover local approaches to preparing some of the unique TRADITIONAL PRODUCTS plants that the peoples of the region have cultivated over millennia, many of which have found international notoriety in recent decades including grains such as quinoa and amaranth, tubers like oca (New Zealand yam), olluco (earth gems), and yacon (Peruvian ground apple), and fruits such as aguaymanto (cape gooseberry). e book is the product of a broader effort to assist people of the region in reclaiming their agricultural and dietary traditions, and achieving both food security and viable household incomes. ose endeavors include the recovery of a wide variety of unique plant varieties and traditional farming techniques developed during many centuries in response to the unique environmental conditions of the high Andean plateau. TRADITIONAL Strengthening Indigenous Organizations and Support for the Recovery of Traditional Products in High-Andean zones of Peru and Ecuador HIGH ANDEAN Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean CUISINE Av. Dag Hammarskjöld 3241, Vitacura, Santiago de Chile Telephone: (56-2) 29232100 - Fax: (56-2) 29232101 http://www.rlc.fao.org/es/proyectos/forsandino/ FORSANDINO STRENGTHENING HIGH ANDEAN INDIGENOUS ORGANISATIONS AND RESCUING THEIR TRADITIONAL PRODUCTS Llaqta Kallpanchaq Runa Kawsay P e r u E c u a d o r TRADITIONAL HIGH ANDEAN CUISINE Allin Mikuy / Sumak Mikuy Published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (FAO/RLC) FAO Regional Project GCP/RLA/163/NZE 1 Worldwide distribution of English edition Traditional High Andean Cuisine: Allin Mikuy / Sumak Mikuy FAORLC: 2013 222p.; 21x21 cm.
    [Show full text]
  • Presents: Is a Ing!
    PRESENTS: IS A ING! When you hear the word corn, you may envision images of eating hot, buttered corn-on-the-cob or fields and fields of corn plants growing along highways. But did you know that corn is everywhere around you? In fact, you are using corn CORNY right now. (The paper and ink used to make this booklet contain corn-based ingredients.) There are more than 4,000 ways to use this popular crop, HUMOR and scientists are discovering even more ways to use corn every day. Read on to find out why corn is such an a“maize”ing grain. What did the corn say when he got complimented? Aww, shucks SAY WHAT? MAIZE is the more correct term for the plant we know as corn in America. Its scientific name Why shouldn’t you tell a is Zea mays. secret on a farm? Corn is an important crop all over the world. Because the corn have ears. How do you say CORN in...? Spanish - maíz French - maïs Chinese - gǔ wù Where does a corn cob get Russian - кукуруза (kookoorooza) an education? Swahili - muhindi Corn-ell University CORN IS A Corn truly is an amazing plant. Scientists recently mapped out corn’s genetic code and found that it has more genes than a human! Genes are the instructions that make living things look and behave the way they do. CORN IS ROOTED ACTIVITY: IN OUR HISTORY Use the terms below to label the parts of the corn plant. Roots Stalk Tassels Since ancient times, corn has played an important Leaves Ear Silks role in human history.
