Useful plants in Traditional Family Gardens of Xalpatláhuac, Mountain Region of Guerrero

Abstract

Traditional home gardens are one of the most frequent agroforestry systems in Mexico, since through them the population can obtain different benefits, mainly ecosystem services, as well as resources for their food, sale and exchange, ornamentation, as well as preservation. of traditional natural resource management practices. In the Mountain Region of Guerrero, home gardens fulfill different important functions to obtain the resources in question. The objectives of this research were to identify the diversity of useful plants in traditional home gardens, determine the frequency of use of these plants and establish their categories of use. This from surveys and semi-structured interviews, visits to backyard gardens and direct observation, with which it was possible to identify 104 species located in five categories: food, medicinal, ornamental, magical-religious, and fuel. Being those of a nutritional and medicinal nature the most abundant and representative, being an important complement for family consumption within the community. This work reaffirmed the organizational level of the families and the need to complement their daily activities with products obtained from the family garden and not only with products obtained from the field.