Enhancing the Sustainability of Smallholder Crop-Livestock Systems in the Yucatán Peninsula

Low stature tropical forests, such as found on the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, are globally a threatened ecosystem, largely due to human habitation and development of agricultural activities. The virtual abandonment of sisal production surrounding Mérida has facilitated the regeneration of large areas of secondary forest. These forests provide multiple services, including carbon sequestration and biodiversity. At a more local scale, the forests are the principal agricultural resource for smallholder farmers. The farmers practice what is called ‘slash and burn’ agriculture, known locally as milpa, whereby a portion of forest is slashed, burned, cropped for 2 years and then returned to forest fallow. Increasing population density and uncertain land tenure have shortened the fallow period from more than 25 years to less than 10 years. Shorter fallow periods ultimately deplete soil nutrients, decrease crop yields and thus result in additional land clearing to meet human food needs. Rural poverty continues unabated in Yucatán state, and the reality is that the milpa system will in the foreseeable future continue to be a significant form of land-use for the rural poor.