    [Show full text]
  • 2016-273-001
    BRS Weed Risk Assessment Data Entry Form 4.0 Use the Weed Risk Assessment (WRA) Work Instructions to fill out the fields below. Be sure to read all of the text associated with each question every time you conduct a WRA. Basic information (8 questions) (1) WRA version number (2) WRA number 4.0 2016­273­001 (3) GE or baseline (4) Baseline WRA number GE 2014­273­001 (5) CBI (6) Applicant no N/A (7) Preparers (8) Reviewers BRS BRS Taxonomy and sexually compatible relatives (6 questions) (9) Common name (10) Scientific name Corn (NRCS, 2015b) Zea mays ssp. mays L. (ITIS, 2015) (11) Other common names Maize, Indian corn (NCBI_Taxonomy Browser,Draft 2015) (12) Scientific name synonyms z Zea alba Mill. z Zea amylacea Sturtev. z Zea everta Sturtev. z Zea indentata Sturtev. z Zea indurata Sturtev. z Zea japonica Van Houtte z Zea saccharata Sturtev. z Zea tunicata (Larrañaga ex A. St.­Hil.) Sturtev. z Zea mays ssp. ceratina (Kuelshov) Zhuk. (ITIS, 2015) z Zea mays subsp. mays (NCBI_Taxonomy Browser, 2015) There are others but these synonyms show up in the literature more often. (13) Taxonomic scope This weed risk assessment covers only Zea mays ssp. mays. There are other subspecies of Zea mays but they will not be addressed here. 14) Sexually compatible relatives Teosinte ­Teosinte is the closest relative of corn; it hybridizes with corn and hybrids can be fully fertile (Wilkes, 1977; OGTR, 2008). Teosintes are generally not present in the U.S. other than in breeding and research programs and as occasional botanical garden specimens (Iltis, 2003; EPA, 2010).
    [Show full text]
  • Corn Wiki – Botanical Description
    Corn Botanical Description Corn, Zea mays, derives its name from the Arawak mahizi which literally means „that which sustains life.‟ii The name corn was added by the Europeans who referred to all small-seeded cereal grains as corn; they used the term „Indian Corn‟ when referring to this American grain denoting its connection with the Native Americans. Raising two to twenty feet high, corn stalks can have anywhere from eight to forty-eight leaves and multiple ears. Each stalk produces ears that contain many rows of kernels that grow off of the cob of the ear and are enclosed by a leafy husk. Zea mays is an annual grass of the Maydeae family of the genesis Gramineae.iii Other grasses in this family include wheat, barley, rye, sugarcane, sorghum, and riceiv. One main difference between corn and other cereals is that it bears seed heads, ears, that are larger than any other grassv. Also corn has a higher yield of food per unit than any other grain. This productivity is one of the main contributing factors of corn‟s appeal to farmers. Each corn plant contains both male and female reproductive organs. The tassels, the terminal flowers, ordinarily develop only male spikelets which grow in pairs with one being sessile, having no stalk, and the other pedicellate, a single blossom on a lean stalk.vi Each tassel contains some twenty-five million pollen grains.vii The lateral organ or female inflorescence is the ear. Each ear of corn contains upwards of one thousand potential kernels. Like the male tassels, the ears also bear spikelets, once again with only one of the flowers developing.
    [Show full text]
  • Diversity in Global Maize Germplasm: Characterization and Utilization
    Diversity in global maize germplasm: Characterization and utilization BM PRASANNA CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), Nairobi, Kenya (Fax, +254-20-7224600; Email, [email protected]) Maize (Zea mays L.) is not only of worldwide importance as a food, feed and as a source of diverse industrially important products, but is also a model genetic organism with immense genetic diversity. Although it was first domesticated in Mexico, maize landraces are widely found across the continents. Several studies in Mexico and other countries highlighted the genetic variability in the maize germplasm. Applications of molecular markers, particularly in the last two decades, have led to new insights into the patterns of genetic diversity in maize globally, including landraces as well as wild relatives (especially teosintes) in Latin America, helping in tracking the migration routes of maize from the centers of origin, and understanding the fate of genetic diversity during maize domestication. The genome sequencing of B73 (a highly popular US Corn Belt inbred) and Palomero (a popcorn landrace in Mexico) in the recent years are important landmarks in maize research, with significant implications to our understanding of the maize genome organization and evolution. Next-generation sequencing and high-throughput genotyping platforms promise to further revolutionize our understanding of genetic diversity and for designing strategies to utilize the genomic information for maize improvement. However, the major limiting factor to exploit the genetic diversity in crops like maize is no longer genotyping, but high-throughput and precision phenotyping. There is an urgent need to establish a global phenotyping network for comprehensive and efficient characterization of maize germplasm for an array of target traits, particularly for biotic and abiotic stress tolerance and nutritional quality.
    [Show full text]