THE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONVERSIONFrom traditional to alternative agroecosystems in Mexico

Alba González Jácome

INTRODUCTION

At this point in the ecological and social research oncontemporary agroecosystems it becomes of vital importance todiscuss some of the social and cultural aspects in whichrural societies are working to acquire and harmonicrelationship between agricultural activity and their naturalenvironment. This relationship involves agriculturalproductivity, access to local, regional, national and eveninternational markets. The acquisition of balance between thecommunities and their cultivated areas with their naturalenvironments, as well as the social control over the workingforce applied to agriculture and the management of economicresources available to them become basic.1

For the purposes of this article is not relevant to make thedistinctions between Indian and non-Indian communities,peasants, farmers, small scale farmers or small scale privatecattle ranching and communal organizations which combineagriculture with cattle activities. The actual discussion ofthese matters is very important but it can distort the main

1 This work is based on the results of five research projects organized tostudy several rural communities in Central and Southern Mexico. Theresearch was focused on the anthropological study of traditionalagricultural systems and their relationship with environment, society andculture; cultural ecology was the methodology. The results of thesestudies are written and discussed in many dissertations which werepresented to obtain Master and Doctoral degrees in the Graduate Programin Social Anthropology at the Iberoamericana University in Mexico Cityfrom 1975 to date. During the development of these research projects theparticipation of specialists in Ecology, Geography and Rural Developmentwas very important. My gratitude to Stephen R. Gliessman, Alfred H.Siemens and Tomás Martínez Saldaña for their advice and help over allthese years. Thanks to David Robichaux, Ramón Mariaca, and William L.Crothers for their comments to this article.

1

discussion in this chapter. To avoid the problem I will useagriculturalists as a broad term to apply to all the categoriescited. In some specific cases when any of these terms areapplied in the studies which are discussed in this chapter Iwill also use the term in this way. The studies were done incentral, south and southern Mexico. They include severalcommunities in the Valley of Mexico and also in the States ofMexico, Guanajuato, Tlaxcala, Veracruz, Campeche, QuintanaRoo, Chiapas and Oaxaca.

THE MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL DIVERSITY

Pre-Hispanic land use is basic to an understanding of theraise of contemporary Mexican agricultural systems. Pre-Hispanic and Hispanic ways of dealing with agriculture werecombined in different ways to form what has been called theMexican model of agriculture (Palerm, 1968), also called traditionalagriculture by many ecologist, agroecologist and socialscientists. The combination of the two agriculturaltraditions required the sixteenth and seventeenth centuriesand produced conflict which resulted in rebellions of Indiansagainst Spaniards; these were accentuated by the introductionof cattle ranching and new models for irrigation. Both cattleand irrigation were in competition for the same land andwater resources that the Indians had used for intensiveagricultural systems before the Spanish arrival in New Spain.The Pre-Hispanic intensive chinampa agricultural system inthe south of the Valley of Mexico suffered from reduction ofavailable water (Quiñones 2005).

During the XIX century the Indian communities weresubordinated to the newly independent Mexico, itsinstitutions and economical programs. The idea of progresswas very important to politicians on both conservative andliberal sides. Programs directed to the development of newindustries were organized in different parts of the country(González, 1992). Commercial agriculture was controlled bylarge estates (haciendas) whose owners were of foreign origins(González, 1996), and many commercial plants were introduced,

2

such as coffee (Sartorius 1961). Indian communities practicedsubsistence agriculture and supply seasonal labor on theneighboring estates. They obtained wood, charcoal, plants,animals, mushrooms and many other supplementary resourcesfrom their surroundings (González, 1996). Spanish estateowners (hacendados) used swamps to pasture cattle during thedry season (González 1999: 191-218).

First in the XIX century and the more importantly during theXX century a series of local and regional programs wereorganized throughout the country to develop water controlsystems. Some lakes, lagoons and rivers were drained ordiverted to expand agricultural lands over their old basins;there are good examples in the Lerma river basin near Tolucaand also in the Southwest of Tlaxcala (Albores 1995; González1999:191-218). The land was divided among large estates,ranches, and Indian and peasant communities which hadcommunal organizations of property with respect to naturalresources such as forests, mines, ravines, lakes and rivers(Bilbao 1989). Commercial agriculture was mainly concentrateon private properties, communities focused mainly onsubsistence agriculture.

Land tenure in Mexico underwent radical changes as aconsequence of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1921). Thepeasantry took control of some of the land in the hands ofestate owners. Starting in 1916 (Carranza 1915), a collectivesystem of land tenure called ejido was imposed by thepolitical leaders. Peasants had usufructuary rights and wereunable to rent or sell the plots they had been allocated.2

Various natural resources were held in common. In the non-populated regions of the Southeast of the country forestedareas were important sources of raw materials for foreigncompanies. Timber was cut by European and American companiesas in the tropical forest of Marqués de Comillas in Chiapas(Mariaca, 2002:141-150). Timber was taken by Canadiancompanies in the temperate woods of the Sierra de Juarez inOaxaca (Guhs 1992), American companies obtained chicle from

2 They were the “dotaciones ejidales”.

3

sapota trees in the tropical forests of Los Chenes inCampeche (Morales 2004).

Isolated communities all over the country were able to usenatural areas for the development of new agricultural lands,for obtaining other resources, or even the creation of newagricultural systems. One interesting example is thebanquetera, (Servín 2000)3 established in places like Xopilapain Central Veracruz (Servín, Vol. 24, 2001:165-177). Anotherwas developed by the Popolucas of Soteapan, in the Tuxtlasregion, also at Veracruz; coffee trees were intermixed withthe natural forest (Blanco 2005). In both cases the newagricultural systems were located in the subtropical forest,they were dedicated to the cultivation of commercial productswhile staples were growth in the terrain located near thecommunities. A combination of self sufficiency and commercialproduction was the result of these attempts to integratelocal society with regional and national sociopoliticaldevelopments. Staple crops remained the same through theyears while commercial crops changed to adapt to marketnecessities.

The weeded against the overgrown;leaving natural areas around the rural communities

Natural diversity has been recognized as a basic componentfor the maintenance of ecosystems around the world. However,preserving diversity is not an easy task in many ruralsocieties, especially as population numbers continue to growand densities continue to increase. The necessity for moreagricultural land affects natural ecosystems in many ways. Asa consequence natural diversity is diminishing in the number,surface area and quality of natural spaces aroundcommunities. The development policies of the Mexicangovernment between 1940 and 1970 were mainly directed toward3 The banquetera is an agricultural system by means of which small perchedtriangles are intermixed with the subtropical forest and are cultivatedwith coffee and mango trees in such a way that the vegetation looksundisturbed. The local fauna is not affected by agriculture. Coffee andmango production is directed toward the regional markets.

4

the industrialization and modernization of the nation. Theirobjective was the construction of an American model ofagriculture. The model mainly included the use ofagricultural machinery instead of human labor, the intensiveapplication of agrochemicals and the weeding of areas locatedaround cultivated plots.

The American agricultural model had to be adapted to someMexican specific historical and ecological conditions. Thecountry has a long agricultural history starting at leastfive thousands years ago, plants and agricultural systemswere adapted to local environmental and climatic conditions,social organization of labor was based on family groups wheremutual aid had an important role to expand non-paidagricultural work, biodiversity was an importantcharacteristic all around the country and cultural diversitywas also a basic factor to take into account. Furthermore,land and water were controlled by the State (González 1996)at least until 1992 when landholding was legally undermined.4

The list can be expanded but the intention is only to showhow the application of the American agricultural model neededmuch more than the idea of modernization to be implemented.Mexican agricultural systems of ancient origins werecondemned to destruction with no previous studies.

However, natural systems survive and continue to be importantreservoirs of natural vegetation and fauna for manycommunities: ravines, water reservoirs, remaining forestedareas as well as borders of agricultural plots, access roadsand rivers, lakes and lagoons (Juan Pérez 2003). Difficultaccess to them has been indicated as a factor in theirconservation in several rural communities (Aguirre Beltrán1991:55-74). This is not necessarily true; from theNineteenth century onward tropical and temperate forests wereexploited by timber enterprises (González 1991, 1992b).

