CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE AGRONOMY AND BIOLOGY OF CACTUS PEARS

This essay presents results obtained from research projects carried out at the Colegio de Posgraduados, the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias, and the University of Guadalajara in both wild and cultivated populations of cactus pears (Opuntia spp.) in the states of Aguascalientes, Guanajuato, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas, México. The results involve phenology and fruit quality, as well as structural, physiological and reproductive adaptations to aridity. Aspects related to evolution and domestication of cactus pears, as well as the response to organic and chemical fertilization are also discussed. Cactus pears are a valuable genetic resource for subsistence agriculture in the semiarid zones of Mexico, and a singular biological model for the understanding of the evolution of adaptations to aridity. Cactus pears produce fresh fruit acceptable for human consumption; however, one of the factors that limits their development as a fruit crop, is the relatively high number of seeds in the fruit. Farmer´s yards are a source of germplasm for future breeding programs in this species. The use of cactus pear in projects oriented to the rehabilitation of degraded semiarid environments will mitigate in the short term the negative effects of drought, and in the medium term to stop the desertification and decrease the adverse effects of climatic change in the arid regions of México.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Pimienta-Barrios, Eulogio, Ramírez-Hernández, Blanca C.
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	spa
Published:	Colegio de Postgraduados 1999
Online Access:	https://www.agrociencia-colpos.org/index.php/agrociencia/article/view/1616
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