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Nopal, a plant that loses ground in Oaxaca and has become an ally in times of drought

Published Aug 14, 2020

Tridge summary

NADIA ALTAMIRANO. NVI NEWS. MAGDALENA APASCO, ETLA, Oaxaca. Resuming the sowing of a plant that in pre-Hispanic times was the primary food of ancient cultures, in times of environmental, economic and health crisis can become the way to survive in a field that each agricultural cycle dries up.

Original content

A year ago, Miguel Chávez Santiago ventured to plant nopal on one of his 12 hectares, “everyone” in this municipality of the Central Valleys told him “that it did not work”, but no one had tried, much less interspersed with other crops . Miguel set his eyes on an iconic plant for Mexico, but one that is planted less and less in Oaxaca. The Agrifood and Fisheries Information Service (SIAP) identifies that in 2009 one million 383.7 thousand hectares were planted, but for 2019 only 144 hectares appear. The Agrifood Atlas of the State of Oaxaca published by the Secretariat of Agricultural Development, Fisheries and Aquaculture (Sedapa) reports in 2019 a state production of 284.47 tons of prickly pear, not one percent of the national production that exceeds 470 thousand tons. Around 161 producers from 13 municipalities participate in the production of this crop, mainly Ayoquezco de Aldama, Santa Gertrudis, San Pedro Apóstol, Tlacotepec Plumas or San Pedro Mártir, but Miguel has not yet ...
Source: Inforural
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