Grass helped to drive the ancient Maya off the highlands; 

 then again from the middle elevations of Guatemala and 

 Honduras to the Yucatan peninsula, where a second renais- 

 sance took place. Still later, grass again figuratively drove 

 the Maya into the sea. Because of this agricultural failure, 

 the Central American aboriginal civilization was degraded 

 to such an extent that it could offer little resistance to the 

 Spaniards, and the conquest was carried out by a handful 

 of men during the course of only a few years. 



The injection of a new race of men into Central America 

 did not have an immediate effect on food and agriculture. 

 Eventually, however, the iron tools which the Spaniards 

 brought helped to bring about a change that, while not 

 entirely advantageous, did make tillage possible in spite of 

 the invading grasses. The greater and easier production of 

 food was no doubt a contributing factor to the greatly in- 

 creased population growth following the conquest. 



Now Central America is at the crossroad again. Nowhere 

 in the area is there more food than is needed, and in some 

 regions there is an undersupply that may amount to 40 per 

 cent of optimum needs. At the same time, the population 

 may be expected to increase by some 3 per cent each year. 

 Insufficient food is, and will continue to be, at the roots of 

 most social and political unrest in Central America. 



I 



t has been said that the characteristic subsistence type 

 of agriculture in Central America is the same as it was 400 

 years ago. This is true only in part, for new tools and new 

 ideas are beginning to penetrate even the farthest interior 

 valley. Most of the food plants that were grown 400 years 

 ago are the same as those grown today, with an important 

 difference. The plant breeder and the agronomist have gone 

 a long way toward producing higher yielding, more nu- 

 tritious, and more resistant subsistence crops. Methods in 

 agriculture are changing, though slowly. 



On the other hand, many or most of the small subsistence 

 farmers of Central America do not own the land they work. 



Their interest is to secure the greatest possible crop this year; 

 they care little about what happens to the land in the pro- 

 cess. Conservation, this year, fills no stomachs, allays no hun- 

 ger pains. Thus, soils in great part are poorer today than 

 they were a century ago. Moreover, due to erosion as well 

 as lack of conservation, there is perhaps less arable land 

 than a century ago. 



Climate usually is said to be beyond the control of man, 

 but climate in Central America has been adversely affected 

 by man. Changes in the vegetative cover have altered rain- 

 fall and temperature patterns. The effects on runoff are 

 all too obvious. A reversal of the trend, by adopting the 

 measures necessary to control climate through improvement 

 of the vegetative cover, will be difficult and immensely un- 

 popular politically. 



J. he kinds of plants available to pre-Columbian agricul- 

 ture, and those available and used now, are not very dif- 

 ferent. With perhaps two prominent exceptions, the basic 

 plant foods of most Central Americans are indigenous : maize, 

 beans, manihot, potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, 

 and several kinds of fruits. These make up the bulk of the 

 food intake. Rice from the Old World is an important ex- 

 ception. It is the only one of the Old World food grains that 

 grows and produces well in tropical Central America. Sugar 

 cane of Old World origin, and the sugar from it, are also 

 used all over the area. This is both a subsistence and a plan- 

 tation crop. 



Increased food production can be, and in fact is being, 

 attained in Central America. Better agronomy, fertilizers 

 and green manures, seed selection, plant breeding, increasing 

 the kinds of food plants used, selection for more nutritious 

 varieties, basic education, and agricultural education all are 

 helping to improve the situation. The question remains, 

 however, whether increases in food production due to better 

 technology can offset parallel increases in the number of 

 mouths that must be fed.  



This field has been "cleared" recently. The men are planting It to beans. 

 After planting 4 or 5 consecutive crops within the period of a year, the field 

 may be abandoned for 5 to 15 years. 



Indian corn and scarlet runner beans are 

 commonly Intercropped In the Central 

 American highlands. Both plants, are as 

 American as blueberry pie. 



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