1. How did the indigenous people of Mexico develop advances in agriculture?

The indigenous people of Mexico developed advances in agriculture by integrating crops to grow
together and the technique of having trees protect plants below. For example,” The forest pulls clouds
from the sky so that they drop rain on the fields below’…The trees protect the plants below from high
winds and cold temperatures, and their fallen leaves provide a natural compost that inhibits weed
growth, adds fertility, and retains soil humidity.” This explains agroforestry which is including the
conservation of trees in agriculture allow plants to develop successfully by protection and etc. To add
on, “The milpa is a Mesoamerican technology that integrates maize, beans, squash and other
complementary food crops. While estimates of its age differ, it is at least 3,000 years old… Planting
different crops together minimizes soil erosion because their roots form a dense network that holds soil
in place. This system also tends to be very efficient, squeezing the maximum value out of every drop of
water, ray of sunlight, and bit of nutrients in the soil.” This shows intercropping being used so crops gain
all resources used to grow them, wasting little to nothing. By using these techniques that are thousands
of years old shows how advanced the indigenous people of Mexico just really were.

2. Why would these agricultural techniques experience a revival now?

These agricultural techniques would experience a revival now because of the Green Revolution. An
example of this is, “The Green Revolution of the 1960s was an U.S.-led international effort to push
adoption of farm mechanization, hybrid seeds, and chemical fertilizers in order to increase yields” This
reveals how the Green Revolution was harming the environment by using chemicals and etc. it was
more of a con than a pro as it causes pollution and erosion while the agricultural techniques were
completely safe. In addition, “León Santos is working to revive and enhance indigenous farming wisdom
in order to restore the health of the soil and the productivity of the land.” This shows the revival of the
agricultural techniques as an attempt to revolt the Green Revolution and environmental destruction.
The techniques to Santos reminded him of how the Aztecs were made because of agriculture showing
the pros of it over chemcials.