Knowra Andean agriculture Andean agriculture Andean agriculture comprises farming systems adapted to the Andes’ steep terrain, varied elevations, and diverse climates, including terraces, irrigation, and crops suited to different ecological zones.
Andean terrace agriculture : A farming system that levels steep Andean slopes into cultivable steps supported by retaining walls. Terraces create stable fields, slow runoff, and reduce soil erosion on mountain slopes.
Andean verticality : The steep ecological and climatic gradients created by elevation across the Andes. Elevation determines growing seasons, temperature, and which crops can thrive.
Domestication of the potato : The process by which Andean peoples selected and cultivated wild potato relatives into crop varieties. Potato domestication laid the foundation for a major highland food system.
Agrobiodiversity : The diversity of crops, varieties, and associated organisms maintained within agricultural systems. Andean farmers maintain many crop varieties suited to different elevations and hazards.
Potato famine : A severe food crisis caused by potato crop failure, most famously the Irish famine of the 1840s. The global dependence on a crop domesticated in the Andes also exposes risks of narrow crop diversity.
Andean raised fields : Elevated agricultural beds separated by canals, used in parts of the Andean highlands. Raised beds and canals help manage water and protect crops from frost.
Potato : A tuber crop domesticated in the Andes and cultivated worldwide for its edible underground stems. Potatoes are central to highland farming and have many varieties adapted to local conditions.
Inca agricultural terraces : Terraced fields built or expanded under the Inca state, including large systems in the central Andes. Inca engineering scaled terrace farming and linked it to state production and storage.
Ayllu : A traditional Andean community organized through kinship, shared land, and reciprocal obligations. Ayllu institutions have coordinated access to land, labor, and resources across ecological zones.
Inca road system : A network of roads connecting settlements and administrative centers across the Inca Empire. Roads moved agricultural goods, labor, and state supplies across difficult Andean terrain.
Show all 26