A2 GEOGRAPHYTROPICAL ENVIRONMENTS

SUSTAINABLE MANAGEMENT OF TROPICAL AREAS CASE STUDY

POPOLUCA AND MILPA

THE MEXICAN POPOLUCAPopoluca is a Nahuatl term meaning "gibberish, unintelligible speech“ and is referring to the indigenous peoples of south-eastern Veracruz and Oaxaca, from southern Mexico.Many of them (about 30,000) speak languages of the Mixe Zoque family, while others speak the Mazatecan languages, in which case the name in English and Spanish is spelled Popoloca.

WHAT IS MILPA?Milpa is a crop-growing system used throughout Mesoamerica. It has been most extensively described in the Yucatán peninsula area of Mexico. The word milpa is derived from the Nahuatl word phrase mil-pa, which translates into "maize field.“Though different interpretations are given to it, it usually refers to a cropping field. Based on the ancient agricultural methods of Maya peoples and other Mesoamerican people, milpa agriculture produces maize, beans, and squash.

A typical modern Central American Milpa. The corn stalks have been bent and left to dry with cobs still on, for other crops, such as beans, to be planted. The banana plants in the background are not native, but are now a common part of modern Central American agriculture.

CULTIVATION CYCLEThe Milpa cycle calls for 2 years of cultivation and eight years of letting the area lie fallow. Agronomists point out that the system is designed to create relatively large yields of food crops without the use of artificial pesticides or fertilizers, and they point out that while it is self-sustaining at current levels of consumption, there is a danger that at more intensive levels of cultivation the Milpa system can become unsustainable.

EXPLANATIONThe word is also used for a small field, especially in Mexico or Central America, that is cleared from the jungle, cropped for a few seasons, and then abandoned for a fresh clearing. In the states of Jalisco, Michoacán, and other areas of central Mexico, the term milpa simply means a single corn plant (milpas for plural). In El Salvador and Guatemala, it refers specifically to the corn crop or corn field as a whole.

DESCRIPTIONCharles C. Mann described Milpa agriculture as follows, in 1491

New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus:

"A Milpa is a field, usually but not always recently cleared, in which farmers plant a dozen crops at once including maize, avocados, multiple varieties of squash and bean, melon, tomatoes, chilis, sweet potato, jícama, amaranth, and mucuna (endemic crops, teacher’s note).... Milpa crops are nutritionally and environmentally complementary. Maize lacks the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which the body needs to make proteins and niacin;.... Beans have both lysine and tryptophan.... Squashes, for their part, provide an array of vitamins; avocados, fats.”

SUCCESSThe Milpa, in the estimation of H. Garrison Wilkes, a maize researcher at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, "is one of the most successful human inventions ever created."

THE IMPORTANCE OF MILPAThe concept of Milpa is a sociocultural construct rather than simply a system of agriculture. It involves complex interactions and relationships between farmers, as well as distinct personal relationships with both the crops and land. For example, it has been noted that "the making of Milpa is the central, most sacred act, one which binds together the family, the community, the universe... it forms the core institution of Indian society in Mesoamerica and its religious and social importance often appear to exceed its nutritional and economic importance."

LABOUR-INTENSIVE AGRICULTUREMilpa system resembles shifting cultivation, which mimics the natural forest:• It is a labour-intensive form of agriculture, using fallow (the stage of

crop rotation in which the land is deliberately not used to raise a crop)• It is a diverse form of polyculture with over 200 species cultivated,

including maize, beans, cucurbits, papaya, squash, water melons, tomatoes, pineapples, chayotes, oregano, coffee and chili. • Coffee is sold for cash• Two crops are planted annually• Fields are usually dug with digging sticks or ploughs.

RANCHING AND ITS EFFECTSAs in a rainforest, the crops are multi-layered, with tree, shrub and herb layers.Ranching prevents the natural succession of vegetationbecause of a lack of seed from nearby forests and the grazingeffects of cattle.

ANIMALS FARMEDAnimals farmed include chickens, pigs and turkeys.They are used as a source of food, bartering or selling, and the waste is used as a natural fertiliser.Rivers and lakes are used for fishing and catching turtles.Wild animals (deer, boar, rabbits) are hunted with arrows and spears.

NEW FORMS OF FARMINGThe main new forms of farming are:• Cattle ranching for export• Plantations for cash crops, such as tobacco