4 Neoliberal economic policy in Mexico started with the Miguel de laMadrid government in 1982. It was reinforced with the NAFTA agreement in1993. The government of Vicente Fox has not changed the agrarian policy;politicians of all tendencies agree with the same agrarian policy.

5

Modernization of industry proceeded throughout the countryfrom 1830 onward and Lucas Alamán was the ideologist in theindustrialization of the country during these years (González1992). At the end of the Nineteenth Century estate ownersintroduced British agricultural machinery. From the 1930’son, developmental programs were organized along the lines ofUSA agricultural and technological models. Formal educationreinforced this ideology: agriculture had to be modernized;around the 1880’s a process of mechanization can bedocumented for some regions of Mexico, as in southwestTlaxcala (Nickel 1996). This included the idea of havingspaces without natural vegetation around cultivated plots,which acts against natural diversity. It is difficult toconvince agronomists and politicians of the validity oftraditional agriculture which necessarily involves themanagement of unwedded, overgrown natural spaces.Unfortunately these spaces have been depleted to accommodatemodern agricultural machinery and to build access roads forthe trucks that are needed to move produce rapidly.

Rural communities need to enhance natural systems aroundthem; they are of vital importance since they permit thebiological control of diseases, maintain useful plants andprovide fodder for domestic animals. They also help toimprove home gardens, which must maintain vegetation ofdifferent strata. It has been shown that communities thatlose natural resources around them tend toward monoculture ofmaize and experience heavy out-migration (Blanco 2003). Theconservation of natural areas around communities is difficultbecause of internal and external constraints, such as thescarcity of capital for investment in agriculture, the lossof non-paid family labor due to out- migration, as well aslow market prices for agricultural produce and other factors.

Some external factors affecting forested areas surroundingcommunities

Between 1940 to 1960 international corporations such asSyntex, Ciba-Geigy, Beisa and Diosynth were exploting natural

6

vegetation mainly in tropical regions of the country toobtain medicinal plants such as barbasco (Dioscorea composita).Depletion of natural vegetation was the result of thisactivity. In 1960 the Mexican government had to declare someplants like Dioscorea in danger of extinction and put in placelegal mechanisms to protect them. New synthetic substanceswere developed in the 1960’s and 1970’s and Mexican barbascoremained out of the international markets. However, Mexicantraditional medicine -a mixture of traditional localknowledge about medicinal plants, sorcery, magic thinking andsometimes vegetarian food- continued the exploitation ofnatural vegetation. The increase of prices in medical careand medicines had an impact on the increase of the use ofmedicinal plants which were sold in the local markets bysmall scale herb sellers.5

Since 1990, the economic importance of medicinal plants inMexico has grown and traditional medicine has increased inimportance as medical care costs increases. As a consequencethe exploitation of natural vegetation has also beenincreasing. There are now communal organizations in Oaxaca(Bejarano Society of Social Solidarity in Tuxtepec), Chiapas(Indian Communities Program for the Cultivation of MedicinalPlants), Morelos (Phytomedical products developed by Schwab,a German company, in Mexico since 1840) and Guerrero(Coalition of Ejidos Producing Medicinal Plants); (RodriguezMD, 2003) that facilitate adaptation of land to the organiccultivation of medicinal plants. These have also become animportant commercial enterprise in the first years of the XXIcentury, especially with the development of AlternativeMedicine conceived as a combination of traditional knowledge,biochemical experimentation and medical practices (RodriguezMD. 2003).

Since 1991 non-profit programs for grass roots developmenthave been applied in rural communities (Del Amo 2001). The5 Medicinal plant sellers send their produces to markets called tianguis. InMexico City there is a large market called Mercado de Sonora whichspecialized in medicinal plants, sorcery and witchcraft, and which alsosets the prices for non-cultivated medicinal plants in Mexico.

7

University of Yucatan has been developing an important selfhelp program for tropical areas organized by PROTROPICO. In1997 the University of Tlaxcala began a program dedicated tothe study and production of medicinal plants in the smallcommunities and towns of the state as San Francisco Tepeyancowhere home gardens are used to grow them. The most importantlesson from their experiences is that local development mustbe based on the people’s decision to select and toparticipate in programs that generate concern about themanagement of the environment. The role of academics andresearch consultants has been basic for the development ofthese programs. It is important to understand rural peopledifferently, to learn from them the traditional knowledgethat is necessary to achieve alternative ways of production.

The use of natural resources in rural communities

As noted, natural systems around rural communities are animportant source for obtaining wood, charcoal, medicinalplants, textile fibers, food for animals and people. Howeverthe use of these natural resources must be controlled by somekind of regulations in order to maintain diversity.Regulations increase in importance as rural communitiesincrease their population and land for agriculture becomesscarce. The clearing of new fields becomes tempting, as doesthe draining of water from the natural water bodies, all ofwhich destroys natural areas near the communities.

It is important to restore or even to create an ecologicalresource management mentality. This has been done though theconstruction of ideological mechanisms such as myths -thecreation of imaginary beings that take care of the naturalareas and impose some type of punishment for people whodestroy natural resources (Servín 2000). Communities may haverules for the use of natural areas and the creation ofagricultural systems and practices adapted to the use oftheir natural systems (Juan Pérez 2003). A combination of

8

ideological and legal mechanisms is found in some ruralcommunities, but the size of local population is an importantfactor in relation to the internal social control (Mariaca2002). Local authorities control the use of resources such asaquatic and land animals, the months of the year theseanimals can be caught, hunted, fished or collected, as wellas the number of animals to be collected by any one person.And these zones are used only for basic necessities based onthe idea of defining hunting and fishing areas that can becontrolled and that can also yield monetary income (Servín2000; Mariaca 2002; Juan Pérez 2003).

In communities where social and ideological mechanisms werecreated to control hunting and fishing there is also a strongsocial control over their members. Local authorities have thepower to imprisoning infringers or giving them socialpunishments such as the prohibition of constructing theirhouses in communal lands or making them pay fines which canbe used for the community’s public services (Servín 2000).However, these policies can also erect strong barriersagainst innovation and social change. Some indigenous ruralcommunities in Mexico are considered conservative withrespect to innovation.

The importance of traditional food and cookingin agricultural communities to their relationships with the

environment

During the last 30 years the diet in rural communities haschanged drastically due to the impact of modern ways ofobtaining food. Many products are imported over longdistances and are thus expensive. Local knowledge abouttraditional food has been drastically diminished and ruraldiet is more and more aligned with urban diet. Maintainingcultural diversity in cooking improves nutrition and health.There are also some cultural tendencies in the urban societywhich can be very destructive of some wild plants and animalpopulations in the rural areas. The meat or eggs of some

9

animals are taken as aphrodisiacs, as are turtle eggs forexample.

The consumption of manufactured soft drinks has increasedramatically and Mexico has the first place in theconsumption of such drinks in the world; the Coca ColaCompany 2001 Annual Report published that the averageconsumption was 462 units per person, while in the US theconsumption was 419 units per person. Correspondinglydiabetes has increased rapidly to become the forth cause ofmortality In Mexico (Diabetes Atlas 2000:10; Tecontero2005).6 Native beverages such as pozol (corn and cacao), pozole(corn meal mixed with water, chile and salt or corn mealmixed with coconut pulp), balché (balche tree bark mixed withwater, honey and anise), aguamiel (non fermented agave juice),pinole (tosted and milled corn mixed with water), flavoredwater (pulped fruits mixed with water), tepache (pineapplepeel mixed with brown sugar and water), atole (corn milled andmixed with water, sugar and sometimes the flavor of somefruit such as Prunus capulli), chocolate (cacao mixed with water,sugar and cinnamon), all these and many others have alreadydisappeared from the daily diet of peasants. The lack ofsecure sources for drinking water is a contributing factor tothis change in the consumption of non-alcoholic beverages.

