How to adapt agricultural systems to address climate change?
pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, chemical fertilizers and attack strongly to soil, acidifying and reducing the carbon content, the same ending contributing to global warming, the highest percentage of agricultural activity takes place in the Peruvian Andes, now that the regimes of rainfall and the retreat of the glaciers are concrete evidence that the climate is changing, the picture is very encouraging for the coming years . What to do to produce in the future with less water available for irrigation? What to do to make it more profitable crops of Andean peasants? What to do to address this global warming and climate change?.
One way to answer these questions is based on the following word: terracing. This ancient agricultural system serves several purposes for the benefit the environment in which they are employed, reduces erosion, reduces water consumption compared to the same extent on level ground or slopes, flat spaces gains for agricultural production, reducing fertilizer use, creates microclimates.
The irrigated farming system platforms on the Incas, it was essential to ensure food security in semi-arid Andes during the Inca empire, ensuring, above all, the supply of corn and potatoes. It is estimated that the total area (with and without irrigation) systems platforms in Peru may reach 1 million hectares, but 75% of these are abandoned or are grown sporadically.
By building terraces on the slopes, avoiding the erosion of the same, because the water flows and collects in them, their structure can hold water, rehabilitating irrigation canals prehispanic would be possible to employ all year. The design of the platforms can make flat surfaces, and thus can better manage these extensions, and can even use machinery, the structure allows them to retain nutrients, because it is used less fertilizer, and if they are used mixed cultures is mitigated crop losses from pests.
The terraces combined with crop diversification ensures internal and external market, may export the most common native crops and other crops to sell locally native.
native crops are the most common "potato (Solanum tuberosum) and for maize (Zea mays), marketed as the natives are represented by the" oca (Oxalis tuberosa), "root vegetables" (Ollucus tuberosum) "mashua (Tropacolum tuberosum)," pussy "or" tarhui (Lupinus mutabilis), "cañihua (Chenopodium canihua)," quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), and "celeriac" (Arracacia xanthorrhiza), all of them rich in protein but low in the cities mainly consumed by the imposition of foreign eating patterns.
and experiences have been improving agricultural productivity, restoring sidewalks, improving irrigation structures, and agroforestry practices (1992, the NGO Desco, Lari district, province of Cailloma, Arequipa region), thus improving agricultural productivity and raise public awareness about the ecological importance of good agricultural practices based on ancient technology. Upon completion of the project in 1998, its effectiveness could be measured, obtaining an increase in 29% (relative to 1990). Crop, quinoa showed improved productivity (80%) followed by potato (51.6%). The said project showed its effectiveness to address desertification, contributing to the methods and knowledge for the construction of platforms, as well as water conservation practices and soil, were reintroduced in the area.
By diversifying crop nutrients is recovered, ensuring the sale of the same local market.
Keep in mind also that the terraces based productivity in natural fertilizers, increasing their value as an organic product. It is common in the mountains trap the pets in the land for planting, which enriches the soil, this activity can add techniques composting.
In conclusion, the use of platforms or terraces in the highlands, it helps to produce more on less land, preventing erosion, reducing water consumption and fertilizer, winning flat land and facilitate the management of them, the whole if it combines the use of irrigation technology (mainly sprinkler or drip) can mitigate the effects of climate change in the above areas.
References:
http://www.condesan.org/memoria/SOWA0101.pdf
http://www.up.edu.pe/ciup/aerna/anteriores/Boletin_55.pdf
http://www.unesco.org/mab/ekocd/peru.html
http://www.pnuma.org/educamb/documentos/PDF/STB4.pdf
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