Agroclimatic zoning of the state of Nayarit, Mexico

Agriculture productivity in the state of Nayarit has decreased since 1998. The aim of this study was to undertake the agroclimatic zoning across the state in order to determine the type of crops more convenient to render the highest yields, based on the Papadakis climate classification system. Hydric and thermal characteristics pertaining to the geographic distribution of crops were used, as well as indexes derived from meteorological data provided by 25 climate stations. There were three climatic groups identified: tropical, subtropical and cold land, having four, three and two subgroups each, respectively. The first two climatic groups support winter cereals such as oat (Avena sativa L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), rye (Secale cereale L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.); and summer cereals such as corn (Zea mays L.), millet (Panicum italicum L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench), in addition to banana (Musa paradisiaca L.), citrus, potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) and sugar cane (Saccharum officinarum L.). On the other hand, corn and potato were found in the cold land climatic group. Based on the methodology of Papadakis, for each climatic sub-group identified, a set of recommendation managements were given to improve yields (crop type, sowing season, irrigation, fertilizing and other agrochemicals application) and to avoid crop damage. An agroclimatic-zoning map was generated by using the inverse distance weighted interpolation method.