AGROCLIMATIC ZONING OF SEMIARID REGION OF ZACATECAS, MEXICO

Agroclimatology concerns those climate processes influencing agricultural production, especially with respect to crops growing under rainfed conditions. A number of methodologies have been used to classify climate variables. The goal of this research was to obtain the agroclimatic delimitation for the Zacatecas region in Mexico using the Papadakis classification and collecting time-series data from 133 weather stations to obtain monthly thermal and monthly water parameters. The dataset is composed of information collected for the period of 1960-2015. For all weather stations data were filtered and chronologically sorted to complete any missing information using a geostatistical and Kalman filter approach. Monthly average values were interpolated using the ordinary Kriging method. Twelve maps were plotted to characterize agroclimatic conditions showing that January, February, November, and December are months that are too cool for agricultural practices. The climate conditions begin to become benevolent for agriculture from April. Three different agroclimatic zones were obtained for Zacatecas region. More than 90% of the surface is under the 2.2 climate type favoring crops such as maize, beans, and soybeans. Agroclimatic understanding is particularly important in semiarid regions because this permits proactive actions for promoting the agricultural potential of regions with scarce rainfall regimes.