Abstract

VILLAVICENCIO-NIETO, Miguel Ángel; PEREZ-ESCANDON, Blanca Estela  and  GORDILLO-MARTINEZ, Alberto José. Plants traditionally used as pesticides in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. Polibotánica [online]. 2010, n.30, pp.193-238. ISSN 1405-2768.

The objective of this study was to investigate the traditional use of plants as pesticides in Hidalgo, Mexico. In the region the inhabitants use 124 species of plants, from which they obtain 186 products like infusions and smoke to control 29 types of vertebrate and invertebrate pests and protect 15 goods. All life forms and all parts of the plants are used. The plants are obtained from the majority of the habitats of the region. We classified the plant species and families considering four variables and determined that the species with the greatest importance as pesticides are Trichilia havanensis, Psidium guajava, Nicotiana tabacum, Tagetes erecta, Mentha rotundifolia, Ipomoea stans, Tagetes lucida, Parthenium hysterophorus, and Schinus molle. The most important families are Asteraceae, Solanaceae, Meliaceae, and Fabaceae. In Hidalgo there is a strong dependency on the local flora to control pests; this is done with a multiple use strategy and traditional techniques.

Keywords : plants as pesticides; Hidalgo; Mexico; biopesticides; botanical pesticides.