Corn seedlings emerging from soil on Mayan farm 2 weeks after the field was cleared of tropical rainforest and burned for agricultural land. Zea mays
The trees were hand cleared with axes and machetes, then the field was burned in preparation for planting at the beginning of the rainy season. The physical and chemical condition of the soil is favorable for crop growth after the fire releases a nutrient flush. This form of agriculture is widely practiced in the tropics. It can be sustainable where human population densities are low and stable. Increasing intensity of land use and decreasing fallow lengths due to population pressure result in the system becoming unsustainable and cause environmental deterioration including loss of plant and animal diversity, increased flooding and erosion, and decreases in agricultural productivity.
Size: 3060px × 1991px
Location: Cayo District, Belize
Photo credit: © Rosanne Tackaberry / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: abiotic, agricultural, agriculture, agronomy, america, american, ancient, belize, biotic, burn, burnt, cayo, central, charred, cleared, corn, crop, crops, cultivation, deforestation, deforested, environment, ethnobotany, extensive, farm, farming, farmland, fields, flush, growing, latin, maize, mays, mesoamerica, mesoamerican, milpa, nutrient, plant, planted, plants, seedbed, seedbeds, seedling, seedlings, shifting, slash, soil, soils, subsistence, swidden, top, topsoil, traditional, tropical, zea
