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The state of Sinaloa, a region with predominant agricultural activity, is an area exposed to a wide range of pesticides that as a side effect can affect the environment and the health of people. Since remote times have been used alternatives mainly of herbalist origin, particularly the Mayo-Yoreme peoples, have transmitted from generation to generation until today this type of customs. The purpose of this study was to understand the perception of Sinaloan communities about the effects on their daily lives resulting from poor agricultural practices and their possible impact on health, as well as the effectiveness of medicinal plants and ancestral empirical treatments as auxiliaries for the treatment of certain diseases and the preservation of this knowledge. A questionnaire focused on aspects such as: indigenous peoples, pesticide exposure and the use of medicinal plants was validated and applied to participants from northern and central regions of the state of Sinaloa. The results reported that the participants showed some dissatisfaction with bad agricultural practices such as abuse in the application of pesticides, a wide spectrum of symptoms when exposed to this type of toxic, a good perception of natural treatments, and although there is some mistrust in these alternatives, participants agreed on the need to preserve this type of empirical and traditional knowledge. The present study allowed to obtain a holistic perspective of the acceptance and social availability to traditional alternatives and to move towards a "sustainable medicine". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]