Complementary Agriculture (AgriCom); Low-Cost Strategy to Improve Profitability and Sustainability in Rural Communities in Semi-Arid Regions

The rural population in areas of the Mexican semi-desert experiences poverty levels that limit a life free from socioeconomic deprivation, and they migrate, abandoning their assets. This is exacerbated by climate change (drought, temperatures), which affects crops. Although farmers try to cope with this, their strategies are insufficient. A low-cost Complementary Agriculture (AgriCom) model was designed using local resources to produce prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica Mill.) known as “nopal” and corn (Zea mays L.), and to conserve regional germplasm of Opuntia spp. Yield, profitability, and Equivalent Land Use (ELU) were evaluated on seven varieties of prickly pear cactus. The Verdura, Atlixco, and Rojo Liso varieties showed higher cladode yield (vegetable), internal rate of return, and net present value; and their cost-benefit ratios were 7.97, 6.35, and 6.82, respectively. The ELU was greater than 1.0 when combining cactus varieties. The agroclimatic conditions did not allow corn to reach its phenological cycle and its ELU was zero. A total of 70 nopal genotypes were collected, with three replicates (N=210 conserved plants) integrated into the production module of eight Opuntia species. This model has been accepted in the Bank of Low-Cost Technological Solutions and/or Based on Local Resources, in the Platform for Climate Action in Agriculture in Latin America and the Caribbean (PLACA), to be installed in other communities in Latin America.