Territorial expansion of agro-industrial fruit growing in Southern Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract

Objective: to identify the geographical distribution of fruit growing in the Southern region of Jalisco. Methodology: the georeferencing of avocado and berry orchards identified through satellite images provided by the Google Earth system. The resulting polygons were processed with the qgi s software, and we went on to corroborate the information on site. Results: it was estimated that in 2021, in the South of Jalisco, there were almost 40 000 hectares planted with avocado and more than 5 000 hectares ded-icated to the production of berries. In the case of avocado, more than 8 000 hectares had been planted in forest areas, which has created conditions of greater vulnerabili-ty in several parts of the region. Value: this work takes a step towards estimating the amount of land actually dedicated to agro-industrial fruit growing, which is underes-timated in official information. Limitation: the research used satellite images, so it is possible that some orchards were not identified, and it will be necessary to conduct more field work in the area to corroborate the data. Conclusions: since official sources tend to underestimate the size of the area planted with crops such as avocado, it is necessary to conduct further research that will clarify this point in order to help with the implementation of public and private policies, especially where there are mono-cultures that have strong repercussions on the environment. In Southern Jalisco, their effects are increasingly evident.