Peru: Andean potato farmers have brought back a 2,000-year-old crop system

Fresh Common Potato

Vegetables

Published Feb 13, 2024

Tridge summary

Farmers in the Andean plateau of Puno, straddling Peru and Bolivia, are using an ancient agricultural technique known as the waru-waru system to mitigate the impacts of climate change. This method involves creating large circular patterns in fields to protect potato and quinoa crops from climate-related issues like frequent rains, floods, droughts, and frosts. The system creates a microclimate by absorbing heat during the day and radiating it back at night, and includes an intelligent drainage system to prevent monsoon flooding.

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Original content

The AgroXXI.ru portal has read an article by AFP journalists, the authors of which Juan Carlos Cisneros and Carlos Mandujano remind that the agricultural history of each country has its own important lessons, and they should be learned on the path to a sustainable future of food production: “What looks like from the sky how huge circular patterns created by aliens are actually an ancient agricultural practice revived by farmers to combat the climate crisis on the Andean plateau of Puno. On the border of Peru and Bolivia, the waru-waru system (the indigenous Quechua word for ridge) is once again protecting potato and quinoa crops as it did 2,000 years ago. "This agricultural system allows us to withstand climate change, with more frequent rains and floods, droughts and frosts," farmer Cesar Cutipa, 42, told AFP. The Puno plateau is located on Lake Titicaca at an altitude of about 3812 meters above sea level. Farmers have recreated six waru-waru in flood-prone fields. The furrows ...

Source: Agroxxi