Mexico: Develop method to grow cranberry in warm areas
A group of researchers designed an agro-environmental technology with agroindustrial waste to prepare the soils of the state of Oaxaca and to be able to grow cranberry, typical of cold climates and acid soils.
The developers used the agroindustrial residues of the pine bark, the maguey bagasse and the coconut fiber, to create the growing medium, said Baldomero Zárate Nicolás, one of those in charge of the project.
"The agro-environmental technology allows the use of waste from the field to improve the soil, as is the case of the growing medium that can be used in forestry, ornamental production, among others"said Zárate Nicolás.
"In the case of maguey bagasse, the industry chooses to burn the waste generating pollution, when it could be used as composting, like the coconut fiber that is used in brick kilns", Agregó.
The research is carried out at the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Integral Regional Development of the Oaxaca Unit (CIIDIR), which receives support from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN).
In an interview with the Information Agency of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt), the researcher explained that in order to be useful the substrates must respect the physical and chemical parameters.
"It is necessary to condition the soil to achieve the cultivation of cranberry, as they are naturally unfit for what was resorted to using a substrate obtained from the organic residues of the pine bark, which has a pH (level of acidity or alkalinity) of five", he explained.
"A soil analysis must be carried out and modified according to the area in which the crop is to be established", he mentioned.
The project foresees two plots of culture at the beginning, so researchers develop studies within the greenhouses on the height, thickness, pH, electrical conductivity and phosphorus level, to start the harvest in June.
Source: Cronica.com.mx
Previous article
Spain: low cost berry frost control systemARTÍCULOS RELACIONADOS
