Soil salinity is a global problem that increases year by year in arid and semi-arid regions, including Mexico where the distribution and extension of salinized soils reduces productivity and causes severe damage to different cultivated species. Homeopathic medicine is compatible with traditional, ecologic, and organic agriculture, and it can increase tolerance to salinity stress conditions and improve soil-plant ratio. Chiltepin chili (Capsicum annuum L. var. glabriusculum) is a species of high commercial value in northern Mexico affected by soil salinity. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the eff iciency of Natrum muriaticum (NaM) homeopathic medicine for human use, to mitigate NaCl stress in chiltepin chili established in a hydroponic system and subjected to different NaCl concentrations. A completely randomized design (2A × 3B) with factorial arrangement was used with four replicates of nine plants each. The plants were subjected to two NaCl (0 and 200 mM) concentrations, two centesimal NaM (7CH and 13CH) of NaM (NaM-7CH and NaM-13CH) dynamizations and a control treatment without NaM. The variables evaluated were length, aerial and root part fresh and dry weight, leaf area, chlorophyll A, B, total relative water content, and water potential. In general, the plants treated with NaM-13CH showed the highest values for the majority of the morphometric and physiological variables, including the plants subjected to high salinity stress by adding NaCl (200 mM). These results conf irmed that NaM attenuated NaCl stress in chiltepin chili (C. annuum L. var. glabriusculum) plants and that agricultural homeopathy has the potential to increase productivity and yield in  hydroponic cultivation of the species.

Yucca valida is an important potential source of steroidal saponins closely related to Yucca schidigera, the species that is commercially exploited from the wild as a source of steroidal extracts. Neither of the species has been domesticated mainly because of their slow growth and long life span before harvesting. Here, we report a micropropagation method to generate isogenic or clonal lines for plantation purposes. Seventeen clonal lines were propagated and evaluated over a period of 26 months in an experimental plantation and compared with the performance of plants from seeds. The large variability found between the plants derived from seeds is manifested in the differences observed between the different clonal lines; however, these present a much smaller internal coefficient of variation than the one observed in the population of plants derived from seeds. Some clonal lines perform in a superior manner indicating that a process of selection and cloning can generate lines of fast growing individuals for plantations that can satisfy the demand for these materials without putting a natural resource at risk.

El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el efecto de un oligogalacturónido de origen péctico (Pectimorf) en la micropropagación del chiltepín (Capsicum annuum L. cv. ‘glabriusculum’) y la adaptación al trasplante. Se indujeron brotes en cultivo in vitro de segmentos nodales de 30 días de edad provenientes de vitroplantas de chiltepín, obtenidas en un medio Murashigue Skoog (MS) suplementado con 6-BAP 10-5 M. El mayor número de brotes, masa fresca y seca por explante fue en medio MS enriquecido con Pectimorf (1 mg.L-1. En el momento de la transferencia de las plántulas obtenidas con Pectimorf (1 mg.L-1 - 10 mg.L-1) de las fases in vitro a la ex vitro, la supervivencia fue del 100%, lo cual se mantuvo con posterioridad. Asimismo, las plantas que se obtuvieron con esta oligosacarina, generalmente presentaron mayor contenido de clorofilas α, β y feopigmentos. Los mejores resultados fueron en las plántulas tratadas con Pectimorf (10 mg.L-1).

Yucca valida is a close relative to Yucca schidigera and a potential alternative source of the steroidal saponins extracted from the tissues of the latter. The exploitation from the wild is not only inefficient but endangers the natural populations and an alternative to these would be their domestication and establishment of commercial plantations. Both species have a long life span cycle and low growth rates affected by environmental conditions that make it difficult to select fast growing, high yield elite individuals for cloning purposes. Here, we report the in vitro establishment and propagation of mature Y. valida plants derived from seed that showed very different growth rates in an experimental field and their propagative and growth characteristics in vitro. No correlation was found between the growth of field cultivated plants and the relative increase of fresh (FW) or dry weight (DW) of in vitro cultured plants.

<p><strong>Background. </strong><em>Salicornia bigelovii</em> (Torr) is a halophyte plant, whose cultivation could be optimized by applying eco-friendly homeopathic treatments, generating new applicable knowledge to reduce saline stress in this and other plant species. <strong>Objective.</strong> Evaluate physiological response in <em>S. bigelovii</em> plants irrigated with different proportions of seawater (AM), with application of the homeopathic medicine for human use <em>Natrum muriaticum</em> (HOM) in three cultivation periods, considering morphometric variables and chlorophyll content. <strong>Methodology.</strong> A completely randomized experimental design with factorial arrangement and four repetitions was applied. Factor one corresponded to four different proportions of AM (0, 25, 50 and 100%), factor two, to two HOM dynamizations in 7th and 13th centesimal dilution 1:99 and a control without HOM (NaM-0CH, NaM- 7CH and NaM-13CH) and factor three, at three cultivation periods (1, 2 and 3 months). The morphometric response variables evaluated were plant height (AP), stem thickness (GT), plant cover (CV), number of branches (NR) and chlorophyll content "a", "b" and total. <strong>Results.</strong> There were significant differences between treatments (<em>p</em>≤0.01). The CV and NR variables were favorably modified when applying NaM-7CH and NaM-13CH (<em>p</em>≤0.01 and 0.001, respectively). The highest AP was obtained with AM-0 / NaM-13CH and the highest GT with AM-50 / NaM-7CH (<em>p</em>≤0.01). The second degree interaction only affected the concentration of chlorophyll "b", with the highest values (<em>p</em>≤0.05) during T-2 with respect to T-1, indistinctly to the application of NaM and AM. The content of chlorophyll "a" and total was reduced with AM-50. <strong>Implications.</strong> The NaM-AM interaction modified the morphological expression of <em>S. bigelovii</em> (Torr) and the concentration of chlorophyll "a" and total. <strong>Conclusion.</strong> Positive morphological effects were observed at different salinity levels (% of AM) attributable to HOM treatments, such as higher AP with AM-0 / NaM-13CH and higher GT with AM-50 / NaM-7CH, but inconclusive results for chlorophylls. NaM is an eco-friendly alternative to increase the biomass production of <em>S. bigelovii</em>.</p>