The return to traditional diet is essential to generalhealth; it is important to recover the idea that nature is aprime source for the daily life of rural people. This canlead to a greater care of the natural systems and theirresources. Traditional cooking practices need to bemaintained in the face of rapid culture change. Corncultivation directed toward subsistence is an importantpractice for the diet and the economy of local communities.The importance of a plot near the house which can be used togrow vegetables, aromatic and medicinal plants and staplesmust to be reinforced.

6 The Diabetes Atlas 2000 estimates prevalence in 20-79 age groups forMexico of 14.2%. Only three countries had a higher incidence: Papua NewGuinea (15.5%), Mauritius (15.0%) and Bahrain (14.8%).

10

It is very useful to reintroduce polyculture practices whichare the only ones capable of maintaining a balanced diet inrural societies. The combination of auto-subsistence and themanagement of natural resources in a seasonal regime reducethe necessity for industrial foods. An example; in thecommunity of Progreso Hidalgo, the rural population hasdeveloped a type of food which combines collect naturalresources like purslain, epazote, wild spinach, flowers ofzompantli (Erythrina spp.), water crests, retoños de guajes andred guajes with commercial produce like eggs, meat, chickenand pork. Fish collected from natural closed fittings arevery important during June to October when money is scarce(Juan Pérez 2003). Agricultural systems such as home gardensfacilitate polyculture; they have been loosing importance asindustrial food and beverages acquire more importance for therural societies.

THE ROULETTE MODEL OF PEASANT DECISION MAKING: 7

A WAY OF REPRESENTING THE MINIMIZATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL ANDECONOMIC RISK 8

Peasant farming is like playing roulette. Floods, hurricanes,unexpectedly early onset of the rainy season, drought, frost,hail, and other climatic events affect crops year after year.The traditional knowledge about how to deal with these eventshas been depleted by the loss of the old socializationsystems through which older generation trained the younger.Migration has taken young people out of the communities for

7 Alfred H. Siemens, “Modeling the nature and use of wetland margins”; inpress, AGRICULTURE AND HUMAN VALUES (2004).8 There is a discussion among anthropologist about the difference betweendanger and risk. In this discussion risk is conceived as culturallyconstructed and has no objective existence. This chapter will not discussthese concepts. Further information can be found in Robert Paine “Dangerand the Non-Risk Thesis”, CATASTROPHE & CULTURE. THE ANTHROPOLOGY OFDISASTER; Susanna M. Hoffman and Anthony Oliver-Smith eds., School ofAmerican Research Press, 2002:67-89.

11

considerable periods of time. Work that is not related toagriculture is increasing in importance as a source formonetary income. There is thus the necessity of recoveringthe traditional knowledge surrounding the understanding ofnature, climatic events and the traditional processes ofsocial and cultural adaptation (Albores 1997 y 2004).

Traditional agriculture allows some management ofenvironmental risk, particularly the counteraction ofclimatic hazards. Growing corn in different plots which arelocated at different altitudes or otherwise different micro-environments is one such practice. Using different varietiesof corn, say some with long and other with short maturation,is another. Mixing staples with commercial crops in narrowstrips in the same plot permits the obtaining of food andmoney. The management of the plots in relation to their microenvironmental characteristics, the type of crops and thevariety which will be sow are combined to counter actclimatic events every year. 9

Every year peasants make plays there bets on the roulettetable of their agriculture. They consider past marketexperiences as well as current prices in order to decide thetype and quantity of products that make be profitable forthem. These decisions are tied to their interpretation ofclimatic conditions and also to the micro environment ofcharacteristics of the plots that they will choose tocultivate. Both environmental and economic conditions arebasic to decision making in peasant agriculture.

In some rural communities there are still traditionalspecialists in the prediction and amelioration of climaticevents. However, modern societies often consider thembackward. Modern attitudes to rural knowledge have often beendiscriminatory and depreciative. Moreover, rural societieshave convinced themselves of this backguarness. Agronomists,9 There are some currently influential –and controversial- books on theimpact of climatic events on human societies. For example Brian FaganFLOODS, FAMINES AND EMPERORS. EL NIÑO AND THE FATE OF CIVILIZATIONS;Basic Books, Perseus Books Group, 1999.

12

economists, rural developers and urban people in generalconsider rural people iliterate and also incapable ofadapting to modernization and change. The idea that Mexicanpeasantry do not know how to cultivate is not a new one.During Porfirio Díaz’ government (1880-1910) many Italian andFrench peasant families were brought into the country withthe specific task of teaching Mexican peasants how tocultivate the land with modern techniques – the results weredecidedly equivocal (Alfaro, 2001).

A reconsideration of rural traditional knowledge is urgent;the results of long experimentation must be recovered. Thescientific community needs to gather traditional knowledgebefore it is forgotten. It is also very important to motivaterural people to recover confidence in their culturalbackground. Pre-Hispanic intensive agriculture is one ofthe oldest and most refined in the Americas; it permitted therise of urban civilization such as the Maya, Zapotec, Nahuaand Totonac. The combination of this intensive agriculturewith Spanish agricultural practices, crops and tecnology tookat least two centuries. The Mexican agricultural model is theresult of a long process; it provides lessons on sustainableagriculture.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN THE MANAGEMENT OFTRADITIONAL AGRO ECOSYSTEMS Applying different agricultural systems to different micro-environmental conditions.

Many rural communities have been applying differentagricultural systems to the local micro-environmentalcharacteristics which changes from plot to plot. In this wayif it is possible they leads to many individual plots atvarious altitudes. The division of agricultural land intoindividual plots is further complicated by inheritancepractices. Division of plots can also produce economically an

13

untenable over-division of fields.10 However, it is importantto understand agricultural practices and how they adapt tovery specific environmental conditions. For example, duringdried years flooded areas are of vital importance to obtaincrops while during rainy years dried areas are most valuableto obtain crops (González, 2004).

Local knowledge of environmental and climatic characteristicsis basic to the management of diverse agricultural systems.There is a necessity of recovering ancient knowledge aboutsoil,11 water sources, 12 cultivated and non-cultivated plants,animals, agricultural practices in relation to manure andmanagement of seeds. 13 There are many examples of how therural communities deal with their local environment. One ofthe most interesting examples is found in Yagavila’spractices on moving corn seeds from tropical to temperateenvironments and mixing them in the ecotone where thecommunity is settle. This is a way of controlling cornplagues that must be studied for ecologists and cornspecialists (Tyrtania, 1992:155-165).

Scale is especially important in rural societies whereshortage of land is a characteristic. 14 The main way toimprove agricultural productivity in these cases is closely10 It also has problems in relation to obtain credit from agriculturebecause the owners of several small plots are not subjects to credit.More studies are needed in order to know how many plots are necessary fora peasant to have in order to manage diversity. 11 There are local classifications of soils which are recently recoveredin some anthropological studies. 12 There are current projects on local irrigation systems in differentparts of Mexico. One of them is directed by Jacinta Palerm and TomásMartínez Saldaña at the Colegio de Postgraduates. The second oneresearch project is directed by Casey Walsh at the IberoamericanaUniversity in Mexico City. There is also a network of people makingresearch on this basic aspect. 13 Efraím Hernández Xolocotzi organized an important research program atColegio de Postgraduates on “Tecnología Agrícola Tradicional” .Theproject was functioning from 1976 to 1991 when Hernánez X died. Thestudied regions were the Guanajuatense Bajío, the North of the PueblanMountains, the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, the Highlands of Chiapas,Yucatán ad Tlaxcala.

14

related to the intensification in the quality of soil andalso to the use of water resources for local irrigation.Diversity of crops helps to an ecological use of small scaleplots. Home gardens and banqueteras are the best example toprove the importance of these factors.15 Combining naturalvegetation with fruit trees, staples and commercial crops isalso a good idea to maintain productivity. 16 Culturaldiversity means the various ways developed by peasants andfarmers to organized agriculture with several approaches tothe market and different managements for the agricultural andnatural resources.

Management of diversity in agricultural practices.

