Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T14:50:12.618Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Traditional management of a hillside agroecosystem in Tlaxcala, Mexico: An ecologically based maintenance system

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Daniel C. Mountjoy  and
Stephen R. Gliessman
Daniel C. Mountjoy
Affiliation:
Graduate Student in Human Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.
Stephen R. Gliessman
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Board of Environmental Studies, and Director, Agroecology Program, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064.
Get access

Abstract

Traditional agricultural systems are increasingly being recognized as important examples of ecologically sustainable production methods and as such deserve agroecological attention. In a study of terrace agriculture in Tlaxcala, Mexico, the authors identify several management features which have been used for as long as three thousand years. The theoretical approach employs the notion of open versus closed agroecosystems for examining soil and water management, species diversity, and nutrient cycling. In the traditional system, conservation of existing resources is the distinctive feature whereas, with modern techniques, the emphasis is on replacement. The most distinctive feature of the Tlaxcalan agroecosystem is the terrace/cajete complex which serves to contain heavy downpours and trap eroded soil, ensures diversity of plant species, and traps and concentrates nutrients. The functioning of this traditional system is endangered by new management strategies that have responded to external political, economic and social pressures for change. This article discusses the ecological repercussions of these new practices and suggests ways that appropriate elements may be integrated to promote the sustainability of food production.

Keywords

agroecologywater managementsustainable agriculturefood needsincreasing population
Type
Articles
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 3 , Issue 1 , Winter 1988 , pp. 3 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

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, A.. 1975. Sistemas de cultivo, riego y control de agua en el area de Tlaxcala. In Arqueologia I, 9–15, September, 1973, at Mexico, D.F. 199–212.Google Scholar
2.Allison, J. 1983. An Ecological Analysis of Home Garden Agro-Ecosystems in Two Communities of Rural Mexico. M.A. thesis. Biology Board, University of California, Santa Cruz.Google Scholar
3.Altieri, M., and Anderson, M. K.. 1986. An ecological basis for the development of alternative agricultural systems for small farmers in the Third World. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture 1:30–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Altieri, M., and Letourneau, D.. 1982. Vegetational management and biological control in agroecosystems. Crop Protection 14:405–430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5.Buchanan, M. A. 1983. The Effects of Inorganic and Organic Soil Amendments on Nitrogen Cycle Components and Nitrogen Distribution in Broccoli Crop Systems. M.A. thesis. Biology, University of California.Google Scholar
6.Chacon, J. C., and Gliessman, S. R.. 1980. Use of the ‘Non-Weed’ concept in traditional tropical agroecosystems of Southeastern Mexico. Agro-Ecosystems 8:1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Cox, G., and Atkins, M.. 1979. Agricultural Ecology: An Analysis of World Food Production Systems. W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, California. 721 pp.Google Scholar
8.Farrell, J. G. 1984. The Role of Trees Within Mixed Farming Systems of Tlaxcala, Mexico. M.S. thesis. Wildland Resource Science, University of California, Berkeley.Google Scholar
9.Geertz, C. 1963. Agricultural Involution: The Process of Ecological Change in Indonesia. University of California Press, Berkeley, California.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
10.Gerd Werner Fundacion. 1978. Los suelos de la cuenca alta de Puebla-Tlaxcala y sus alrededores. Supplemento Comunicaciones, Proyecto Puebla-Tlaxcala. Gerd Werner Fundacion Alemana para la Investigacion Cientifica, Puebla.Google Scholar
11.Gliessman, S. R. 1981. Multiple cropping systems: A basis for developing an alternative agriculture. Background Papers for Innovative Biological Technologies for Lesser Developed Countries; An Office of Technology Assessment Workshop, 11 24–25, 1980. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
12.Gliessman, S. R., and Amador, A. M.. 1980. Ecological aspects of production in traditional agroecosystems in the humid lowland tropics of Mexico. In Furtado, J. I. (ed.). Tropical Ecology and Development, Proceedings of the Vth International Symposium of Tropical Ecology, Kuala Lumpur, pp. 601–608.Google Scholar
13.Hart, R. D. 1979. Agroecosistemas: conceptos basicos. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica.Google Scholar
14.Johnson, J. W., Welch, L. F., and Kurtz, L. T.. 1975. Environmental implications of N fixation by soybeans. Journal of Environmental Quality 4:303–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Mountjoy, D. C. 1985. Adaptation and Change in a Local Agroecosystem of Tlaxcala, Mexico. B.A. honors thesis. Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz.Google Scholar
16.Pimentel, D. 1984. Energy flow in the food system. In Pimentel, D. and Hall, C. W. (eds.). Food and Energy Resources. Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, Florida.Google Scholar
17.Powell, C. L., and Bagyaraj, D. J.. 1984. V. A. Mycorrhiza. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.Google Scholar
18.Rappaport, R. A. 1971. The flow of energy in an agricultural society. Scientific American 224(3):117–132.Google Scholar
19.Raunkiaer, C. 1934. The Life Forms of Plants and Statistical Plant Geography. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
20.SARH. 1984. Observaciones climatologicas hechas a las 8 horas; Estacion: Ixtacuixtla, Tlaxcala. 1 Julio - 28 Septiembre 1984 (unpubl.).Google Scholar
21.Smith, D. F., and Hill, D. M.. 1975. Natural and agricultural ecosystems. Journal of Environmental Quality 4(2):143–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
22.Wilken, G. C. 1977. Integrating forest and small-scale farm systems in Middle America. Agro-Ecosystems 3:291–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23.Wilken, G. C. 1978. Management of Productive Space in Traditional Farming. Actes du XLII Congres International de Americanistes, Vol. 2, Paris.Google Scholar
24.Wolf, E. C. 1987. Raising Agricultural Productivity. In Brown, L. R. (Ed.). State of the World 1987. W. W. Norton and Company, New York, New York.Google Scholar