CHARACTERIZATION OF VANILLA PRODUCTION SYSTEMS (Vanilla planifolia A.) ON ORANGE TREE AND MESH SHADE IN THE TOTONACAPAN REGION

Abstract

A characterization of production systems of Vanilla planifolia Andrews was carried out, one under orange trees and the other under mesh shade (50% brightness), was conducted through the identification of technical and climatic variables that may affect the yield of vanilla plantations in the Totonacapan region, in the Mexican states of Puebla and Veracruz. The characterization was conducted based on the theoretical approach of agrosystems, and by applying the nonparametric technique, chi square. The information was obtained through the application of a structured questionnaire to 99 producers in the region. The results indicate that on vanilla crop yield, the feature with the highest incidence is the number of pollinated flowers per pot, so that in vainillales with proper management must pollinate from five to seven flowers per pot and vainillales where the plants are not vigorous should pollinate three to four flowers per pot. So far  the system under orange trees represents the best alternative in terms of yield for producers. The vanilla production system under orange trees showed a maximum yield of 1.2 ton ha-1 which exceeded the yield of the mesh shade production system of 435 kg. Based on the traditional knowledge of producers, the most important factors that determine the proper development of the vanilla pods in the production system under orange three are: nutrition (21%), moisture (19%) and pollination (16%). While for the production system mesh shade are: nutrition (20%), temperature (15%) and moisture (14%).