Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
and the terraces are no longer functional. Increasing population has resulted in the
subdivision of cropland and has resulted in marginal lands being brought into pro-
duction. Food and fiber production is now being introduced into fragile ecosystems
that should never have been exposed to such farming activity. Farms are small in the
Andean Mountains and are managed by economically poor and uneducated farm-
ers. Most of the farm managers operate their farms at barely subsistence level with
little or no capital accumulation. Without surplus food production to sell, there is
little hope of accumulating sufficient economic resources to invest in conservation
production systems. Without education and/or technical assistance to implement
new production systems, the ability to actually use conservation practices and/or
technologies is very low (Figure 15.7). While incentives have been offered to poor
farmers to adopt and use conservation production systems, these efforts have been
unsuccessful in resolving problems associated with erosion of farmland. Efforts to
increase the long-term profitability of agriculture have not been successful.
While many local governments have acquired the authority to address conserva-
tion issues, they do not have the capacity to do so. It will take many years for local
governments to achieve the level of institutional development required to address
the needs of poor farmers. Schools, roads, technical assistance agencies, local mar-
keting systems linked to national markets, communication systems, and a host of
other institutional structures will have to be created, staffed, and funded before the
institutional structures of local government can begin to address soil and water con-
servation issues on a scale that will be required to reduce the incidence of existing
problems.
One of the major factors that act as barriers to adoption of conservation tech-
nologies and techniques within the Andean Mountains is the ability to assume risks
associated with adoption. Subsistence farmers live on the edge of economic disaster.
FIGURE 15.7
Poza Rica, Veracruz State, Mexico, 1978. International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (CIMMYT) training of extension agents in maize, zero tillage. (Courtesy
of Dr. Tom Stilwell.)
