Good Agricultural Practices in Cactus Pear Crop

Abstract

Opuntia is cultivated on over 100,000 ha for fruit production and more than a million ha is devoted to obtaining forage and fodder for cattle, sheep, and goat production in main cactus pear producer countries (Inglese, 2010). Other products from cactus pear are nopalitos. In Mexico, more than 15,000 ha are used to cultivate nopalitos. Cochineal production in Ethiopia, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and other countries is an important resource obtained from more than 35,000 ha. Opuntia plants are native to different environments, so they would be an interesting genetic resource for diverse ecological regions. However, the high environmental disturbance in many of these areas, results in low harvests in cactus pear production systems. The main factors inducing this situation are the weak social and economic conditions, inadequate cultivars and predominant bad management of crop. This manual aims to provide a basic guide of management in different productive Sistem on cactus pear production.