More food from less space?
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| credit: Melvin Landers |
Enthusiasm and attention to detail have resulted in the development of a sustainable farming system which could provide a clue to how the Mayan Civilization of Central America Mexico produced enough food for a dense population without sacrificing soil fertility. The system, named the 'Mayan Cropping Method', has been developed Melvin Landers, who has worked with Urarina Indians in the Amazon River Basin of Peru. Intrigued as to how the Maya produced enough food for a population which is estimated to have been around 200 people per km2, Melvin Landers has worked for the last thirty years on the rotations required for a variety of native American crops, crops, such as potatoes, groundnuts, tomatoes, peppers, maize, squash, beans and pumpkin, which have spread around the world to feed many millions of people.
The Mayan civilization living in the rainforest on the Yucatan peninsula in southern Mexico were advanced farmers who grew over 1,000 different crops. However, although tropical rainforest, with its thick, green undergrowth and towering trees, is often thought of as being a fertile paradise, in reality, heavy rainfall very quickly leaches nutrients from the soil and the lush growth is sustained only by a bed of quickly decomposing leaves and stems. It is in this thick layer of decaying organic matter, built up on levies into the swamp, that the Mayan farmers grew their crops. Between the levies, turtles were raised for meat and hand picking of insect pests may have provided additional food for the turtles.
The Mayan Cropping Method is dependent on the construction of deep beds of organic matter which provide support and fertility for a seven-year rotation of crops although, in temperate zones where decomposition is slower, the rotation could be extended by a further 1-2 years to grow additional vegetable crops. Any soil, even rocky slopes can provide the base for the beds as no prior soil preparation is required and any leafy plant can be composted, provided it is not known to suppress growth of other plants, although large leafed plants have to be chopped. In the first year, the organic beds have to be kept moist during the growing season, particularly until the first crop has established good root growth. In subsequent years, watering the bed is not as critical as the decomposing matter acts as a sponge. Crop residues are left to rot for the benefit of the next crop which, in some tropical areas, could be planted immediately. Additional organic matter may be required in the fourth year for growing leguminous crops, such as groundnuts, and in the fifth year, the soil can be cultivated for the first time for growing cereals. By the seventh year, there should be six beds in various stages of decomposition for growing six or more different crops and the whole rotation can be repeated with new beds of organic matter.
In the late 1960's, Melvin Landers helped the Urarina Indians drastically improve production of field rice with methods similar but simpler than the seven-year rotation. Kudzu, a wild legume which quickly takes over vacant fields and is usually burnt, was cut down to provide additional fertility for growing field rice but, in some years, was left to provide pasture for grazing cattle. Concerns over disease problems in subsequent crops are avoided by the chosen rotation of crops and, states Melvin Landers, "The plants are so healthy, it would be hard for disease to take a very good hold in them."
It is not known exactly how the Mayans farmed their land but this system presents an interesting theory and would help to explain the agricultural achievements which helped to sustain this civilization until it was brought to an end by the Spanish invasion in the 16th Century. In a modern day context, this simple theory has proved to Melvin Landers that high yields can be obtained from a wide variety of crops and soil fertility dramatically increased on even the smallest piece of land.
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