agriculture review
by aditya abhishek
Originated around 2600 B.C. in the Yucatán. Due to advancements they became popular for their art, mathematics, architechture, astronomy, and agriculture.
They started living in small family bands and developed farming techniques mainly focused on cultivation of maize.
Mayans used to create arable or temporary farming lands by practicing slash and burn technique which include shifting cultivation.
Maize was their primary crop while secondary crops were beans, squash, and tobacco. They used to cultivate on lowlands as well as highlands on terraces.
Cleared Forestlands were used to cultivate crops for 2 to 3 years. Crop residues were burned and then Mayans used to shift to a new place to clear forest lands.
Used farming lands were left untouched for around 10 years, within this time natural vegetation regrow and after that the same land became ready to be used again.
However managing raised bed farmng was quite labour intensive but it ensured high productivity to the Mayans. They used to cultivate 2 to 3 crops within a year.
So there were three main farming methods of Maya civilization namely Shifting cultivation, Terrace farming, and Raised bed farming which made civilization sustainable.
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