Guzzon, FilippoArandia Rios, Luis WalquerCaviedes Cepeda, Galo MarioCéspedes Polo, MarciaChávez Cabrera, AlexanderMuriel Figueroa, JesúsMedina Hoyos, Alicia ElizabethJara Calvo, Teófilo WladimirMolnar, Terence L.Narro León, Luis AlbertoNarro León, Teodoro PatricioMejía Kerguelén, Sergio LuisOspina Rojas, José GabrielVásquez, GriceldaPreciado Ortiz, Ricardo ErnestoZambrano, José LuisPalacios Rojas, NataliaPixley, Kevin2022-04-132022-04-132021-01-15Guzzon, F.; Arandia Rios, L.W.; Caviedes Cepeda, G.M.; Céspedes Polo, M.; Chavez Cabrera, A.; Muriel Figueroa, J.; Medina Hoyos, A.E.; Jara Calvo, T.W.; Molnar, T.L.; Narro León, L.A.; et al. Conservation and Use of Latin American Maize Diversity: Pillar of Nutrition Security and Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Agronomy 2021, 11, 172. doi: 10.3390/agronomy11010172https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12955/1660Latin America is the center of domestication and diversity of maize, the second most cultivated crop worldwide. In this region, maize landraces are fundamental for food security, livelihoods, and culture. Nevertheless, genetic erosion (i.e., the loss of genetic diversity and variation in a crop) threatens the continued cultivation and in situ conservation of landrace diversity that is crucial to climate change adaptation and diverse uses of maize. We provide an overview of maize diversity in Latin America before discussing factors associated with persistence of large in situ maize diversity, causes for maize landrace abandonment by farmers, and strategies to enhance the cultivation of landraces. Among other factors, maize diversity is linked with: (1) small-holder farming, (2) the production of traditional food products, (3) traditional cropping systems, (4) cultivation in marginal areas, and (5) retention of control over the production system by the farmers. On the other hand, genetic erosion is associated with substitution of landraces with hybrid varieties or cash crops, and partial (off-farm labor) or complete migration to urban areas. Continued cultivation, and therefore on-farm conservation of genetic diversity held in maize landraces, can be encouraged by creating or strengthening market opportunities that make the cultivation of landraces and open pollinated varieties (OPVs) more profitable for farmers, supporting breeding programs that prioritize improvement of landraces and their special traits, and increasing the access to quality germplasm of landraces and landrace-derived OPVs.1. Introduction. 2. Races of maize in Latin America. 3. Use of maize landraces for human consumption. 4. Genetic Erosion. 5. Conservation. 6. Breeding programs of maize for human consumption in Latin America. 7. Conclusions. References.application/pdfenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/AgrobiodiversityGenetic erosionMaize breedingMaize landracesMaize racesOpen pollinated varietiesOn farm conservationPlant genetic resourcesValue chaininfo:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttps://purl.org/pe-repo/ocde/ford#4.05.00Agronomyhttps://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11010172