Agricultural practices are the result of historicalknowledge, observation, experimentation and continuouslearning. There is a tendency to simplify practices; some ofthem have been abandoned because the agricultural labor forcehas been reduced drastically in the last 10 years. The lackof hands for the agricultural work in rural communities hasto do with land tenure inheritance practices but also withexternal factors such as industrialization, modernization,urbanization and migration. The lack of money in ruralcommunities is largely the result of external factors such asindustrialization, modernization, and urbanization. The lackof money in rural communities acts against diversity in

14 Gene Wilken’ study on Mexican and Central America traditionalagriculture says that “some of the most distinctive management methods oftraditional agriculture are a result of limited space...”. Gene C.Wilken, GOOD FARMERS. TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INMEXICO AND CENTRO AMERICA; University of California Press, 1987.15 June Allyson “An Ecological Analysis of Home Gardens (HuertosFamiliares) in Two Mexican Villages”, M.A. Thesis, University ofCalifornia, Santa Cruz, 1983; Alba González Jácome, “Home gardens inCentral Mexico”, PREHISTORIC AGRICULTURE IN THE TROPICS, I.S. Farrington(ed), Great Britain, BAR International Series 232, 1985:521-537; JorgeAníbal Servín Segovia, “Sistemas de cultivo en una barranca: el caso deXopilapa en Veracruz Central”, Ma. Thesis, Social Anthropology,Iberoamericana University, Mexico City, 2000. 16 Alba González Jácome, COMO CAMBIA LA AGRICULTURA TRADICIONAL: ECOLOGÍACULTURAL EN DOS COMUNIDADES MEXICANAS; México, UIA, 2003.

15

agricultural practices. However, in places like ProgresoHidalgo the lack of money is compensated with the use ofnatural resources and with the practice of mutual aid.17

The use of family working force in non-agriculturalactivities is closely related to the abandonment ofagricultural practices. Among agricultural practices whichare already abandoned is possible to quote the number ofweddings apply to the fields,18 the processes for the creationof manure, the local ways of soil erosion control, 19 thepractices to support plants in windy zones,20 the growth oftree barriers for controlling strong winds, the rotation ofcultivated crops with natural vegetation to maintainfertility in the soils, the rotation of cereals withleguminous. These agricultural practices need non paidworking force to exist because payment for them will be verycostly.

In poor communities located in Tlaxcala,21 Quintana Roo, 22

Sierra de Oaxaca, 23 Chiapas 24and Mexico State 25 the peasantfamily members apply their non paid working force to17 José Isabel Juan Pérez, “Con dinero y sin dinero”, Op.cit, 2003. Themutual aid is locally called macoa, which consists in the help by kin mento work in agriculture without payment.18 Alba González Jácome, “Paisajes del Pasado”; ESTUDIOS SOBRE HISTORIA YAMBIENTE EN AMÉRICS, Vol. II, Bernardo García Martínez (ed), El Colegiode México, IPGH, 2003.19 Mountjoy, Daniel C., “Adaptation and change in a local agroecosystemof Tlaxcala, Mexico”, Thesis, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1985:Alba González Jácome, “Manejo del Agua en Condiciones de Secano enTlaxcala, México”; TERRA, Orstom, Vol. 10, No. Especial, 1992:494-502. 20 Alba González Jácome, “Paisajes del Pasado”, Op.cit, 2003.21 Alba González Jácome, LA ECONOMÍA DESGASTADA. HISTORIA DE LA INDUSTRIATEXTIL EN TLAXCALA; México, Universidad Autónoma de Tlaxcala, UniversidadIberoamericana, 1992.22 Leonardo Ernesto Márquez Mireles, “Mayas Yucatecos en Quintana Roo: Agricultura de Roza en El Naranjal”; MA Thesis in Social Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, México City, 2001. 23 Leonardo Ttyrtania, YAGAVILA, Op.cit., 1992.24 Ramón Mariaca Méndez, Op.cit., 2002.25 Laura Reyes Montes, “Adaptación sociocultural en Santiago Yeché: unestudio de ecología cultural en México“; PhD. Dissertation in SocialAnthropology, Iberoamericana University, México City, 2003.

16

subsistence crops. The corn monoculture tendency is relatedamong other factors to the lack of agricultural labor whichis actually going to non-agricultural activities such asindustry, elementary teaching, small scale commerce, seasonalmigration for construction activities in nearby cities, or toseasonal agricultural labor. The prospects for gain monetaryresources are another important tendency in these poorcommunities of Mexico. However, in places like ProgresoHidalgo,26 Cruz de Piedra, 27 Santiago Yehee, 28 and Xopilapa,29 the non-paid working forces subsidied commercialagriculture.

There is also another approach of changing or increasingcrops which can be seen in Southwest Tlaxcala and the Pueblafloodplains of Atoyac and Zahuapan river basin. Small scaleagriculturalists in Southwest Tlaxcala are actually growingcold vegetables30 in nearly 3,000 hectares. This surface isincreasing in size every year to reach in the Pueblan areanear to 60,000 hectares.31 The vegetable cultivation ispossible due to soil and water conditions in this floodedregion. Moreover, huge and very important markets in Pueblaand Mexico City can easily absorb the production. Tree cropsat year are possible to grow in these areas. The conversionfrom corn cultivation to vegetable production in the Atoyacand Zahuapan river basin has been ocurred in the last 10years. It was possible after the people in the communitieswere able to control the water organizing local ways forthat.32

Mixing crops in the same plot is another approach of peasantsto the management of environmental, climatic and economical26 José Isabel Juan Pérez, “Con dinero y sin dinero”, Op.cit., 2003.27 Leonardo Ernesto Márquez Mireles, “Agricultura comercial en Cruz dePiedra, Estado de México”, Reporte de trabajo de campo, 2003.28 Laura Reyes Montes, “29 Jorge Aníbal Servín Segovia, MA Thesis, Op.cit., 2000.30 Green tomatoes, spinach, chili, carrots, white beet.31 Tomás Martínez Saldaña, personal communication, 2003.32 Nicanor Rebolledo Recéndiz, “Campesinos y Política en el Suroeste deTlaxcala: Un Enfoque Agrosistémico”; MA Thesis in Social Anthropology,Iberoamericana University, 1996.

17

conditions. Corn and broad bean are cultivated together inplaces where frost is a climatic common event. If the yearwas not so hard in frosts the peasants will be able to obtainthe two crops. If the year is a bad one, they will harvetsonly broad beans. 33 Mixing staples with commercial crops inthe same plot is another commun strategy the peasants appliedto deal with ecological and economical risk at the same time.Corn and lucerne are inter mixed in regions where catlle isan important source of manure, food and money for the family.34

The interrelationship between the house of the peasant familyand their economical and sociocultural systems is basic tounderstand some of the agricultural practices. There is acommunity in Tlaxcala which still uses ashes from the sweetbath 35 to improve the quality of the soils. 36 Manureobtained from domestic animals, human excrements and rest ofthe plants is related to the way in which stables, hog-stiesand yards are constructed in the peasant communities. 37

FAMILY SIZE AND INHERITANCE SYSTEMS

After 1992 Mexican communal land (ejido) legally dissapeared.Private, national and communities lands are the actual typesof land tenure in the country. The size of land is related tosocial aspects such as the family size and the number oftheir members which are tied to the agricultural work.Moreover, the type of agricultural system and the intensityof the system are also factors related to the socialorganization of labor in rural communities.

33 Ramón Marica Méndez, personal communication, 2003.34 Ana Lid del Ángel Pérez, “Fieldwork Report on Santa Inés Tecuexcomac, Tlaxcala”, Iberoamericana University, 1988.35 Temazcal.36 Alejandro Tonatiuh Romero Contreras, LOS TEMAZCALES DE SAN ISIDROSUCESO. CULTURA, MEDICINA Y TRADICIÓN DE UN PUEBLO TLAXCALTECA;Tlaxcallan, Ediciones del Gobierno del Estado, Tlaxcala, 1998. 37 Alba González Jácome, COMO CAMBIA LA AGRICULTURA.., Op.cit., 2003.

