Data sheet

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Opuntia ficus-indica

Description
Life form	shrub	Physiology	evergreen, multi stem, CAM photosynthesis
Habit	erect	Category	fruits & nuts
Life span	perennial	Plant attributes	grown on small scale

Ecology
	Optimal		Absolute			Optimal	Absolute
	Min	Max	Min	Max	Soil depth	medium (50-150 cm)	shallow (20-50 cm)
Temperat. requir.	18	26	10	30	Soil texture	medium, light	medium, light
Rainfall (annual)	700	1300	300	1700	Soil fertility	moderate	low
Latitude	-	-	-	-	Soil Al. tox
Altitude	---	---	-	-	Soil salinity	low (<4 dS/m)	low (<4 dS/m)
Soil PH	7	7.5	6.5	8.2	Soil drainage	well (dry spells), excessive (dry/moderately dry)	well (dry spells), excessive (dry/moderately dry)
Light intensity	very bright	clear skies	very bright	cloudy skies

Climate zone	steppe or semiarid (Bs), subtropical dry summer (Cs)	Photoperiod	short day (<12 hours)
Killing temp. during rest	no input	Killing temp. early growth	no input
Abiotic toler.		Abiotic suscept.
Introduction risks.

Cultivation
			Min	Max
Product. system		Crop cycle	140	270
Cropping system	Subsystem	Companion species	Level of mechanization	Labour intensity

(at most All5102550100)

Uses
Main use	Detailed use	Used part
animal food (feed)	minerals	fruits
animal food (feed)	vitamins	fruits
food & beverage	minerals	fruits
food & beverage	vitamins	fruits
medicinal	muscular/skeletal applications	fruits
medicinal	skin applications	fruits
medicinal	digestive system applications	fruits
environmental	erosion control	entire plant
environmental	living fence	entire plant
material	cosmetics & perfumery	fruits
material	dye/tannin	fruits