Thus by planting rows of Inga edulis, and then after two years pruning them and sowing maize seed in the resulting mulch of leaves, not only would a good harvest be achieved, but also the fertility of the soil would be maintained. Here was a system of agriculture that would allow the tropical farmer to farm in one place for many, many years, instead of having to move on every two or three years and burn more tropical rainforest.

The new system was tried out with tropical farmers in neighboring Honduras, where farmers were rapidly denuding and destroying the slopes surrounding the Pico Bonito National Park. The results were impressive. One of the farmers Victor Coranado claims that he’s able to achieve a maize harvest that is four times greater than he used to achieve by the old slash and burn methods…Read entire News Article here.