TITLE:
Productive Potential of Vigna unguiculata L., under Mexican Rainfed Conditions
AUTHORS:
Genovevo Ramírez-Jaramillo, Arturo Castellanos Ruelas, Jorge H. Ramírez-Silva, Mónica Guadalupe Lozano-Contreras
KEYWORDS:
Agroclimatic Regions, Legumes, Beans, GIS
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.9 No.12,
December
30,
2022
ABSTRACT: Vigna unguiculata L., also known as cowpea bean or x’pelon bean (Mayan term), is an important legume mainly consumed as dry grains, although it is also used in the form of immature pods rich in protein, vitamins, fiber, minerals, and antioxidants. It is an excellent source of protein (23% to 25%). It contains all the essential amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, and a large amount of dietary fiber, low in fat and cholesterol-free. In addition, it is considered a resilient crop due to its great adaptation to high temperatures, excess rainfall, tolerance to drought stress, little demand for high-quality soils, and ability to incorporate nitrogen into the soil because of its capacity to convert atmospheric nitrogen into available one. This work aimed to elaborate maps representing areas with high and medium yield potential under rainfed Mexican conditions. In this paper, the maps were elaborated by using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) through intersections and map algebra. The optimal agroecological requirements of the crop were the initial inputs required for the system and the information was processed with ESRI’s Arc/View 3.3 Software. It detected more than 13 million hectares with high productive potential under rainfed conditions for cowpea beans. Among the states with the largest areas were identified: Guerrero, Oaxaca, Campeche, Michoacán, Jalisco, Sinaloa, Nayarit, Veracruz, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo.