Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

The chili pepper for drying, garlic and onion are economically important crops for the State of Zacatecas, Mexico. However, viral epidemics have emerged since the 1990s; the Experimental Field Zacatecas dependent of the INIFAP has conducted fragmented researches on these diseases, for this reason, the objective of this paper was to review and share information regarding the interaction between these crops with some viral pathogens, vectors and weed as well as striving the areas with the lack of knowledge which may require new or additional information. We have placed special emphasis on the identification of viruses and their vectors as a first step towards the establishment of an integrated management strategy: in a few years the presence of Curtovirus, Tospovirus, Carlavirus and Potyvirus, among others, have been reported infecting these crops in Zacatecas, Mexico.

The world economy is facing a global financial crisis; the capital accumulation model shows signs of exhaustion. This has resulted in the increase in food prices between April, 2007 and April, 2008; international food prices rose 54% in the main cereals (92%) and oil (84%). (FAO, FAOSTAT, index of food prices, Gómez, 2008) and the number of poor people has increased to such an extent that in 2010 it is considered that in the world, one billion people are hungry. FAO estimated that, the number of undernourished people in 2008 could have reached 915 million and will exceed 1000 million in 2009. (Un Millennium Goals Report 2010). The right to have food is a fundamental human right, and should seek alternatives to eliminate the scourge of hunger.

We worked with a database of recent accessions of 54 races of maize from Mexico, whose passport details were extracted from the Genetic Resource Unit from INIFAP ́s Germplasm Bank. From the geographical coordinates of the accessions, was made an accession characterization by site, conditions of moisture availability for the period from May to October for the development of maize, based on the environmental information system from INIFAP and the IDRISI Andes system. With these data, a statistical analysis was made that included an analysis of variance and analysis of numerical taxonomy (cluster analysis) with the product moment correlation between races. Additionally was performed an accessions analysis by race to identify the accessions that developed under moisture-deficient environments. Accessions were selected with adaptation to an environment with humidity index (IH) (precipitation / potential evapotranspiration) from May to October less than 0.5. The results showed the identification of five racial groups, of which one of them stood out for its adaptation to an HI between 0.39 and 0.53. This group included Chapalote, Dulcillo Northwest, Tuxpeño Norteño, Conical Norteño, Tablilla of Ocho and Gordo races. Accessions analysis reported the presence of maize in a total of 677 sites with semi-arid conditions in the May-October season. The 677 accessions represent 24 races. These results suggest that in Mexico there are genetic resources, related to the races of maize, which could be useful in breeding programs aimed to maize adaptation to drought stress.

The objective of this research was to analyze the technical and socioeconomic aspects of the production of guava in the State of Mexico. The method used was simple, random sampling, conducting open and closed questions to 50 ejido farmers and smallholders in the municipalities of Temascaltepec, and Coatepec de Harinas in 2008. In Temascaltepec average yields were 24.9 t ha-1. For Coatepec de Harinas, the average yield was 28.56 t ha-1. When comparing these yields to the State average and national figures it’s shown that are duplicated, since the State yield is 13.01 t ha-1 and 13.39 t ha-1 nationally. The producers have irrigation and technical assistance in a high percentage (32.2%) compared to the national total, 0.95%. (Díaz, 1987; CONABIO, 2008) despite the high yields, the producers said to have problems in the technology used, as it presents a delay especially in pruning, fertilization, irrigation, harvest schedule, plus the lack of control pests. Regarding the economic gain, the benefit-cost ratio for 2008 indicated that 0.38 of profit is obtained for each product unit sold. A problem that the producers are facing is the fall in real prices between 1980- 2008, these decreased at an average annual rate of -1.24%, has led losses in profitability.

