Cactus pear genetic resources the cornerstone of the Mexican cactus pear industry
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Plant genetic resources are an important asset of Mexico, according to their importance the Mexican government has included them into the agenda of key issues. GR exploration of Mexican cacti has two well defined stages and directions; botanical and horticultural. The first stage covered from 1950%27s to the 1980%27s, mostly concentrated on the ecogeographical and taxonomical aspects of Opuntia in general and covering the whole country. From 1985 onwards the interest has been on edible Opuntias; cactus pear (O. ficus-indica), pitaya (Stenocereus spp.) and pitahaya (Hylocereus spp.), scouting backyards, commercial plantations and to a lesser extent wild stocks. The focal regions have been the Central Highlands and the Central Plateau, both well known for their tradition of cactus utilization and high genetic variability. In May 2002, the government incepted the SINAREFI (National System of Plant Genetic Resources) initiative, which supported an extensive effort of collection, description and registration. Exploration is still incomplete, future projects should cover unexplored or partially explored areas: the Balsas River basin, Tehuacan Valley, Northern Oaxaca and the Otomi region in Hidalgo/Queretaro States. Cactus pear GR conservation involves five germplasm banks supported by SINAREFI, they are located at: Zacatecas, Zac (CRUCEN). San Luis de la Paz, Gto. (CENGUA), San Luis Potosi, S.L.P. (CE-SLP and IIZD) and Villa Hidalgo, Zac. (CBTA 138). They hold a total of 1021 accessions. Seven other collections are maintained by other institutions mostly for educational purposes.
Plant genetic resources are an important asset of Mexico, according to their importance the Mexican government has included them into the agenda of key issues. GR exploration of Mexican cacti has two well defined stages and directions; botanical and horticultural. The first stage covered from 1950's to the 1980's, mostly concentrated on the ecogeographical and taxonomical aspects of Opuntia in general and covering the whole country. From 1985 onwards the interest has been on edible Opuntias; cactus pear (O. ficus-indica), pitaya (Stenocereus spp.) and pitahaya (Hylocereus spp.), scouting backyards, commercial plantations and to a lesser extent wild stocks. The focal regions have been the Central Highlands and the Central Plateau, both well known for their tradition of cactus utilization and high genetic variability. In May 2002, the government incepted the SINAREFI (National System of Plant Genetic Resources) initiative, which supported an extensive effort of collection, description and registration. Exploration is still incomplete, future projects should cover unexplored or partially explored areas: the Balsas River basin, Tehuacan Valley, Northern Oaxaca and the Otomi region in Hidalgo/Queretaro States. Cactus pear GR conservation involves five germplasm banks supported by SINAREFI, they are located at: Zacatecas, Zac (CRUCEN). San Luis de la Paz, Gto. (CENGUA), San Luis Potosi, S.L.P. (CE-SLP and IIZD) and Villa Hidalgo, Zac. (CBTA 138). They hold a total of 1021 accessions. Seven other collections are maintained by other institutions mostly for educational purposes.
