CONDITIONING FACTORS IN THE DISTRIBUTION OF PALOMERO TOLUQUENO MAIZE AND ALTERNATIVES FOR ITS CONSERVATION

Palomero Toluqueno is considered a race of maize in danger of disappearing. The objective of this study was to analyze the factors that condition the presence of this race in the State of Mexico, to propose alternatives for conservation and use, using as tools the modeling of distribution areas and ethnobotanical exploration. Potential areas were estimated with MaxEnt, and were superimposed to those proposed by CONABIO. In January and February 2017 an ethnobotanical exploration was carried out in the areas where MaxEnt estimated probabilities higher than 0.61 for the presence of Palomero Toluqueno race, with the respondent-driven sampling method. Fifteen accessions were obtained from the Mazahua and Otomi groups that preserve this race due to the combination of favorable social and environmental factors. The threat of disappearance of the race will remain unless new strategies are found to promote its conservation and use. It was determined that the distribution models are useful in the estimation of potential areas for cultivation, but not for the planning of collections since the decision of planting them involves, in addition to favorable ecological conditions, the conjuction of social and cultural aspects that promote their cultivation and use; therefore, participatory improvement and promotion of the race in seed fairs would be useful tools for in situ conservation.