18

There is a dichotomy in the family size in rural communities.A small family 38 with less than for members is unable tomaintain an intensive agricultural system working without thenecessity of hiring labor. To hire labor is a question ofhaving a monetary income which can permit to pay the legalagricultural salaries for the different states of Mexico. Thenecessity of money sends out some of the members of thefamily to earn it. The lack of family labor produces cornmonoculture. As a matter of fact an small rural family hasdifficulties to survive without salaried activities. Thismodel of family size is unable to be used for the developmentof intensive agricultural systems. Moreover, it reduces thepossibilities for a sustainable agriculture.

A large family with more than 7 members39 requires theproduction of staples for self consumption in majorquantities but it have the possibility of sending labor topaid activities. However, in a long term large families areresponsible for the expulsion of people out of thecommunities. There are cases in which the agriculturalsystems permit the accumulation of monetary earnings and italso permit the families to pay for higher education for thefamily members which will not inherit the land. In thesecases the members which will go out of the community are thebest educated but they will not help their communities todevelop. 40

Medium size rural families which have from 5 to 6 members 41

seems to be the best adapted for the development of anintensive and sustainable agricultural system. The sex of thefamily members is also important but it is more related withspecific activities they can apply to agriculture. Betweenthe 1970’s and 1980’s women, children and old people wereworking in activities such as sowing corn seeds, cuttinginfested leaves from fruit trees, taking care of plants from38 David Robichaux Haendel, Personal communication, 2003.39 David Robichaux Haendel, Personal communication, 2003.40 Alba González Jácome, COMO CAMBIA LA AGRICULTURA TRADICIONAL.. Op.cit., 2003.41 David Robichaux Haendel, Personal communication, 2003.

19

the home garden, harvesting fruits, herbs and corn. 42 Duringthe 1990’s women of the Otomi people in Temoaya were incharge of all the agricultural work while men were sellingdifferent produce in cities like Toluca and Mexico.43 Theresult was the cultivated land surface diminishing and theconversion from policulture to corn monoculture.

A current study in the Otomi community of Santiago Yeheeshows that a rural family needs to have at least one of itsmembers working exclusively with traditional agriculture tosurvive. The possibility of having money to paid agriculturalworking force for commercial agriculture is due to the dailymigrant members. A rural family combining subsistenceagriculture with commercial crops needs to have between fiveto six members in order to be succees. 44

The Santa Marta Research Project in Chenalhó, Chiapas,45 showsthat families have an average of six members; but as thewomen are involved in many tasks -including agriculture- theydo not have time in off to grow vegetables. Home gardens arealso low diverse. The corn is the staple which allows thefamily work in its production. Men are encharged of the corncultivation; however women labor is also basic in it. Menwork in all the process but women labor is intensive in someof them like weeding. Weeding activity requires 2.17 womenwhile there is only one man applied to it. The burning of

42 Alba González Jácome, “Home gardens in Central Mexico”, PREHISTORIC AGRICULTURE IN THE TROPICS, I.S. Farrington (ed), Great Britain, BAR International Series 232, 1985:521-53743 Guadalupe Acle Tomasini, “Gentes de Razón: Educación y Cultura en Temoaya”; PhD. Thesis in Social Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, Mexico City, 2000. 44 Laura Reyes Montes, Op.cit., 2003.45 The Santa Marta Research Project started in 1997. It is directed byRamón Mariaca Méndez in the Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) with theeconomical support of Fondos CIVEC. The project is directed toward theself development of Chenalhó people through the creation of aCooperative. The project includes activities like the conservation ofplots soils, the introduction of crops such as mushrooms and CHAYOTES,the production of organic coffee which will be commercialized by thecooperative members.

20

the fields is the only activity in which women do not appliedlabor. Home related activities are made by women and theyalso take a great part of the daily time.

Inheritance of the land is a very important aspect related toagriculture. The Spanish old system had no division of landbecause the older son in the family was the owner of allproperties when the father died. 46 The native inheritancesystem put the land of the family in the hands of the youngerson. 47 Contemporary inheritance systems in rural Mexicovaries from older to younger sons in the families accordingto ethnical background and also to the quantity of land ownedby a family. 48 There are places where women also inherit alleast a plot, but there are places where women do not haveaccess to family land.49 It is also important to see thequantity of land the son will inherit. The land can bedivided into the various sons in the family but it also canbe inherit only to one of the sons. The land can also besubject of an over division. 50 The inheritance of land canalso modify the family possibility of having plots indifferent micro environments.

46 The system is called mayorazgo.47 The system is called xocoyotazgo. It includes the duty of taking care ofthe parents when they get old. There are severe relationship problemsbetween the mother in law and the son’s wife when the mother in law is ayounger person. This fact has to do with the age of marriage socialyaceppted by the community. More information of these important matters isactually studied by David Robichaux at the Iberoamericana University.48 It seems that Indian origen communities are more tied to xocoyotazgothan mestizo origin communities.49 Xiloxoxtla rural community did not permit women have access to familyland unless the family had not at least a man who will take care of theland.50 Iit is also important to take into account the community socialthinking about land. There are places in which criminal actions have beentaken by commoners in relation to land property. See Alba González Jácome“Lo que se dice y lo que se hace: ensayo sobre el concepto de tipo puroen una sociedad campesina del Centro de México”; THE JOURNAL OFINTERCULTURAL STUDIES, The Intercultural Research Institute, KansaiGaidai University, Japan, Extra Series 3, 1996:4-14.

21

There are other factors which can drastically affect thefamily and their agricultural work. To date internal andinternational migration are of great importance. Theseprocesses are closely related to family size, access to land,agricultural system, agricultural practices and productivity.Reducing the family non-paid labor to agriculture can be ofgreat impact to rural communities. However, migration is alsoable to suppy rural families with the neccesary money toinvest in agriculture. As a matter of fact there is a gooddata which show us how money from migration to the USA duringthe Second World War was very important to developagriculture in some rural communities of Mexico.51

There are rural communities in Mexico where legal seasonalmigration to Canada permits the improvement of family andcommunal economy. They lack of labor for activities such assowing and harvesting has been substituted by agriculturalmachines such as tractors, harvesters and combined machines.Money has permitted the community self development becausemigrants have been able to paid the introduction ofelectricity and sweet water and they also have been paid forthe pave of the streets and roads in their town. 52

There are cases in which so poor rural communities are usingmigration money only for their self subsistence but not forthe improvement of agriculture. There is important todistinguish between the old and mature migration forms andthe new ones. The migration to the USA has differenthistories and also different results. There are cases wheremigration to American cities is as old as the end of theNineteenth Century and it is related to the activities theMexican rural communities were specialized. 53 Migration is an

51 Alba González Jácome “Santa Isabel Xiloxoxtla, Tlaxcala: Un estudiomicroeconómico”; MA Thesis in Social Anthropology, UNAM, 1976.52 Rigoberto Caloca Rivas, “Migración y Desarrollo Autogestivo en San Lucas Tecopilco, Tlaxcala”, PhD. Thesis in Social Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, Mexico City, 1999.53 Juan Andrade Torres “La otra cara de la migración: Santa Bárbara,Guanajuato, una comunidad que se extiende a la Ciudad de Forth Worth,Texas“ mss., Iberoamericana University, The author studies a case of a

22

important process and more studies are needed to understandits real impact on Mexican rural communities. The counterpart is also important to discuss but there is a currentresearch project studying migrant labor in California.54

The use of modern agricultural technology reduces thenecessity of labor for some activities such as thepreparation of soil, sowing and harvesting. At the same timeit can reduce the quantity of manure needed to maintainfertility in the plot. The real diminishing in the number ofanimals and yokes for agricultural purposes is an importantfact in the rural areas.55 Agricultural modernization between1940 to 1970 increases the internal national product but itwas tied to technological inputs which in a short period oftime introduces machinery and agrochemicals. However, in thelong term of time this agricultural model has causingdiversity diminishing,56 contamination of soil and waterresources and the loss of local varietes of seeds which wereadapted to specific environmental conditions. 57

THE MUTUAL AID SYSTEMS IN RURAL SOCIETIES

Traditional agricultural systems are characterized by the useof non-paid labor which is applied to several activities likeharvesting. These mutual aid systems have local names indifferent parts of the country. Some of them are applied toactivities such as the construction of new houses, theparticipation in social and religius holidays, 58 the pavement

mature case of migration and the existing relationships between SantaBarbara, a community in Guanajuato and Forth Worth in Texas. Themigration started in 1853 because Texan had the necessity for specializedlabor on the management of cattle.54 Juan Vicente Palerm, 55 Artemio Cruz León & Tomás Martínez Saldaña, LA TRADICIÓN TECNOLÓGICADE LA TRACCIÓN ANIMAL; México, Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, 2001. 56 Stephen B. Brush, Dawit Tadesse, Eric Van Dusen, “Crop diversity in Peasant and Industrialized Agriculture: México and California”, SOCIETY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, 2003, 16:123-141.57 Stephen R. Gliessman, 58 Leif Korsback, INTRODUCCIÓN AL SISTEMA DE CARGOS; México, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, 1996.

