Today saw the installation of a telephone pole that will serve as a gate post. It's on the north end of the entrance, pictures below.
I surveyed the cactus field and found that about 70% of the surviving pads are budding out. This is amazing in light of the damage they sustained. No visible intrusions of the electrified perimeter either.
Tomatoes and onions got planted today after some additional rototilling in the backyard.
Yesterday and today planting of available pads continues. Today saw the completion of fashioning basins around the cactus and agave. Wind and thunderstorms are predicted for today, so development continues inside.
Today saw approximately twenty (20) more cactus replanted that had died from cold or javelina damage. Late morning saw a ferocious windstorm start so that's as far as it went.
I have begun replanting cactus that the javelina destroyed along with the cold spells. I also lined the compost pit with manure.
Cactus pears or prickly pears (Opuntia spp. Cactaceae) are omnipresent plants of the Mexican landscape and have great historical and ethnobotanical significance. Ripe fruits and tender cladodes (pads), have been collected from the wild since pre Columbian times, and the mature cladodes are used as a forage for livestock. Opuntia originated in Central Mexico and some parts of the Caribbean region (Benson 1982; Russel and Felker 1987). Today cactus pear is a well recognized fruit crop in Mexico cultivated throughout the central semiarid highlands.
The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of barley substitution by cactus during pre-mating phase on some reproductive parameters and blood metabolites of goats.
Forty adult goats of local breed were allocated to two groups based on live their weight. Each goat of both groups received 0.9 kg of barley straw. Goats on concentrate group (CC) received in addition 425g/goats/day of a concentrate (mixture of 80% barley and 20% soybean). Goats in the cactus group (CAC) received 256g of a concentrate (mixture of 68% barley and 32% soybean) and 2600g of cactus pads. Feeding regimes were applied on the average for one sexual cycle before mating and continued until 5 weeks after.
Mexico and Algeria are negotiating a Cooperation Agreement on research and development of opuntia ficus indica SPP (Prickly pear cactus) and a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in fisheries and aquaculture matters.
In 2020, work was done to promote these negotiation processes, according to a report from the Mexican Embassy in Algeria.
The opuntia ficus-indica may have originated several time zones away, yet the prickly pear, an alien species, found itself pasted on the emblem of Malta for over a decade. To the reckless passer-by, the cactus is a threat. For the wiser rambler, it can be a summertime treat.
The term "endemic species" generally refers to species which occur within a defined area. Therefore, species which are endemic to Malta can only be found within the Maltese islands. The prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) is not endemic. In fact, it is not even of Maltese origin and had been introduced for its edible fruit. At present, it is also used as fodder and as a windbreak, sheltering other crops in fields.
Contrary to what Mr Camilleri claimed, Mepa recognises that the prickly pear is an important crop plant and that it is a characteristic of the Maltese landscape.