Manejo Socio-productivo y Variabilidad Genética del Agave angustifolia (Maguey Sacatoro)

Abstract

The magueyes have been used in the manufacture of fibers, fodder and fermented and distilled beverages, which has generated various physiological and morphological variations. Traditional agronomic practices maintain a wide variety of magueyes, in contrast to the Tequila agroindustries that have a narrow genetic base, obtaining a genetic erosion. The Agave angustifolia is the main source of mezcal raw material exporting around 750,000 L of mezcal annually. In the state of Guerrero handmade mezcal based on Agave angustifolia (maguey Sacatoro) is elaborated, however the increase in the demand of this product would show a substantial change in the agronomic practices, in the standardization of phenotypic characteristics and in the valuation of the maguey, putting at risk the production of mezcal, the cultural perception and the genetic variability of the populations of maguey Sacatoro, for this reason, the objective of this study was based on knowing and analyzing the socioproductive management of the maguey Sacatoro, through the qualitative analysis of semistructured interviews in the localities