Abstract
Salvia hispanica L., known as chia, is a plant species originally from tropical and subtropical Mesoamerica. It is economically important because its seeds produce omega-3, thus its demand has increased in Chile and internationally. As there is no commercial production in Chile, we investigated the places in the country where this species could be cultivated in order to satisfy at the least the national demand. The aim of the study was to quantify the main climatic requirements of chia and to produce a climatic aptitude map for chia cultivation in Chile. The methodology was based on the Maxent species distribution model. We used 78 georeferenced data points where chia is grown throughout the world, mostly from the GBIF database, along with raster climatic layers from the Worldclim project. We estimated the performance curves of annual precipitation and temperature along with their respective optimal and critical values, in analogy with the Ecocrop method. The maps used two scenarios for crops in different conditions, with and without irrigation. The results indicated that the intermediate depression and coastal edge of mainly the Arica y Parinacota, Tarapacá, Antofagasta and Atacama regions have optimum conditions for irrigated crops, but it would be impossible in rainfed conditions. We conclude that chia’s cultivation niche is reduced due to its tropical climate requirements; however, it can be cultivated under irrigation in northern Chile.
Highlights
Salvia hispanica L., whose common name is chia, is a summer annual herb of the Lamiaceae native to Mesoamerica (Ayerza & Coates, 2006; Cornejo & Ibarra, 2011)
The maximum probability of presence for annual precipitation was 0.6 for both models according to the response curves, which corresponds to approximately 1000 mm/yr (c analysis value)
The minimum critical (Cn) and minimum optimum (On) values found here for annual precipitation were very similar to the results of other reports, but this was not the case for the maximum values Ox and Cx
Summary
Salvia hispanica L., whose common name is chia, is a summer annual herb of the Lamiaceae native to Mesoamerica (Ayerza & Coates, 2006; Cornejo & Ibarra, 2011). Chia is an interesting crop mainly due to its nutritional richness, both the high antioxidant content of the leaves and the essential fatty acids (omega-3) in its seeds. It is considered a functional food with an important economic potential in the food industry (Muñoz et al, 2013). The case of Chile is no exception, where the demand reached 645 tons in 2011; there is still no local commercial production in this country (De Kartzow, 2013). Growing this crop in Chile could satisfy its increasing national demand. This plant was chosen to be grown in Chile because it is able to grow under limited water conditions and is resistant to drought, considering climate change threats in agriculture (Ayerza & Coates, 2006; Fereres et al, 2011; Ramírez & Lozano, 2015)
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