Crop association in pre-hispanic raised beds and their effect on soil properties

Abstract

Our original peoples carried out agriculture in a very different way from that imposed by the Europeans in the 16th century, one of its forms were the pre-Hispanic raised beds, elevated soil structures that allowed it to be kept moist in the dry season and well drained in the rainy season, a farming method friendly to the environment, contrasting with conventional farming of intense soil tillage. At the El Madroño farm owned by COOPAD, Diriamba, trials were conducted in 2017 and 2018 to determine the effect that tillage has on the hydrophysical and chemical properties of the soil, comparing two methods: pre-Hispanic raised beds and conventional tillage. In each one, three crop association systems were established: Maize (Zea mays L.) and common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), Maize, common beans and squash (Cucurbita argyrosperma H.) and Pujagua maize and amaranth (Amaranthus cruentus L.), extracting three soil samples (June, September and December). It was established in a divided plot design with repeated measures in time with plot structure in BCA, finding an increase in moisture retention in Pre-Hispanic raised beds systems of 3.2 in June, 0.1 in September and 2.5 % in December, compared to the of conventional tillage as well as better apparent density values (0.83 g cm3) and a decrease in soil temperature (2.6 degrees less). The values of organic matter (6.69 %), pH (6.70), as well as the amounts of nitrogen (0.30 %), phosphorus (6.03 parts per million) and potassium (1.81 meq 100/g of soil) are also manifested in a higher way. in the system of pre-Hispanic raised beds to those obtained in conventional tillage, which is why they represent a viable agroecological option.