23

of roads, 59 the construction and repair of communal services.60 To date some mutual aid systems are applied to economicalactivities in a more restricted way. In Progreso Hidalgo, 61

the mutual aid system is called macoa. The macoa is formed bymale members of the kin who are related to the family head.The system is barely used to the sow and harvest activitiesin the cultivation of corn, but mainly this type of labor isapplied to the cultivation of commercial crops when the moneyis scarse.

Mutual aid systems and non-paid family labor are actualypaying the cost of commercial agriculture. That is they areforming part of the capital which is needed to conversionfrom traditional to conventional agriculture. There arecommunities in which mutual aid systems are used mainly tosupport traditional agriculture. 62 That means human non-paidlabor is one of the ways to obtain food for the family and italso is being adapted to commercial agriculture. The selfexploitation of family and kin members is subsidyingconvencional agriculture in peasant communities in Mexico.

IDEOLOGY AND THE MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL AND AGRICULTURALSYSTEMS

Social and cultural adaptation and innovation

The role of rural knowledge on the conservation of theenvironment is one of the most important factors to maintainnatural and agricultural systems. Even some of the ruralideas are not modern, urbanized or scientific, they are59 Between the 1970’s to the 1990’s the goverment offices were usingcomunal non-paid labor to repair and to construct the roads connectingthe towns with regional cities. The people involved in these projectsreceived food and/or some money to work for several weecks.60 During the 1970’s the towns in the slopes of La Malinche, Tlaxcala,were using money from migrants and working force from peasants to repairchurches, public buildings and to introduce services like electricity andsweet water in their towns. Sometimes the community was paying with laborthe half of the cost in the construction of the school bulding. 61 José Isabel Juan Pérez, Op.cit., 2003.62 Laura Reyes Montes, “ “Op.cit., 2003.

24

related to the maintenance of resources through diversemanagement practices. The local knowledge on environmentalcharacteristics of the plots, the communal natural resourcesand the natural sourrounding areas is very specific. It isrelated to accumulation of peasants’ daily and annual use andmanagement of resources, constant observation of climaticevents and it also relates to experimentation.

Socio cultural adaptation to modern and urban societies ishaving an impact on rural societies. However, for urban andeducated people it is difficult to understand some of theirbases, because they relate many aspects of nature, societyand culture at the same time. Interrelationship between thesefactors is a characteristic of rural societies. Complexity inrural societies is the result of this interrelationshipalthough independent factors by themselves can appear to uslike very simply ones.63

Learning how to be a “good farmer” 64 is a hard task becausetraditional agriculture depends on the oral trasmision ofknowledge from older to younger generations. The role ofancient people in rural societies has been drasticallychanging during the las 30 years. The school, the govermentalprograms, the medium mass and the migration process have beenacting as factors of change to the old ways of culturaltrasmision.65 Younger people who are encharged of obtainingmoney for the family are also taking an important part in thedecison making process in their communities. 66 Salaried work

63 The study of rural societies needs to apply complex models in whichinterdisciplinary approaches are basic. The problem still needs to besolving because natural and social sciences usually have differentlanguajes and they also have different approaches to research problems.However, since the 1950’s some models have been developed to work in thisdirection.64 Gene Wilken, GOOD FARMERS. TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURAL RESOURCEMANAGEMENT IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA; University of California Press,1987.65 Alba González Jácome, COMO CAMBIA LA AGRICULTURA TRADICIONAL, Op.cit.,2003.66 Rigoberto Caloca Rivas, Op.cit., 1999.

25

is being more and more important for the family economy. 67

During the last years the introduction of new crops directedtoward the market has been usually done by younger people. 68

The socialization processes in adapting local societies toexternal changes are also different than before. There aremany factors which act as a part of the socialization processin the community level but poverty has been a trigger.

The role of observation in innovation is also important.Conversion from traditional to conventional agriculture hasbeen a very important factor. Communities like Santiago Yeheeand Progreso Hidalgo69 introduced commercial crops after someo their young peasants were to work out their towns in thecultivation of flowers, strawberries and green tomatoes. Theobservation of agricultural practices is the first step oflearning which is combined with the observation of monetaryearnings these crops permit to develop peasants’ interest inthe introduction of new crops in their own communities.

There are community programs organized by externalorganizations like it happen in Santiago Yehee where organictomatoes were introduced through a cooperative organization.However, the failure of this program is related to the lackof knowledge the personnel of the program had about familysocial organization in the community. The program wasdirected toward married women who in Santiago are notuncharged of commercial agriculture. Commercial agriculturein the community is growing green tomatoes for the markets inMexico City. 70

The role of local history in the development of agriculturalstrategies

67 The role of women in this direction has also changed drastically.68 Laura Reyes, Op.cit., 2003.69 José Isabel Juan Pérez, Op.cit., 2003; Laura Reyes Montes, Op.cit., 2003.70 Laura Reyes Montes, Op.cit., 2003.

26

Oral tradition in rural societies has been an important wayof preserving local culture and also traditional agriculture.Old members of the family were uncharged of teaching childrenabout the local history of the community and they also toldthem about the family relationship with other communitymembers. The stories about mythical figures, the storiesrelated to the surrounding environment and specific placeslike ravines, mountains, lakes, rivers and so on were part ofthe daily life of the families. The rural kitchen was animportant place to cook but also to transmit this type ofknowledge and also to establish the daily family strategies.Working with the father and mother though the children thepractical managements of daily life and the economy of thefamily.

Formal education in rural societies is another mechanism ofsocialization which is connecting people with nationalsociety values and norms. The knowledge imparted by theschool in rural communities varies in quality and by the waysof teaching. Many social, political and educational policiesin the country are affecting rural areas. Discussion aboutimpacts on rural societies needs to be studied. To thisdiscussion is important to note that formal school is notteaching local history and it is not teaching people how todeal with this type of knowledge in a written form. There arecities in which local historians are still recovering thistype of knowledge but local history in rural areas did notexist.

The necessity for the development of the local history inrural societies is a basic aspect to preserve agriculturalknowledge. Oral tradition will be ended with old generationdivided from younger especially when migration expulse peopleout of their communities for longer periods of time.

SOME COMMENTS TO THE CONVERSION FROM TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURETO ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE

27

Many rural societies in Mexico are making changes to converttraditional agriculture to another type of agriculture(conventional, sustainable). This conversion process islocally adapted to environmental, economical, social andcultural specific conditions. Probably for theagriculturalists market conditions are the most importantpart of the hole. They also take into account the surroundinglocal and regional environment because it becomes basic forthe cultivation of agricultural produces. The availablemonetary budget obtained by the rural family is also dealingwith this process of change. Social and religious necessitiesare important to consider in this annual budget. In summary,the conversion is a complex process. There is not ageneralized way the communities applied with respect to thecombination between economical with non economical goals,social necessities and cultural managements they want toapply in this conversion.

