Agricultural sustainability depends on complex relationships between environmental, economic, and social aspects, especially with small farm holders from indigenous communities. This work was centered on two municipalities of Hidalgo State in Mexico, Ixmiquilpan (mainly irrigated systems) and El Cardonal (rainfed systems). Our objective was to understand the relationships between the small farm holders and their agricultural systems. We evaluated the sustainability of their agricultural systems and made some recommendations. We applied the Framework for the Evaluation of Management Systems using Indicators (MESMIS, Spanish acronym); thirty-one indicators were identified, and quantitative indexes were established to assess the sustainability. The results showed that adaptability was a critical factor for irrigated and rainfed systems, and the main problem identified was youth migration. Additionally, the access to water and economic resources and the management of environmental resources are necessary in order to increase the yield of agricultural crops. Therefore, a holistic approach that considers the organization of small producers and synergy between indigenous knowledge and modern technologies is required for the territorial development of the communities.

The agricultural systems are commonly underrepresented by the decision making, due to difficulties obtaining data in the rural work, so then we collect data corresponding to a socio-economic and environmental survey applied to understand the relations between agricultural production, household economy, small stakeholders family structure, corn production and associated crops, and producers siblings acquiring sites of foods, edible plants and animals. The information was obtained by a survey applied to a rural population with high and very high poverty conditions into municipalities of Ixmiquilpan and El Cardonal in Hidalgo state at the center of Mexico. We performed a statistical analysis to identify the main socio-economic, agricultural and household characteristics in order to show an scope of the agricultural situation and household of rural agricultural communities in Hidalgo. This information allows us to design a recommendation for access to financial support or technical assistance in order to improve their production according to their sociocultural conditions. The data include socioeconomic values that are statistically representative of the official governmental values, proving the sufficiency of data and reproducible form in order to compare this data to other agricultural systems reported in Mexico. In the future a temporal comparison with federal data is desirable.

Sustainable rural development seeks to balance social, economic, and environmental needs in rural areas, improving the quality of life of communities and the long-term protection of natural resources. Indigenous local solutions give place to grassroots entrepreneurial initiatives, which together with associative and economic integration are key factors for agricultural production, transformation of products, self-consumption, and commercialization. This study was done in Hñähñu communities with the aim to test if participative workshops based on detonating questions are an effective approach for developing entrepreneurship agriculture initiatives of self-managed social enterprises. The initiatives were proposed by the communities to solve local problems. Three initiatives arose: (1) a community seed bank of local species associated with the Milpa including agave; (2) reforestation with agave to produce agave shoots, leaves, and sap; and (3) a company to produce agave-sap syrup. The participants, based on their traditional knowledge, developed the projects, including economic evaluation, risk analysis, and environmental aspects. Some impacts are the conservation of soil and endangered landraces, accessibility to quality seeds not commercially available, building of local organizational and entrepreneurial capacities, strengthening the community, improving the family’s income, recovery of traditional agroecological techniques, and conservation of agrobiodiversity. In conclusion, the methodology is effective for the Indigenous communities to develop initiatives for sustainable self-managed social enterprises.

Objetivo. Analizar la degradación ambiental de agua y suelo en zonas con prácticas agrícolas intensivas de Sonora, México, período 2001-2021. Metodología. Revisión de bases de datos y sistemas de información geográfica federales para la identificación de los indicadores ambientales y el análisis estadístico correspondiente. Hallazgos Teóricos y Prácticos. Se observó alta prevalencia de suministro de agua por acuíferos y un predominio de la agricultura intensiva media, en 49 y 68 municipios de la entidad, respectivamente; 13 de los 59 acuíferos del estado presentaron una disponibilidad promedio negativa, asociada al 87.21% del volumen concesionado para uso agrícola. Originalidad desde el punto de vista transdisciplinar y de innovación sostenible. Es un estudio de largo plazo en el cual se emplean técnicas de análisis estadístico geográfico y ambiental de manera integral con un enfoque transdisciplinar para la obtención de índices de degradación agrícola en agua y suelo en el estado de Sonora, aportando al mejoramiento sustentable de la agricultura en el marco de los 17 Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible. Conclusiones y limitaciones. Los datos obtenidos visibilizan la degradación ambiental en suelo y agua por zonas agrícolas en Sonora, información que puede coadyuvar a mejorar la toma de decisiones sobre administración sustentable del recurso hídrico y del suelo por municipio. Sin embargo, la escasa información disponible a escalas geográficas menores al municipio dificulta realizar proyecciones más precisas.

Agricultural microbiology seeks to replace the use of agrochemicals with microbe-based products. Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) are often selected based on their functions in vitro , and then, their effect on plant development is tested. However, this approach neglects the study of their survival in soil, root-colonization, and the monitoring of beneficial functions in the rhizosphere. This could explain the recurrent lack of success in the transition from lab tests to field applications of natural isolates from novel habitats. In our recent studies, we found that native maize seeds from traditional agroecosystems carry endophytic bacterial communities that are dominated by members of the class Bacilli. As an approach to grasp their PGP potential, we developed protocols to test maize root-colonization of these natural isolates in 1) a short-term hydroponics assay in vitro and 2) a long-term assay in non-sterile soil pots. Our results show that in vitro biofilm formation was only partially associated to short-term colonization in vitro ; furthermore, long-term root-colonization in soil pots was not correlated to the in vitro assays. This work highlights the necessity to incorporate root-colonization assays as part of the research strategies in the search for PGPB natural isolates from unexplored habitats, towards the generation of inoculants with increased success in the field.