TITLE:
Agroclimatic Suitability of Malanga (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott) under Rainfed Conditions in Mexico
AUTHORS:
Genovevo Ramírez-Jaramillo, Mónica Guadalupe Lozano-Contreras, Jorge Humberto Ramírez-Silva
KEYWORDS:
Malanga, Regionalization, GIS, Climate, Soils
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.11 No.12,
December
6,
2024
ABSTRACT: Malanga (Colocasia esculenta L. Schott), also known as taro or quiscamote in Latin America, is a plant species with ornamental, culinary and industrial uses, adapted to warm and humid climates. Nowadays, Malanga fit very well in the overseas growing trend towards a healthier lifestyle, which is reflected in the incorporation of foods and drinks that have nutraceutical characteristics. These products, which offer numerous health benefits, are driving a notable increase in their consumption and popularity. Considering that the cultivation of Malanga could be a great opportunity to diversify the Mexican market this work had the objective to identify suitable agroclimatic areas for the cultivation of Malanga under rainfed conditions in Mexico. For zoning, two sets of key factors were evaluated for optimal crop development: Edaphic factors, such as slope, depth, texture and pH of the soil; And climatic factors, such as precipitation, temperature, hours of daylight and altitude. The results revealed areas with high and medium productive potential. The methodology used included the definition of the agroecological requirements of the crop, based on databases, scientific literature and consultations with experts. The information was processed by using: 1) The QGIS 3.22.14 Biatowieza software, 2) the georeferenced databases of the Mexican-INEGI Digital Elevation Model, 3) the World climate database version 2.0 and 4) the WRB soil database with maps at a scale of 1:250,000. The results indicated the existence of more than two million hectares with high productive potential and more than three million with medium potential, located mainly in the states of Tabasco, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Chiapas and Campeche.