Crops Grown in Parras
The main crop grown in Parras is the pecan which is mostly for export. Pecan production makes up 30-35% of the economy and covers 2,000 hectors in town. In all of Coahuila there are 12,000 hectors of pecan orchards. With the hull the nuts sell for 30-35 thousand pesos a ton with no difference in price for buying in bulk. A family can live good for a year if they grown and sell one ton. One hector of Nogal trees produce 2,500 kilos about two and a half tons. People are paid 120 pesos to de-hull a kilo of nuts. If a family can de-hull ten kilos a week they can live of that. Wine grapes are also grown in Parras but they make up a small percent of the Agriculture compared to the Nogals. To the north of town there are a lot of melon farms and in the sierras four plants are gathered and sold mostly as exports. These plants are:
- Mesquite which is collected for the wood to make wood chips for smoking and sent all over the world for fine furniture.
- Candelilla which is collected for the cera or wax. This wax is exported mostly to Europe the US and Japan. It is used in cosmetics, adhesives, pharmacy products, paints, and much more.
- Lechugilla which is harvested for the fiber and made into rope, brooms, vegetable scrubbers, and much more.
- Oregano which is sold as an herb for cooking.
Pest problems of the Nogals
There are three main pests that harm the Nogal trees. They are Cydia Caryana or Hickory Shuckworm which is a moth that lays its eggs inside the maturing nuts, Hypantria Cunea or Fall Webworm which makes a web around the leaves and eats everything inside that web, and Pulgon negros or black Aphids.
Soil Classifications of Parras
- Xerosols
- Yermosols
- Solonchak
- Regosols
- Lithosols
Water in Parras
The water in Parras comes from a number of different places including the estanques which are big holding tanks for underground water, personal wells, and the city well water. The water from one of the main estanque, estanque de la luz is managed by a group of farmers that have rights to the water which came with their property. The water flows everyday out of the estanque de la luz starting at 8:00am and ending at 4:30pm. It flows at 75 l/sec and is delivered to 60 producers and irrigates 70 hectors (1 hector is 10,000 m2 or 2.3 acres). This water only reaches a small portion of the ranchos which are all close to town. The farms on the outside of town in the ejidos get their water from wells.