5000 YEARS OF TRADITIONAL AGROFORESTRY

Ed Hammer visits a traditional agroforestry plot in the Mexican cloud forests and sees how millennia of knowledge and practice have created an intricate and beautiful edible landscape.

Article first published in 'Permaculture Magazine' No. 52

Barely the faintest trace of the approaching dawn had identified the rugged eastern horizon, as we climbed steeply through the dense vegetation of Mexico’s 12,000 year old cloud forest. My destination was a Parcela, or garden, situated on a lofty ridge 40 minutes ride through a labyrinth of forest pathways.

Fifty year old Ricardo Menses has been cultivating the same three hectare plot since he inherited it from his father 33 yeas ago. “This is my own Garden of Eden,” he says with a smile, “it grew from the forest long, long ago, and still fills me with the fruits of nature.”
Ricardo practices, with an almost religious conviction, a model of farming which has evolved for more than 5,000 years in this region. Ever since his ancestors first settled these fertile limestone promontories, the primitive harvesting of forest products has gradually given way to a settled agricult-ural system, which replicates as closely as possible the processes and cycles observed in the surrounding forest.

On arrival, in the blue-light of dawn, the garden is only distinguished from the surrounding cloud forest by a spacious opening in the canopy overhead. It is only as I dismount and scale a rocky outcrop however, that the tropical morning finally breaks to reveal a network of integrated garden plots. While at first glance it appears that the forest is rapidly reclaiming this fertile glade it soon becomes obvious that every plant I can see has been consciously established here, in a remarkable display of agroecology.

Although Ricardo’s Parcela is modest in size, it is able to support an intricate web of over forty cultivars. In its design, the holding is arranged logically so that light demanding crops are grown in the centre of the clearing, while shade tolerant species occupy the merged boundaries where the gardens meet the forest.

It is here, within this outer zone, that the workings of the agroecosystem are most obviously demonstrated. As the sunlight from Ricardo’s clearing spreads into the forest understorey, so too does the colony of edible plants. While climbing peppers and fruits seek out the niches offered by the canopy, traditional root crops such as sweet potatoes and cassava spread their vines across the forest floor.

A rich layer of edible herbs have also been established over the years and proliferate wildly in the humus rich forest soil, exploiting every available inch of sunlight not occupied by the annual crops. From where I stand I can see survivors of the original forest community happily co-existing with these introduced varieties, which gradually increase in number until agriculture and ecosystem become inseparable.

While these cultivars were originally planted by Ricardo or his family before him, they have received minimal maintenance over the years and have, as a result, absorbed themselves into the fabric of the forest ecosystem. “Sometimes I have to cut back their leaves, but mostly we just harvest the fruit when it is ready,” Ricardo tells me.

The garden areas immediately bordering the forest are occupied by a variety of polycultures. Here bananas and plantains act as climbing frames for yam vines, while coffee, cocoa and ginger bask in their shade. Nearly all of the species chosen for this outer zone are traditional forest varieties, some such as papaya and pimento were domesticated elsewhere and gradually introduced, while others such as wild peanut and vanilla orchids are endemic to Chiapas and have been assimilated from the forest into the gardens.

Ricardo’s experience tells him intrinsically, how his yields benefit from this form of agroforestry: “When you grow a plantain by itself there is so much space that is wasted,” he says, “under the leaves, on the ground and under the soil, this is where the forest grows its fruits”. Through adapting the laws of the forest, Ricardo has created an alternative eco-system where resources are capitalised but also conserved, through biodiversity, nutrient cycling and symbiosis.

As the clearing opens further the balance shifts towards more light demanding crops such as maize, millet and pumpkins, grown together in a patchwork of inter-cropped beds. The main reason for this is soil conservation Ricardo tells me: “These plants have deep roots,” he says pointing to the cereals, “they can’t hold the soil together so it washes away with the rain. If we plant pumpkins and tomato they protect the soil from the sun and the rain”.

The centre of the clearing is given over to several smaller plots of individual staples, including: groundnut, cassava, pineapple, black beans and runner beans. Although these are the only monocultures to be seen in Ricardo’s garden, each crop is randomly sown and regularly mulched with leaf litter to avoid the same problems of erosion. In addition, Ricardo practices a system of shifting cultivation which uses temporal diversity as opposed to the spatial diversity of the forest gardens.

Crop rotations are essential to the sustainability of the agroecosystem, particularly here, in the tropics, where pests and disease are both widespread and persistent. Ricardo currently grows his five staple crops across seven separate plots, thereby ensuring that each plot is left fallow once every three to four years. “Insects and fungi are part of the forest,” Ricardo tells me, “But each year we clean the soil with a different crop and the pest moves on”.

Ricardo is also aware that temporal diversity makes the most of available nutrients in the soil. By growing a dif-ferent crop each year a rotation such as this can effectively capture vital nutrients which mineralize at varying rates and are often lost through leaching. In fallow years the plot is rapidly colonized and protected by a cover of natural succession, this is then burnt to fertilise the soil for the following rotation.

Throughout the time I spent with Ricardo in his gardens I was struck by the simplicity of his approach to farming. Although he is unaware of the scientific arguments supporting agro-ecology or permaculture, instinct has taught Ricardo everything he needs to know to achieve the maximum sustainable yield from his natural capital. Through simulating, rather than exploiting, their natural resources in this way, subsistence farmers throughout the tropics are demonstrating the considerable potential of agroecology systems.

At a time when agricultural sustainability is rapidly emerging as one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced, it is essential that the local knowledge and skills of these traditional agricultures are recognised and appreciated. Although Ricardo’s garden illustrates a small, but significant, aspect of full permaculture design, ultimately he has demonstrated that the development of agroecology systems, specific to individual environments, will be essential in achieving the goal of global food security

Ed Hammer is an agroforestry graduate and is now a post-graduate at the London School of Journalism.

The fully illustrated version of this article appears in PM52 and can be purchased now as a back issue.