El Sistema “Quesungual”: Agroforestería y manejo de suelos para la producción de maíz y frijol en laderas

Abstract

TheQuesungual production system was theresult of a shared learning process, where farmers, technicians and development agenciesworked together to develop agroforestry and agricultural practices that were better adapted to their local conditions andrespondtoemerging needs oflandusers (e.g. respondto land scarcity andclimate change). The Quesungual system is a modification of shiftingcultivation systems (milpa), wherecontrary to these traditional systems, burning is not used after clearing secondary forests, andthebiomassgenerated during the cleaning of the fields isused as a soilcover. Moreover, annualcrops areplanted associatedwitha woody component dividedintothree strata: prunedtrees, trees managed forwood and fruit, andsaplings(naturalregeneration).TheQuesungualsystem extends theperiod oflanduse,reduces the impacts of agriculture on soil erosion (particularly onhillsides),maintainssoil fertilityandmaintainssufficienttreevegetation to sustain natural regeneration processes. The Quesungual System could be a promisingoption to maintain a production of basic grainsin the dryareas of Central America