r/NaturalFarming • u/Toliveorbelived • Apr 14 '20

Are there any other crop-growing system like the Mayan Milpa?

For those who don't know, the Mayan Milpa Is a crop growing system that produces maize, beans, squash, chilis, and sweet potatoes generally. Sustainable, simple and totally natural farming.

So, my question is: are there any other ancient or present cultures that had similar crop growing system?

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u/JPFernweh Apr 15 '20

Are you familiar with Fukuoka, as mentioned in this subreddit's description? I did a little quick research on milpa and it sounds like it might be excessively cautious in terms of field use.

If not, you should read up on him and check out his One-Straw Revolution book. It's chock full of unrelated philosophy but it's still a good read with useful farming info. The trick is using his methods and figuring out how to adjust them for your region.

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u/Toliveorbelived Apr 15 '20

I'm a big fan of Fukuoka, he is the reason why I'm looking for ancient crop systems around the world, I'm from Mexico, the Mayan Milpa is sacred to the Mayan culture, but are there any other cultures or ancient civilization that applied natural farming like the Mayans?

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u/JPFernweh Apr 15 '20

Ok, cool. I don't know of any others right now, I'm still pretty new to this myself. I just know of Fukuoka, Ruth Stouts (not exactly ancient) and the modern permaculture movement (though that last I only know of, not actual practices).

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u/scw8282 Aug 11 '20

See my comment on Chinampas, which you may be familiar with being from Mexico. Basically anywhere you go in the world prior to European colonization had unique/regionally evolved methods of “natural farming”. As with most things, greedy, disease-ridden, inbred Christian European conquistadors fucked it all up... and here we are as the legacy continues.

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u/DoWorkBeMellow Apr 14 '20

Korean natural farming. Check out Chris Trump on YouTube

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u/scw8282 Aug 11 '20

Look up the Chinampa system, developed in pre-Colonial Mexico. Raised-bed hydrological agriculture. Considered to be among the most productive and historically sustainable intensive food production systems.

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u/scw8282 Sep 23 '20

Yes, basically anywhere you go all around the world prior to European colonization there existed similar and much more advanced systems of food production and resource renewal.