A few days ago, Adelfo and Agustín invited us to visit their nopalera in Milpa Alta. They were waiting for us on the "shady benches" of the Mirador San Lorenzo, on the road to Oaxtepec, just past the bridge; a panoramic view that on clear days shows the city in miniature. But the first rains had not fallen and a thick gray veil fell over the landscape. Even so, hectares of cactus patched the horizon with green. Milpa Alta is not only the largest producer of nopal in Mexico, but also a "curtain of thorns" that contains the urban sprawl.
It is important to know what Milpa Alta has to offer.
Cactus cutting
Adelfo Liprandi is president of the Federation of Nopaleros of Milpa Alta, Agustín is a producer and in the past was part of the Plant Health Committee. After we met, we got into a red truck and arrived at Agustín's nopalera: an extensive field of nopal cactus where you are greeted by a rose bush, and in the background the sound of roosters, goats and radio music never stops. The wind moves the foliage of a couple of tall trees in the background.
Although the day's nopal cutting begins shortly before dawn, they left a part of the day to show us how they do it, as if their hands alone knew how to do it. Between the furrows they cut the cactus stalks of different sizes, which they know by the number of pieces that fit in the boxes, which they then sell without intermediaries: 100, 150, 200, 300 and 500.
Although the nopal is a benevolent plant, it can produce all year round and requires little. It takes about 8 days for the cactus to be ready to be cut again (depending on the size) and a single planting of cactus can last up to 20 years if well cared for. It is necessary to renew them and take care of the diseases that afflict them. In Milpa Alta, pests are fewer because of its fortunate topography (the altitude, the mineral soil between volcanoes).
If in any other nopal land they fertilize once a month, in Milpa Alta they fertilize once a year.
Milpa Alta and the urban sprawl
After the cut, we moved to Adelfo's garden and had a long talk. Adelfo says that the milpaltenses have the gene pochtecaHis is an area of merchants and there is no market or street market on wheels where there is not one of them selling nopales, barbecue, pork, beef, mole, corn, etc. " What does nopal cultivation mean for Mexico City?" he reiterates: "it means food, land conservation for agricultural vocation, job generation (for people from Oaxaca, Puebla, Hidalgo and the State of Mexico) and it is a thorny curtain to continue containing the urban sprawl".
In addition, the nopal crop is an important water catchment and filtration area. Adelfo says that in his nopalera he has a 1200 liter water container with a roof of 70 square meters. Once it was emptied and after a heavy rain, in a few hours, the basin was filled. "Now imagine how many millions of liters fall in the nopaleras all over Milpa Alta and how much water seepage there is."
To continue conserving this curtain of thorns and this agricultural land, they have to make the product profitable, which, after the 1980s and 1990s, when new nopal-producing regions began to appear, deteriorated somewhat. after the 1980s and 1990s, when new cactus-producing regions began to appear, it deteriorated somewhat.
"We are betting on adding value to the nopal and for this we have to have the support of the authorities" and adds "knowing our people we know in advance how family businesses will proliferate: they will have their business, their product and Milpa Alta will again be an example for other areas in the interior of the country".
In the meantime, from Mexico City let's eat nopal that, if possible, comes from Milpa Alta. And if you want to visit Agustín's nopalera, send us an email here and we'll help you make the approach.