Estimation of low temperatures on the island of Tenerife and impact assessment for growing mango, guava and noni in organic farming

Abstract

Tenerife surface in tropical and subtropical fruit in organic farming has increased significantly in recent years, mainly cultivated in coastal area where Aridisols predominate. However, the weather is a factor considering that episodes of cold waves can occur and damage young trees. It is intended to identify potential for organic growing mango, guava and noni as an alternative farm production in abandoned areas. For this we propose that in mountainous terrain interaction of altitude and temperature factors may be related to the slope of the hillside to delimit cultivation areas. The work is done with altitude data and daily absolute minimum temperature, isotherms obtained by mathematical model that considers the altitudinal thermal gradient. The isotherms are interpolated by kriging on a digital elevation model and reclassified by multicriteria analysis, taking into account the more favorable terrain slope. The resulting maps show the distribution of low temperatures (cold and frost), and appropriate areas with current and future potential for crops studied.