Soil, Water, and Erosion in Traditional Agricultural Systems

One of the most debated and studied aspects is the role of soils, deforestation, and droughts in agriculture in regions like the tropical lowlands of the Mayan area. For a long time, these lands were considered not very sustainable for slash and burn agriculture. In several studies, it was proposed that environmental and climatological conditions that lasted for several years and were exacerbated by the lack of rain, drought, increased forest deforestation, and soil erosion in the Maya lowlands cause the so-called Mayan Collapse, mainly in the Late Classic. The idea that soils in Mesoamerica had low productivity was the stimulus to seek questions and answers about subsistence in antiquity. This could provide ideas for the improvement of contemporary agriculture, through sustainable agricultural systems. Numerous studies have been done on human action on soils of agroecosystems, like the homegarden and the Mesoamerican fenced homegarden.