Abstract

CHARCAS-SALAZAR, Hilario; AGUIRRE-RIVERA, Juan R  and  DURAN-GARCIA, Héctor M. Sweet-corn production in the rioverde region, San Luis Potosi, Mexico. Agronomía Trop. [online]. 2008, vol.58, n.4, pp.357-367. ISSN 0002-192X.

In the state of San Luis Potosi Mexico, a land extent of 29022 hectares to produce maize, Zea mays L., under irrigation management are cultivated every year; from these 21 079 hectares (72.6%) are used for grain production, and 7 943 (27.4%) for sweet-corn. 99.7% of the surface used for sweet-corn is located in the Rioverde region, in communal plots of 3 hectares in average, where the corn is planted in crop rotation with chili, Capsicum annum L., tomato, Licopersicum esculentum Mill., tree tomato, Physalis philadelphica Lam., and squash, Cucurbita spp. Sweet-corn production is obtained with cultivars and traditional culture techniques; however, the productivity and profitability is lower than in other regions of the country. The objective of this work was to analyze the production system of sweet-corn and to know its limitative factors. To collect the information, farmers from the region were interviewed to summarize the cultural practices: the data was sorted and classified through multivariate analysis. The results shown that sweetcorn production system is under a process of transition from traditional to intensive. Also we found that the farmers with the best results, normally use low plant density, apply nitrogen fertilizers opportunely and adequately, and sell the harvest before or after the majority of producers.

Keywords : Development of agriculture; traditionalagriculture; cropping systems; traditional agricultural systems; Zea mays L.