AGROECOLOGICAL ZONING OF GRASS (Pennisetum purpureum Schumach) TAIWAN VARIETY, IN CHIAPAS, MEXICO

Abstract

The use of cutting grasses in México has been adopted as an alternative to face and decrease the negative impact of the critical times of the year on the production of beef and milk. The agroecological zones that are apt to establish Taiwan grass (Pennisetum purpureum) in the state of Chiapas were determined. The following variables were analyzed: temperature (maximum and minimum) and precipitation, from 136 meteorological stations, defining four types of zones: Very Apt (MA), Apt (A), Marginally Apt (mA) and Not Apt (NA) from thermic and hydric excess of deficit. For the soil, the following were considered: fertility, depth, texture, pH, salinity and drainage to define the apt zones. The maps
were elaborated through the Geographic Information System (SIG). With the results from the analysis of temperature and precipitation, the map algebra was performed, thus obtaining the agroclimatic zoning and defining 3, 919 158.53 hectares with aptitude A. Referring to the soil resource, 1, 158 318.01 hectares were found with Very Apt (MA) level. When performing the map algebra between the optimal climatic and soil aptitudes, it was obtained that in Chiapas there are 785, 487.37 ha, with 10.65 % of the total surface in the state having Very Apt soil-climate aptitude to establish Taiwan grass.