Prickly pear: The multipurpose crop that seeks its north in Argentina

The decrease in water resources, food shortages and the need to eliminate atmospheric CO2 are currently the main problems that the world must face in the face of climate change. Given this situation, there is a plant that is grown in northwest Argentina (NOA) and that has a lot of potential to meet part of these demands: the prickly pear. Currently, large-scale commercial prickly pear plantations are successfully implemented in Mexico, South America, Africa, the Middle East and several other areas, covering an area of 3 million hectares. This multipurpose crop in South America has been neglected, except for Brazil, with significant advances. Furthermore, cultivation is done on low-cost, underutilized marginal land, crucial as 40% of the Earth's area with a population of two billion is considered arid where water resources and food production are limited. That said, there are species that do not need much water to produce effectively and their production is concentrated in arid and ...