Agricultural Benefits of Chinampas
Why do we need an alternative to industrial farming?
Industrial farming practices rely on heavy machinery, fossil fuels, and chemical fertilizers to maximize one form of environmental service - crop yield. This is usually to the detriment of all other environmental services normally provided by the ecosystems within the planted areas. Community farming such as chinampas, provides an intensive way to farm, without sacrificing other ecosystem services. Creating this type of sustainable farming in an environmentally sensitive area could assist in protecting wetland ecosystems while providing food, increasing employment all while embracing the culture of New Orleans and the traditions of the slow food movement so important to the area. Is it okay to have agriculture in sensitive wetland ecosystems? The proposal of modifying wetlands is often met with hesitancy as they are unique and environmentally sensitive sites. However, wetlands are extremely fertile areas that contain immense resources that could be harnessed for agricultural purposes. Applying an agro-ecosystem approach, such as chinampas, to the creation and use of the Mississippi delta’s wetlands could help alleviate some of the associated controversial issues. This system has the potential to create a middle ground on uniting ecological preservation, social values and the economic potential of farming these fertile areas. This set of wetlands is particularly well suited to development of this kind as they are deteriorating due to damming, dredging and other human development along the waterway upstream. Building chinampas could act as a replacement for the formation of natural wetlands normally caused by sediment deposition, but which is no longer occurring due to the lack of flow of the river. “One of the most important questions we ask ourselves is how wetlands can be maintained while simultaneously attempting to meet the legitimate development needs of human communities” (Maltby, 1988). Why is New Orleans a good place to practice this type of farming? Chinampas represent an intensive system of food production, but the farming methods used also apply ecological constructs to maintain the environment surrounding them. Nutrient concentration for crop growth is inherent in the structure of chinampas. The soils are originally sourced from sediments of rivers and lakes, which contain significant organic materials, but there is also a continual, supplemental amendment called “green manure” which is created by the canals surrounding the chinampas and can be gathered to further fertilization. The water filled canals provide the main function of subsurface and surface irrigation, but also create a microclimate surrounding the chinampas, mitigating early and late frosts. The waterways have the potential to be used to raise fish, crustations and aquatic plants in the water surrounding the beds (Erickson, 1992). In historic cities like Xochimilco, Mexico, it is estimated that chinampas were used to provide food for the 25,000 residents of the city (Coe, 1964). An application of this type of farming lends itself easily to the New Orleans area, as it fits solidly within the culture and environment endemic to the city. |
Agriculture = Food |
Michelle Packer, David Aue, Brandon Utterback, Chloe Hobbie
Site maintained by Michelle Packer
Contact email: [email protected]
Sustainability and Collapse: Can the Past Inform the Future?
University of Texas, Arlington
2013
Site maintained by Michelle Packer
Contact email: [email protected]
Sustainability and Collapse: Can the Past Inform the Future?
University of Texas, Arlington
2013