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PREFACE


Towards the end of 1990, encouraged by the Mexican Embassy in Rome, a Mexican delegation consisting of researchers, technicians and officials from the federal agricultural sector, visited the island of Sicily, Italy, with the aim of initiating agreements to exchange information between the two countries concerning the cultivation and utilization of opuntia. When the delegation arrived on the island, the spectacular development of opuntia was noted. It was surprising to realize that formal cultivation of opuntia started only in the 19th century.

One year later, an International Symposium on Opuntia, with participants from Chile, Italy, Mexico and USA, was organized in Lagos de Moreno (Jalisco, Mexico), with the purpose of encouraging producers and researchers to increase cooperation among the participating countries and to diffuse information on the importance of opuntia.

As a follow-up to this meeting, it was proposed to create an International Technical Cooperation Network on Cactus Pear (CACTUSNET). The proposal was presented in a special session of the Second International Congress on Opuntia, which was held in Santiago, Chile, in 1992. CACTUSNET was established under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in a specific meeting organized by the University of Guadalajara, Mexico, in August 1993, with the participation often countries from the Americas, Asia and Europe. Subsequently, several African countries have also joined the Network.

Subsequently, thanks to the voluntary cooperation of CACTUSNET members residing in countries with an arid environment, it was possible to start a database on countries of production, opuntia uses, and cultivated areas. At the end of the 20th century, the area under cultivated opuntia for forage was reported to be 900 000 ha, greatly surpassing the reported area for fruit (100 000 ha). For farmers in arid zones, opuntia planting is one solution to the problem of recurrent droughts. The succulence and nutritive value of opuntia make it a valuable emergency crop, permitting livestock farmers in Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and USA to survive prolonged and severe droughts.

It is worth mentioning that most authors of this book are technicians and scientists with wide experience in their own country of cultivation and use of opuntia as forage. The publication strengthens the written information on opuntia, since most of the existing publications have emphasized its use as a fruit.

Finally, I would like to mention that the diffusion of information on species like opuntia can allow assessment of its value for tackling drought in the short term, while in the medium term opuntia can constitute an important alternative to counteract global climate change and desertification. Other benefits from opuntia are soil and water conservation, and protection of local fauna in arid and semi-arid lands.

The publication of this book is, therefore, opportune, reflecting one of the basic objectives of the CACTUSNET, namely the diffusion of technical and scientific knowledge on opuntia

Dr Eulogio Pimienta
University of Guadalajara, Mexico
First General Coordinator of the CACTUSNET


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