There are several practices that can be identifying as apart of the conversion process from traditional toalternative agriculture. But to date is still necessary tounderstand the relationship which works to create asustainable agriculture able to fulfill rural family’s rangeof necessities. Some of these practices are developed tocreate a budget able to cover annual family and communalnecessities. Actual processes are tying traditionalagriculture to conventional one. Some results are contrary tothe obtaining of an alternative agriculture becauseagrochemicals are being introducing in a major scale thanbefore. Organic agriculture is sparse in small patches butthe majority of rural communities still have many questionsto learn about it. Alternative agriculture to date is stillvery much only an academic question.

The rural families tied to agricultural activity need tofulfill at least five basic points in order to have asufficient quality of life. The first one is to have somepiece of land dedicated to the staples cultivation (cornfield, home garden). The second one is having an economical

28

activity which has monetary earnings (commercial crops, smallscale commerce, working in industries, migration and so on).The third one is having some activities for the obtaining ofbasic produces than could not be paid by the family(collecting of wood, timber, plants, mushrooms, animals andso on). The forth one is having a family group of a mediumsize (five to six members) which is organized for working indifferent activities needed by the group and at least one ofthem must will be able to work in traditional agriculture. Ifthe family has a social network able to work in non-paidagricultural labor (mutual aid) the possibilities for asuccesful economy will increase. The fifth one is to realizeactivities which promote the maintenance of natural resourcesbelonging to the communities.71

The necessity of a rural community for having direct controlof the crops directed toward their mantenance is of vitalimportance.72 Traditional agriculture has been characterizedby this fact. It also helps to support people during criticalyears when there is a shortage of food and the prices in themarket are high. Agriculturalist societies exist because theycan produce their own food. This is also important for theexperimentation the peasants do with new crops which resultsalso depends on external factors such as the market pricesand its fluctuations. Playing with risk in annual times ispart of this peasant approach to self sufficiency.

Agricultural families must also have a group of activitiesdirected toward the obtaining of money. Monetary earnings areused to pay a game of agricultural, social, religious andcultural activities which are basic to the functioning of71 These points were discussed with Ramón Mariaca whose ample experienceof working with peasants in Yucatan, Marques de Comillas, Altos deChiapas, Chontalpa Tabasco, Jocotitlan and the State of Mexico is veryimportant.72 Corn has been the most important staple already studied by manyagronomists, agroecologist, anthropologists and social investigators.However the staples include a group of plants which are responsible forthe daily diet in the communities. It can be mentioned -among others-beans, squash, chili, some vegetables and diverse crops according to thelocal environmental conditions and to the alimentary local culture.

29

rural society. Family necessities must be included in thisitem. These activities are related to aspects like buildingnew houses, fixing the family house, buying electricappliances, paying holidays (birthday of the head of thefamily, finishing the elementary school, religious familyholidays and so on). Monetary investments in agriculture varyfrom the acquisition of yokes, oxen, mules and horses totractors, harvesters and trucks. In communities withcommercial agriculture this money is used to pay salaries foragricultural workers, seeds, electricity for water pumps,fertilizers, herbicides and much other type of agrochemicals.

The agricultural families also need to realize a series ofactivities related to obtain natural resources which can notbe paid but are basic to the family. These resources arecollected from natural areas in the local and sometimesregional spaces. These are mainly forested areas, Nationalreserves,73 mountains, ravines, creeks, lakes, lagoons,rivers, water reservoirs, shores, beaches and so on. Theresources are mainly directed toward family necessities, butalso to the market. When market is involved the destructionof the natural areas and their flora and fauna can be anexpected result. Poverty is not the only explanation but alsothe quantity of monetary earnings with natural resorcesexploitation is involved. Better policies about management ofthe environment are needed, but the development of localmechanisms of control is of vital importance.

Agriculturalists are involve in several social networks wichhave different scale and scope. The inmediate network isbased upon the necessity they have to organize their laborfor production. Family is the first social organization formwhich can be applied to agriculture. The kin is the inmediateone net followed by closed friends and non consanguinealextended family members. The mutual aid has many local waysto function in rural societies. Some of the mutual aid forms

73 Juan Jesús Velasco Orozco, SUBSISTENCIA CAMPESINA Y DESARROLLO SUSTENTABLE EN LA REGIÓN MONARCA; México, Universidad Autónoma del Estadode México, 2002.

30

are not directed toward agriculture but to cover social andreligious necessities. Agricultural ways of mutual aid aremainly tied to traditional agriculture but there are alsosome of them related to commercialization when communitymembers have not in off money to pay the labor costs.

There are activities oriented to the maintenence of thenatural areas. These can be related to miths, local storiesand practices. Many of them have been studied in an isolateway out of the economy of rural societies. Others areconsidered as a symbol of backwardness and iliteracy ofpeasantry. Some of the miths related to the conservation ofthe environment are not the result of ancient knowledge butthey have very recently origins. Local history can help tounderstand these cultural creations, ideologies and practicesbut for the moment only the oral tradition is found in ruralcommunities. The old socialization ways are changing due tothe rupture between the older and the younger generations.New ways of cultural trasmision must be created to maintaintraditional knowledge in rural societies.

In conclusion, although we already have a good deal ofknowledge about traditional agriculture and the waysagriculturalists are taken to convert them into much moreeconomically productive systems there still many holes tofulfill. Traditional agriculture knowledge is basic todevelop alternative and sustainable agricultural systems.Several aspects have to take into account to acquireecological and profitable agricultural systems able to covertseveral necessities for the rural communites.Interdisciplinary studies need to be done but a compatiblelogical structure is necessary. The coversion fromtraditional to sustainable agriculture is still for thefuture but actual knowlege obtain from rural communities ishelping to its construction.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

31

Acle Tomasini, Guadalupe, “Gentes de Razón: Educación y Cultura en Temoaya”; PhD. Dissertation in Social Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, Mexico City, 2000.

Aguirre Beltrán, Gonzalo, REGIONES DE REFUGIO; VOL IX OBRAANTROPOLÓGICA, México, FCE, 1991.

Albores Zárate, Beatriz, TULES Y SIRENAS. EL IMPACTOECOLÓGICO Y CULTURAL DE LA INDUSTRIALIZACIÓN EN EL ALTOLERMA; México, El Colegio Mexiquense A.C., 1995.

Albores Zárate, Beatriz and Johanna Broda (Eds), GRANICEROS.COSMOVISIÓN Y METEOROLOGÍA INDÍGENAS DE MESOAMÉRICA; México,El Colegio Mexiquense A.C., UNAM, 1997.

Alfaro Telpalo, Guillermo, “Mare Nostrum, terra nostra.Acercamiento Etnohistórico a los Proyectos de Colonización enMéxico durante el Siglo XIX, Italianos y franceses en elnorte de Veracruz“; MA. Thesis in Social Anthropology,Iberoamericana University, México City, 2001.

Allyson, June, “An Ecological Analysis of Home Gardens(Huertos Familiares) in Two Mexican Villages”, M.A. Thesis,University of California, Santa Cruz, 1983.

Andrade Torres, Juan, “La otra cara de la migración: SantaBárbara, Guanajuato, una comunidad que se extiende a laCiudad de Forth Worth, Texas“; PhD. mss., 2003.

Bilbao, Jon Ander, “Fieldwork Report on Huexoyucan, Tlaxcala”, Iberoamericana University, 1979.

Blanco Rosas, José Luis, “Los popolucas de los Tuxtlas,Veracruz” PhD. mss., 2003.

Brush, Stephen B., Dawit Tadesse, Eric Van Dusen, “Cropdiversity in Peasant and Industrialized Agriculture: Méxicoand California”, SOCIETY AND NATURAL RESOURCES, 2003, 16:123-141.

32

Caloca Rivas, Rigoberto, “Migración y Desarrollo Autogestivoen San Lucas Tecopilco, Tlaxcala”, PhD. Dissertation inSocial Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, Mexico City,1999.

Cruz León, Artemio y Tomás Martínez Saldaña, LA TRADICIÓNTECNOLÓGICA DE LA TRACCIÓN ANIMAL; México, UniversidadAutónoma de Chapingo, 2001.

