BIODIVERSITY IN FAMILY AGRICULTURE OF CHIAUTZINGO, PUEBLA: A CASE STUDY

Abstract

The loss of biological diversity in agroecosystems is widely understood, from the degree of disturbance that has been taking place, which is why it is important to contribute with cultivation patterns and species exploitation that reduce this damage and even improve the current situation, in the context of family agriculture. The objective of this study is to analyze the type and degree of diversity of species and varieties that a family is managing and the crop associations and rotations that it is using. For this purpose, information collected from 2015 to 2017 in a plot located in Sierra Nevada, Puebla, was reviewed. Results indicate that the family, every year, is managing commercially and efficiently 12 agricultural
species (6 annual and 6 fruit) and 20 varieties; that the most frequently used cultivation systems consist in lines of Creole and improved fruit trees (tejocote, pear, peach, apple, apricot, fig), interspersed with patterns of annual crops (associations of maize-bean, maize-ayocote, and maize-squash), as well as with the simple cultivation of these species and others like chili, squash and amaranth, in annual rotations of grass-legumes-chili. In this manner, it is possible to contribute to reducing the loss of agrobiodiversity and even to improve the variety of crops available in rural communities.