The conservation and regeneration of seed collection of runner bean of the germplasm bank from INIFAP requires knowing the weather sites of domestication of the species. In 2010, at the Experimental Station of Valle de Mexico, were registered the passport data, locality, state, altitude, geographical coordinates, precipitation, minimum and maximum temperature and annual average of such sites. For this data and maps from Garcia and CONABIO were used (1998) 1:1 000 000 scale, the "software" GIS ARC- INFO, version 8.0 and the "hardware" SPARCstation, SUN OS, Version 5.5.1 from the Laboratory of Geographic Information Systems from INIFAP. The 798 accessions in the collection were domesticated in 140 sites in 13 states of the country, 80% at altitudes from 1 500 to 2 500 masl, precipitation from 500 to 1 000 mm annually. The wide range of minimum and maximum temperature separated sites into: very cold, -5 to -1 °C at night and 21 to 31 °C duringtheday,cold3to5°Catnightand25to33°C during the day, and semi cold 6 to 9 °C at night and 25 to 37 °C in the day. The distribution of native varieties of the species are concentrated in high and humid areas of the country, but also adapted to semi-arid with little rainfall and very warm.

In Mexico oat cereal is one that in recent years has increased its surfacesignificantly,replacingtraditionalcropssuchascorn, beans, wheat and barley, reaching 942 000 ha in 2010 (SIAP, 2010). However, its production is affected by fungal diseases thatinsomecaseshavenotbeenidentifiedandareapotential threat to the production of this cereal under rainfed. This study aimed to identify the causative agents of fungal diseases in the oat crop sown under rainfed conditions during the spring-summer 2009, in three regions of the State of Mexico. Collections were made from leaves with symptoms of different diseases of varieties Chihuahua, Cuauhtémoc and Opal that were sown in trials of the Oat Breeding Program from INIFAP. Phytopathogenic fungi identif ied were: Helminthosporium sativum, H. victoriae, H. avenae, Puccinia coronata, P. graminis f. sp. avenae, Curvularia sp., and saprophytic Alternaria sp., and Phoma sp. The disease with highest incidence in the three study regions was Puccinia graminis f. sp. avenae.

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is a species that has variability in tolerance to different abiotic stress and is considered a sensitive plant to salinity in the early stages of its growth. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of salinity on basil germination. Twenty varieties were subjected to three NaCl concentrations (0, 50 and 100 mM) in a completely randomized design with four replications. The study was developed in a germination chamber. The variables measured were rate and percentage of germination, radicle length, seedling height, fresh and dry biomass of radicle and shoot. The results showed that Sweet Dani, Red Rubin, Genovese Italian, Mrs Burns, Cinnamon, Emily and Dolly varieties had a better response in germination, germination rate, radicle length, seedling height, fresh and dry biomass radicle and shoot variables. It is discussed the differential response between varieties when subjected to different levels of NaCl.

It is of importance to the institutions involved in the development of the livestock sector to know the extent of adoption and speed with which technological innovations are accepted by users. I.e., how a novelty or technological innovation is no longer experimental and is transformed into a practice commonly used in the social sector. Response variables and the number of observations that integrate the samples under study provide valuable information for the diversity of topics that can be studied. However, the investigated response variables are normally expressed at different qualitative scales. Therefore the information is analyzed inappropriately or it is presented descriptively. Therefore, the aim of this proposal is to present the use of statistical techniques to analyze and evaluate the process of adoption of technological innovations. The proposed methodology includes qualitative scales to be analyzed with multivariate techniques such as the multivariate normality test, principal component analysis, clusters and canonical correlation. The use of these statistical tools exemplified by a study of technology adoption made with barley producers.

Recent efforts in the Experimental Field of Mexicali Valley of the National Institute of Agricultural and Livestock Forestry Research have allowed the development of wheat varieties of high yield and industrial quality. Among these superior genotypes is the new bread wheat variety Ñipal F2016, which exceeds the yield of Cachanilla F2000 with 8.1%. It is also resistant to yellow linear rust, resistant to leaf rust, septoria, spica blight and shows good industrial quality. The seed of Ñipal F2016 is available in the Experimental Valley of Mexicali.

This study analyzed the evolution of an innovation network between natural rubber producers for three observation periods (two waves or three years), and evaluated how producers react to different innovations in a given time. Innovation practices were grouped into three activities: pest and disease control, establishment and management of plantations, and harvesting and postharvest handling. The representation of the network and its evolution were analyzed through a "stochastic model based on the actor for dynamic networks," using the SIENA program (Rsiena) for data analysis. The results show that producers sought innovations in the short-term results. The harvest and postharvest innovations were adopted following a trend of information search within the network.