Ancient agricultural technique is used against climate crisis – 02/14/2024 – Environment

From the sky, they look like huge circle-shaped geoglyphs, but they are, in reality, the mark of a pre-Hispanic technique that farmers rescued to face the climate crisis in the high Andean plateaus of Puno, on the border between Peru and Bolivia.

These are “waru waru” —a word in Quechua that means ridge—, an invention from the past to protect potato and quinoa crops. For decades, people speculated that they were geoglyphs made by extraterrestrials, residents recall.

“It’s an agricultural system to be able to face climate change, which has changed the seasons. It’s very beneficial in times of drought and frost,” said farmer César Cutipa, 42.

In the floodplains of Acora, a location at 3,812 meters above sea level, neighboring Lake Titicaca, communities have implemented six “waru waru”. This type of layer of land surrounded by water reaches up to 100 m in length, between 4 m and 10 m in width and 1 m in height.

Cutipa is part of the Aymara community of Acora, where this ancient agricultural technique is cultivated.

To build the “waru waru”, farmers open furrows in floodable areas, until a rectangular platform is formed, where planting is done. The surrounding water creates a microclimate that mitigates the unfavorable effect of frost, allowing crops to develop.

In canals, the water absorbs the sun’s heat during the day and radiates it again at night. In 2023, the temperature reached -20°C in Puno, due to frost.

Recovering the past

“The skill of pre-Hispanic settlers managed to develop this technology that makes the most of the region’s water capacity and flood times, such as rains”, explains archaeologist Velko Marusic, from the Ministry of Culture of Puno.

According to Marusic, the soils in the highlands are poor and dry for agricultural activity. With this technique, however, farmers plant native potatoes, quinoa and cañihua (from the same family as quinoa), considered superfoods.

The benefits are evident in these times of global warming and unexpected climate variations, according to researchers.

“In times of rain, the ‘waru waru’ cannot be flooded, because they have an intelligent drainage system, which reaches the river. They have many advantages, they are a tradition and a custom”, said agronomist Gastón Quispe, 43.

“This technique helps combat frost, fertilize soil, generate microclimates and fauna,” added Marusic.

Its origins date back 2,000 years in the Aymara region, but the Inca Empire (in the 15th century) left this technique aside. The “waru waru” began to be rebuilt only in the 1990s.

“It is an agricultural activity that developed for more than two millennia in our country and, due to the Inca occupation, was abandoned, because it became unviable”, explained Marusic. He highlights that when the Spanish conquerors arrived in the 16th century, they found no evidence of its existence.

In 2023, when Puno suffered one of the longest periods of drought in almost six decades due to a lack of rain, according to the National Meteorological Service, the use of this technique allowed farmers to face water deficits and food shortages.

In Acora, to have a good harvest, the peasants also perform a ritual called “luqta” (mass, in the Aymara language), with sweets and coca leaves that they throw in the air to ask Mother Earth for a good harvest and for hail to not fall. .

“We can live peacefully here, because we have our potatoes, our quinoa and barley. We can be calm without going to the city,” said farmer Valeria Nahua, 22.