Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-23T11:04:01.307Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Raised field agriculture in Tlaxcala, Mexico: An ecosystem perspective on maintenance of soil fertility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Timothy E. Crews  and
Stephen R. Gliessman
Timothy E. Crews
Affiliation:
Graduate Student in Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-2701.
Stephen R. Gliessman
Affiliation:
Professor, Board of Environmental Studies, and Director, Agroecology Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064.
Get access

Abstract

Raised field agriculture in southwest Tlaxcala, Mexico, is a sophisticated, intensive traditional system of wetland cultivation that dates back to as early as 300 B. C. It provides an exceptional example of how farming practices can fit into and even take advantage of ecosystem processes. The raised fields appear to be largely self-reliant in energy and nutrients. Tlaxcalan farmers use canals, aquatic plants, polycultures, alder (Alnus firmifolia) and other trees to intensify the nutrient input into their fields and minimize nutrient losses through leaching and runoff Although the raised field system is an impressive, functioning example of a historically sustainable farming system, it is endangered by modern pressures to increase production through higher use of inputs and alteration of agroecosystem design.

Keywords

agroecologynutrient cyclingtraditional farmingraised fieldAlnus Firmifolia
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , March 1991 , pp. 9 - 16
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Abascal, R., and Garcia-Cook, A.. 1975. Sistemas de cultivo, riego, y contról de agua en al área de Tlaxcala. Arqueologia I. (Septiembre):9–15.Google Scholar
2.Anaya, A. L., Ramos, L., Cruz, R., Hernandez, J. G., and Nava, V.. 1987. Perspectives on allelopathy in Mexican traditional agroecosystems: A case study in Tlaxcala. Journal of Chemical Ecology 13:2083–2101.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3.Austin, J. E., and Esteva, G.. 1987. Food policy in Mexico: The Search for Self-Sufficiency. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, and London. 383 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Balerdi, F., Muller, L., and Fassbender, H. W.. 1968. Estudio del fósforo en suelos de América Central. III. Comparación de cinco métodos químicos ed análisis de fósforo disponible. Turrialba 18:348–360.Google Scholar
5.Cancellier, P. H. 1985. World Population. Population Reference Bureau, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
6.Clayton, J. L. 1979. Nutrient supply to soil by rock weathering. In Leaf, A. L. (ed.). Impact of Intensive Harvesting on Forest Nutrient Cycling. State University of New York. pp. 75–96.Google Scholar
7.Cook, S. F., and Simpson, L. B.. 1948. The population of Central Mexico in the sixteenth century. IberoAmericana 31:36.Google Scholar
8.Cumberland, C. C. 1968. Mexico, The Struggle for Modernity. Oxford University Press, London. 394 pp.Google Scholar
9.Darch, J. P. 1983. Drained fields in the Americas: An Introduction. In J. P. Darch (ed.). Drained Field Agriculture in Central and South America. BAR International Series 189:1–10.Google Scholar
10.Delwiche, C. C. 1971. Man and mineral cycles. Yale Science 46:12–20.Google Scholar
11.Denevan, W. V., and Mathewson, K.. 1983. Preliminary results of the Samborondon Raised Field Project, Guayas Basin, Ecuador. In J. P. Darch (ed.). Drained Field Agriculture in Central and South America. BAR International Series 189:167–183.Google Scholar
12.FAO. 1979. Food and Agriculture Organization Fertilizer Yearbook. Vol. 29. Rome.Google Scholar
13.FAO. 1989. Food and Agriculture Organization Fertilizer Yearbook. Series 89. Rome.Google Scholar
14.Garcia, E. 1973. Modificaciones al Sistema de Clasificación Climática de Köppen. Universidad Nacional Autónomads Mexico, Mexico D.F.Google Scholar
15.Garcia de Miranda, E., and de Gyves, Z. Falcón. 1986. Nuevo Atlas Porrua de la Republica Mexicana. 7th edition. Editorial Porrua S.A., Mexico D.F.Google Scholar
16.Gibson, C. 1952. Tlaxcala in the Sixteenth Century. Yale Historical Publications, Miscellany LVI, New Haven, Connecticut. 300 pp.Google Scholar
17.Gliessman, S. R. 1982. Nitrogen distribution in several traditional agro-ecosystems in the humid tropical lowlands of south-eastern Mexico. Plant and Soil 67:105–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18.Gliessman, S. R. 1990. Understanding the basis of sustainability for agriculture in the tropics: Experiences in Latin America. In Edwards, C. A. (ed.). Sustainable Agricultural Systems. Soil and Water Conservation Society, Ankeny, Iowa. pp. 378–390.Google Scholar