Del Amo Rodríguez, Silvia, LECCIONES DEL PROGRAMA DE ACCIÓNFORESTAL TROPICAL; Plaza y Valdés Editores, 2001.

Del Ángel Pérez, Ana Lid, “Fieldwork Report on Santa InesTecuexcomac, Tlaxcala”, Iberoamericana University, 1988.

Diabetes Atlas 2000; International Diabetes Federation,Brussels, Belgium, 2000.

Fagan, Brian, FLOODS, FAMINES AND EMPERORS. EL NIÑO AND THEFATE OF CIVILIZATIONS; Basic Books, Perseus Books Group,1999.

Gliessman, Stephen R., AGROECOSYSTEM SUSTAINABILITY. DEVELOPING PRACTICAL STRATEGIES; CRC Press, Washington, D.C.,2001.

Gliessman, Stephen R., AGROECOLOGÍA.PROCESOS ECOLÓGICOS ENAGRICULTURA SOSTENIBLE; CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica, 2002.

González Jácome, Alba, “Santa Isabel Xiloxoxtla, Tlaxcala: Unestudio microeconómico”; MA Thesis in Social Anthropology,UNAM, 1976.

González Jácome, Alba, LA ECONOMÍA DESGASTADA. HISTORIA DE LAINDUSTRIA TEXTIL EN TLAXCALA; México, UAT, UIA, 1992.

33

González Jácome, Alba, “Home gardens in Central Mexico”,PREHISTORIC AGRICULTURE IN THE TROPICS, I.S. Farrington (ed),Great Britain, BAR International Series 232, 1985:521-537.

González Jácome, Alba, “Fieldwork report on the Sierra deOaxaca, México”, 1991, 1992.

González Jácome, Alba “Manejo del Agua en Condiciones deSecano en Tlaxcala, México”; TERRA, Orstom, Vol. 10, No.Especial, 1992:494-502.

González Jácome, Alba, LA ECONOMÍA DESGASTADA. HISTORIA DE LAINDUSTRIA TEXTIL EN TLAXCALA; México, Universidad Autónoma deTlaxcala, Universidad Iberoamericana, 1992.

González Jácome, Alba, “¿Quién pagó la cuenta?”, PhDdissertation, Iberoamericana University, 1996.

González Jácome, Alba “Lo que se dice y lo que se hace:ensayo sobre el concepto de tipo puro en una sociedadcampesina del Centro de México”; THE JOURNAL OF INTERCULTURALSTUDIES, The Intercultural Research Institute, Kansai GaidaiUniversity, Japan, Extra Series 3, 1996:4-14.

González Jácome, Alba, “El paisaje lacustre y los procesos dedesecación en Tlaxcala, México” en Bernardo García Martínez yAlba González Jácome ESTUDIOS SOBRE HISTORIA Y AMBIENTE ENAMÉRICA, Vol. 1, 1999:191-218.

González Jácome, Alba, “Paisajes del Pasado”; ESTUDIOS SOBREHISTORIA Y AMBIENTE EN AMÉRICA, Vol. II, Bernardo GarcíaMartínez (ed), El Colegio de México, IPGH, 2003:200-220.

González Jácome, Alba, COMO CAMBIA LA AGRICULTURATRADICIONAL: ECOLOGÍA CULTURAL EN DOS COMUNIDADES MEXICANAS;México, UIA, 2003.

González Jácome, Alba “Fieldwork Report, Campeche, Mexico”,2003.

34

Guhs, Bernard, “Fieldwork Report on the Cajono river basin inthe Sierra de Oaxaca, Mexico”, 1992.

Juan Pérez, José Isabel, “Tiempo con dinero y tiempo sindinero: de la agricultura tradicional a la comercial enProgreso Hidalgo, Estado de México.” PhD dissertation inSocial Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, Mexico City,2003.

Korsback, Leif, INTRODUCCIÓN AL SISTEMA DE CARGOS; México, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, 1996.

Mariaca Méndez, Ramón. “Marqués de Comillas, Chiapas:Procesos de Inmigración y Adaptabilidad en el Trópico CálidoHúmedo de México”; PhD dissertation in Social Anthropology.Iberoamericana University, México City, 2002.

Márquez Mireles, Leonardo Ernesto, “Mayas Yucatecos enQuintana Roo: Agricultura de Roza en El Naranjal”; MA Thesisin Social Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, MéxicoCity, 2001.

Márquez Mireles, Leonardo Ernesto, “Agricultura comercial enCruz de Piedra, Estado de México”, Reporte de trabajo decampo, 2003.

Morales Valderrama, María del Carmen, “Población y sistemasde cultivo de maíz en Los Chenes, Campeche durante el SigloXX,” mss, 2003.

Nickel, Herbert J., MORFOLOGÍA SOCIAL DE LA HACIENDAMEXICANA; México, FCE., 1996.

Mountjoy, Daniel C., “Adaptation and change in a localagroecosystem of Tlaxcala, Mexico”, Thesis, University ofCalifornia, Santa Cruz, 1985.

35

Paine, Robert, “Danger and the Non-Risk Thesis”, CATASTROPHE& CULTURE. THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF DISASTER; Susanna M. Hoffmanand Anthony Oliver-Smith eds., School of American RresearchPress, 2002:67-89.

Palerm, Ángel, PRODUCTIVIDAD AGRÍCOLA: UN ESTUDIO SOBREMÉXICO; Centro Nacional de Productividad, 1968.

Quiñónez, Columba, “Las chinampas de San Juan Tezompa,Chalco”, PhD mss 2003.

Rebolledo Recéndiz, Nicanor, “Campesinos y Política en elSuroeste de Tlaxcala: Un Enfoque Agrosistémico”; MA Thesis inSocial Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, 1996.

Reyes Montes, Laura, “Adaptación sociocultural en SantiagoYeché: un estudio de ecología cultural en México“; PhD.Dissertation in Social Anthropology, IberoamericanaUniversity, México City, 2003.

Romero Contreras, Alejandro Tonatiuh, “El TemascalMesoamericano: Extinción, Adaptación y Continuidad (El casode San Isidro Buen Suceso, Tlaxcala); MA Thesis in SocialAnthropology, Iberoamericana University, 1998.

Romero Contreras, Alejandro Tonatiuh, LOS TEMASCALES DE SANISIDRO SUCESO. CULTURA, MEDICINA Y TRADICIÓN DE UN PUEBLOTLAXCALTECA; Tlaxcallan, Ediciones del Gobierno del Estado,Tlaxcala, 1998.

Romero Contreras, Alejandro Tonatiuh, “The Irrigation Systemsin the Valley of Toluca during Colonial Times: S XV-XVIII”,PhD. Mss, 2003.

Sartorius, Carl, MEXICO ABOUT 1850; Stuttgart: Brockhaus,1961 (original 1850).

Servín Segovia, Jorge Aníbal, “Sistemas de cultivo en unabarranca: el caso de Xopilapa en Veracruz Central” MA. Thesis

36

in Social Anthropology, Iberoamericana University, MexicoCity 2000.

Servín Segovia, Jorge Aníbal, “La globalización en una“Economía Enemiga”: el Caso de Xopilapa en el VeracruzCentral”; ACTAS LATINOAMERICANAS DE VARSOVIA, Tomo 24,2001:165-177.

Servín Segovia, Jorge Aníbal, “Banqueteras: un sistemaagrícola Mesoamericano”; SUPLEMENTO ANTROPOLÓGICO,Universidad Católica, Asunción, Paraguay, Vol. XXVII, No.1,Junio 2002:285-321.

Tyrtania, Leonardo, YAGAVILA. UN ENSAYO DE ECOLOGÍA CULTURAL;México, Universidad Autónoma de Iztapalapa, No. 8, 1992:155-165.

Velasco Orozco, Juan Jesús, SUBSISTENCIA CAMPESINA YDESARROLLO SUSTENTABLE EN LA REGIÓN MONARCA; México,Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, 2002.

Wilken, Gene C., GOOD FARMERS. TRADITIONAL AGRICULTURALRESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN MEXICO AND CENTRO AMERICA; Universityof California Press, 1987.

37