In Mexico, seed diversity has at least two components. The first is its Comunalidad, an ensemble of small-scale farmers who share points of view about being, seeing, and thinking. The second is its local practices formed by milpa, a creative, bio and culturally diverse, long-term as well as sustainable type of agriculture, and ejido, a kind of common property with a scheme of members' decision-making processes through a mechanism called "Asamblea Ejidal." Both components form a complex common influenced by no local contexts (formal science and international as well as national regulation). In this context, this research aims to analyze how no local factors influence seed diversity and its common local components in a positive or negative form.
Based on the eight design principles for common institutions suggested by Elinor Ostrom, this work studied seed diversity, culture, and local knowledge as supporters of small-scale farmers' types of seed conservation and biodiversity preservation through local selection and seed interchange. Then, the analysis compared these perspectives with no local practices to find potential synergies, offering hope for a future where local and non-local practices can work together for the common.
The study's findings underscore science's significant role in bolstering or undermining traditional agricultural practices. Science with agroecological perspectives aligns with and supports the ancestral wisdom of milpa, while science focused on the Green Revolution does not. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that most of the legislation, particularly at the international level, is perceived as a hindrance to the stability of the commons. However, recently, new national legislation seems to protect maize.
