Today we went out to vegetable growers fields, green houses, and strawberry fields. I learned a lot more about water problems and irrigation. Since water depletion is becoming a huge problem down here there are many regulations and rules on farmers water usage. For example they can only irrigate 100 acres of land, even if they have 600 acres.
There are two ways to irrigate crops; arial and drip. Arial wastes 40% of the water used on the crops. The water lands on the leaves of the plants which evaporates quicker then the plants can use it. It also is an invitation for bacteria to grow and contaminate the crops. Drip on the other hand is much more successful. the water goes directly to the soil which the plant then uses, wasting none of the water and the leaves cannot get infected with bacteria.
The green house and strawberry fields were also pretty interesting. They were harvest all different types of plants in the green house including endangered cacti. There were 32 acres of strawberries at the farm. I haven’t seen anything like it before. Guanajuato is known for its strawberries, they are a major importer to the Unites States.
Here are some pictures of the endangered cacti and strawberry fields.
Mexico 2014 Blog 