Communicate Co.

The agricultural system commonly used by the Maya was called slash and burn and it is still used in the area today. The forest was cleared and the vegetation burnt, the resultant ash enriched the soil and increased its fertility. Once the crops had been harvested the land was left fallow and another plot of land cleared. Other systems of cultivation used by the Maya included terraces, raised fields on riverbanks and ‘rejolladas’, which were depressions filled with more fertile organic material. The Maya grew various crops in the same area, regardless of the system of agriculture used, to take advantage of the land. Corn, beans and squash were the staple crops. What makes this crop combination so important is the relationship of the plants, for example, corn takes nitrogen from the soil), beans grow up the corn stem and fix the nitrogen from the air returning it to the ground (through symbiosis with bacteria) and squash impede rapid soil erosion). Eagles and snakes seek refuge in the trees surrounding the fields and feed on the crows and rats that eat the corn, bean and marrow crops. When people visit the Yucatan Peninsula they wonder how this infertile land can produce crops . The research carried out by archaeologist Sylvanus G Morley, indicates that one hectare in the northern Yucatan can produce 1,100kg of corn per year, on average a family will cultivate four to five hectares. A Maya farmer works 190 days in order to harvest double the amount of corn consumed by his family; 3kg of corn, for five people, daily . In September 2001, I interviewed Jacinto, a farmer from the Yucatan. After analysing what he said about his farming activities (see the following table), a cycle of nearly 260 days of corn growing can be identified (the length of the cycle may vary depending on the type of forest and corn). This cycle can be linked to that of the 236-day cycle of Venus as a morning star or the 250-day cycle when it is the evening star.