Abstract

SALAZAR-BARRIENTOS, Lucila de L.; MAGANA-MAGANA, Miguel A.  and  LATOURNERIE-MORENO, Luis. Economic and social importance of backyard agro-biodibversity in a rural community of Yucatán, México. agric. soc. desarro [online]. 2015, vol.12, n.1, pp.1-14. ISSN 1870-5472.

The problems of population growth, food scarcity, overexploitation and contamination of natural resources, as well as unemployment and low income level in rural areas force us to consider the importance of the backyard as a production unit for subsistence and savings. In this study, the socioeconomic conditions associated with management and exploitation of backyards, whose diversity of plant and animal species are the basis for life strategies in the peasant domestic unit related to their subsistence and wellbeing, are described and analyzed. The information required was obtained in 2013 with a survey by statistical sampling in the location of Nolo, municipality of Tixkokob, located in a former henequen zone in Yucatán, while the backyard was considered as an agro-ecosystem for its analysis, which was based on the theories of rural development. The results obtained allowed concluding that the wealth and abundance conditions of plant and animal species in the backyard give it the role of complementary food supplier throughout the year, as well as access to medicinal plants, occasional occupations and income, and a conservation bank of plant and animal species' germplasm. It is concluded that agro-biodiversity in the backyard permits the availability of resources destined to consumption and the market, thus guaranteeing rural food auto-sufficiency.

Keywords : agro-ecosystem; rural development; family production; subsistence.

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