干旱区生态环境知识资源中心

Pitaya (Stenocereus queretaroensis) is a columnar cactus that produces attractively colored edible fruits in both wild and cultivated populations in the subtropical semiarid lands of Mexico. Pitaya is a relatively recently domesticated fruit, which during the last 10 years has emerged as a fruit crop whose cultivation is feasible using relatively low inputs of anthropogenic energy or water and whose fruits ripen during the spring season, before summer when the local markets are flooded with other fresh summer fruits. These agronomic traits have increased the economic viability of small farms in semiarid subtropical lands of Mexico.

This article summarizes the work on agroecological and biological aspects of Stenocereus queretaroensis conducted during the last seven years in the subtropical semiarid lands of the Sayula Basin, Jalisco, Mexico. Our work is oriented to the development of basic knowledge of the plant and its environment, which allowed us to define opportunities and needs for basic and applied research, oriented to the domestication of pitaya under the modern precepts of sustainable development.