19.Gonzalez Jácome, A. 1986. Agroecología del Suroeste de Tlaxcala. In: Historia y Sociedad en Tlaxcala. Memorias del ler. Simposio International de Investigaciones Socio-historicas sobre Tlaxcala. Gobierno de Tlaxcala. pp. 201–220.Google Scholar
20.Gorham, E., Vitousek, P. M., and Reiners, W. A.. 1979. The regulation of chemical budgets over the course of terrestrial ecosystem succession. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 10:53–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
21.Heichel, G. H. 1987. Legume nitrogen: Symbiotic fixation and recovery by subsequent crops. In Helsel, Z. R. (ed.). Energy in Plant Nutrition and Pest Control. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 63–80.Google Scholar
22.Kovar, J. L., and Barber, S. A.. 1990. Potassium supply characteristics qf thirty-three soils as influenced by seven rates of potassium. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 54:1356–1361.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.LaRue, T. A., and Patterson, T. G.. 1981. How much nitrogen do legumes fix? Advances in Agronomy 34:15–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
24.Likens, G. E., Bormann, F. H., Pierce, R. S., Eaton, J. S., and Johnson, N. M.. 1977. Biogeochemistry of a Forested Ecosystem. Springer-Verlag, New York, New York. 146 pp.Google Scholar
25.Mountjoy, D. C., and Gliessman, S. R.. 1988. Traditional management of a hillside agroecosystem in Tlaxcala, Mexico: An ecologically based maintenance system. Am. J. of Alternative Agric. 3:3–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
26.Mudahar, M. S., and Hignett, T. P.. 1987. Fertilizer and Energy Use. In Helsel, Z. R. (ed.). Energy in Plant Nutrition and Pest Control. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 1–22.Google Scholar
27.Netting, R. 1974. Agrarian ecology. Annual Review of Anthropology 3:21–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
28.Pimentel, D. 1984. Energy flow in the food system. In Pimentel, D. and Hall, C. W. (eds.). Food and Energy Resources. Academic Press, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, pp. 1–24.Google Scholar
29.Ross, F. A. 1982. International Encyclopedia of Population. Vol. 2. The Free Press, Macmillan, New York.Google Scholar
30.Sanchez, P. A., Gichuru, M. P., and Katz, L. B.. 1982. Organic matter in major soils of the tropical and temperate regions. In Nonsymbiotic Nitrogen Fixation and Organic Matter in the Tropics. Transactions of the 12th Inter. Cong, of Soil Sci. ISSS AISS IBG, New Delhi, pp. 99–114.Google Scholar
31.Secretaria de Agricultura y Recursos Hidráulicos. 1982a. Estudio socioeconómico definitivo del proyecto Valle de Nativitas, Tlaxcala-Puebla. Fomento de Iniciativas de Desarrollo. Mexico D.F.Google Scholar
32.Secretaria de Agricultura y Recursos Hidráulicos. 1982b. Estudio geohidrológico del Valle Nativitas-Azcatelco, Tlaxcala-Puebla. Ecoterra Contrato Ohiadr-E-82–54, Clave PI-635. Chihuahua.Google Scholar
33.Siemens, A. H. 1990. Reducing the risk: Some indications regarding pre-Hispanic wetland agricultural intensification from contemporary use of a wetland/terra firma boundary zone in central Veracruz. In Gliessman, S. R. (ed.). Agroecology, Researching the Ecological Basis for Sustainable Agriculture. Springer-Verlag, New York, New York. pp. 233–250.Google Scholar
34.Trudgill, S. T. 1988. Soil and Vegetation Systems. 2nd edition. Claredon Press, Oxford. 211 pp.Google Scholar
35.Werner, G. 1988. Los Suelos en el Estado de Tlaxcala. E1 Proyecto México de la Fundación Alemana para la Investigatión Científica. Tomo No. 20. E1 Gobierno del Estado de Tlaxcala y La Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala. Tlaxcala, México. 198 pp.Google Scholar
36.Wilken, G. C. 1969. Drained field agriculture, an intensive farming system in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Geographic Review 59:215–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
37.Wilken, G. C. 1987. Good Farmers: Traditional Agricultural Resource Management in Mexico and Central America. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 302 pp.Google Scholar
38.Woodmansee, R. G. 1984. Comparative nutrient cycles of natural and agricultural ecosystems: A step toward principles. In Lowrance, R., Stinner, B. R., and House, G. J. (eds.). Agricultural Ecosystems. John Wiley & Sons, New York, New York. pp. 145–156.Google Scholar