Farming Maiz in Central Mexico

Los Voladores in Papantla Successful agriculture depends on diverse factors ranging from technology and manpower to insects and climate. Some of these are directly influenced by man, the tools and strategies developed and laws put in place, others are less visibly impacted by human kind such as insect and climate patterns. The future success of Mexican crops, particularly maiz, will be impacted by each of these and other circumstances. Campesinos have been successfully farming maiz in central Mexico for millennia. Much of this rich harvest is due to the rugged nature of the maiz plant as it is stronger and more capable of surviving tough situations than other more fragile vegetation. Workers plant and care for corn throughout vast open fields, steep mountain sides, rainy wet environments and dry arid ones. Due to the dynamic nature of maiz it is a part of every group of people, political denomination, faith group, and geographic location throughout Mexico and into other nations as ...

For one who has never been to Mexico it may be unfamiliar the way that their markets and trade systems work. In the big cities and more developed locations it is quite similar to the united states although in the small towns tend to run somewhat differently. These smaller towns tend to depend more on agriculture as a living so many of the citizens of these pueblos are working out in the feilds themselves, then the produce is distributed in a variety of ways. As much of the diet in Mexico includes maiz, natually much of the produce planted, harvested, distributed, and traded is maiz. In local communities much of this maiz goes directly from los campos, or feilds, to the consumers door or to the farmers market. Sometimes the maiz is hauled around and sold by walking down the street shouting out and waiting for the customers to leave their homes and come out to you to pick up their needed produce. This style of trade is a way of life to many of these people though it is seen as a prob...