Sustainable improvement of agricultural production systems in the mixteca region of Mexico

Abstract

With support from the Conrad N. Hilton and Ford Foundations and in collaboration with three Mexican non-governmental organizations, the CIMMYT Natural Resources Group (NRG) worked with small-scale farmers in the impoverished, semi-arid region of southeast Mexico known as the Mixteca during 1998-2001 to increase food production and improve the quality of rainfed, maize-based agro-ecosystems. Participants worked in four communities to help farmers identify and test a set of 19 technologies. The most promising were green legume cover crops and grain legumes such as lablab and pigeon pea, oyster mushroom production by a women's group in one village, drip irrigation for home gardens, greenhouse cropping, selection among local maize varieties, and triticale production. Several of these have been adopted in the communities. The project also bolstered farmers' self-esteem, community spirit, and communication with peers, and enhanced local leadership, organizational, analytical, and experimentation capabilities.