Researchers at the Agricultural Sciences Department at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico, in coordination with specialists from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, are working on a common project for strategies for improving the production and yield of canola-rapeseed.
Professor and researcher at the Leading House of Studies, Gaspar Estrada Campuzano said that this is a project with the Agriculture Department of Argentina institution that in its first stage is focused on determining the cultivation periods sensitive to environmental stress and management.
He said that knowing this information may optimize management practices, as well as production and quality of this crop, the extraction being of the same quality as olive oil, rich in omegas 3, 6 and 9.
The research, he added, is in the stage of detecting the crop cycle’s most sensitive to issues such as decrease in the amount of water, nutrients and sunlight, with the provide cultivation dates data, match them with the best environmental conditions and offer a technology package tailored to the needs of producers.
Estrada Campuzano said that Mexico cultivated something very similar which is known as turnip; however, it contains erucic acid, which inhibits growth, so it is not recommended for human consumption.
The professor explained that canola, a crop with high nutritional potential, containing 25 percent protein, is the same species, but was modified in Canada, who with Argentina and Australia are the main producers in the world.
He said the first experiments are being carried out in plots of the Agricultural Sciences Department and when they obtain results they will begin to experiment in Argentina and try to expand production in Mexico, especially in the State of Mexico, where the plant occurs in small quantities that are used to feed birds, but is the location of one of the leading producers of canola oil, which imports the raw materials from Canada.
