Chinampas of Mexico: Most Productive Agriculture EVER?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 เม.ย. 2022
- Permaculture instructor Andrew Millison journeys to the legendary chinampas of Mexico City, known as the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco. We visit Lucio Usobiaga, who heads up the Arca Tierra project, which is restoring the health and viability of the chinampas while introducing contemporary concepts like Syntropic Agriculture, Agroforestry, and Permaculture. The chinampas are the last vestiges of the ancient agricultural system of the Aztec and pre-Aztec civilizations. This video examines the situation, and explores what can be learned from them.
Credits (corrected):
Written & Directed by Andrew Millison
Saskia Madlener
Assistant Director
Producer
Daniel Cespedes
Editor, Cinematography & Aerial Photography
Arca Tierra: arcatierra.com/
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This is basically natural aquaponics. I love it, minimal effort for maximum produce. While also sustainable and organic.
🎉👏🙌 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖🙌
You just nailed! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
It gives maximum produce but it is also labour intensive to maintain the canal system and the fields. Definitely cannot be described as "minimum effort".
@@jirislavicek9954 every kind of agriculture is labour intensive and using machines or chemicals only outsources that labour to polluting factories and refineries, This is the most efficient way to grow food, period. No water pumps needed, no tilling needed, no fertilizer, no pesticide and the whole thing can be done in a couple of weeks.
Innovative Indigenous agriculture 😄☀️🪶
I visited Xochimilco in 1996 and was blown away by the system. Since then I returned a few more ocassion to fully absorb the living systems. This encounter has helped me to incorporate the principles into the ecosystem restoration initiative on the island of Borneo, in the tropical region. So much to learn from the Chinampas.
i thought borneo is mostly rainforests instead of wet swampy areas like xochimilco! how do you apply the chinampas principles to your project in borneo?
I want to implement this system in flood plains in the U.K.
Obviously the lake would be semi-artificial, but where I’m from there used to be a lot more swamp which have all been drained so it could help with rewilding was at the moment these areas are generally meadows that occasionally flood.
@@James-sk4db What's the water quality like where you are? I wonder if this works in brackish water?
@@scientifico fresh, I imagine you could do something similar on manggroves but your farmables would be quite limited,
Very nice job! I'm from Malaysia, hope to meet you some day an do.something together!
I did some archaeological research on the collapse in Chinampa agriculture from the prosperous Aztec times to post-colonization times. One of my main findings was that the Chinampas system required a high degree of political orchestration to function. There is evidence for times of high and low use periods during Aztec power, and they can be correlated with times of strong and weak governance. When the Spanish came in, the Aztec governance system was of course decimated, and therefore the Chinampas system greatly receded. The reason they can be so product is from a highly organized and efficient labor system with a common goal and greater vision. The Area Tierra program seems to be filling in this gap, providing a modern and integrated structure for the Chinampas system to once again rise to prominence as an incredibly efficient, abundant, and ecologically diverse system that supplies food to the residents of Mexico City.
Really interesting. Thanks for sharing :-)
Dayum!! You overdid it! If you didn’t get a A+, you were cheated!
I did some research to as part of my landscape architecture history class, and one of those management reasons could be that once the Spanish settled they stop their composting system that created the chinampas in the first place. Basically all the city waste (human waste too) was composted and layered into each chinampa. The city therefore expanded alongside its population.
perhaps with an efficient private system this can rise to stratospheric levels
@Nooneinparticular987 yet even the perfect system without labor is not productive. I think you're imagining an alternate reality because in your argument you support the high complexity of the chinampa yet it doesn't work as it should in paper because all the political reasons surrounding the ecocide since the viceroyalty and nowadays the urban era of the México basin. Without the political and economic structures there wasn't the need to designing the chinampa in the first place and then how to maintain it and exploiting it, that's why it's dying.
This topic is so fascinating! Goes to show the ancient peoples knew more than we give them credit for. Meanwhile modern agriculture leaves the soil drained of all nutrients and dry.
Purposely …. These weirdos tryna go to mars after they F*** our planet
that is nonsense...typically written by someone who hates any growing system that is not their favourite......modern agriculture feeds 7-8 billion people everyday of the year ..how often do you go hungry ,,,,probably never..........say thankyou modern agricultural methods
Then we give them credit for? Who doesn't think that indigenous agricultural societies that lived on the land for generations and depended on them for everything didn't know intricate details of great magnitude. It's arrogant to even question that.
Ever hear of the dust bowl? That’s what happened but literally decades have gone into learning to work soil in ways that does not destroy the soil. Think you don’t give enough credit to modern day
@@michaelmiguel6937 dust bowl product of modern ag. The things we "learn" were all ready known before... except synthetics, gmo, Monsanto, etc.
we have our garden plot in a boggy area right next to a stream in southern Wisconsin - water is at the soil surface until early summer. we built a chinampa-style garden (raised areas for growing, lower areas in between) and it has worked AMAZINGLY. thanks to another youtube creator for introducing me to chinampas a few years ago, and thanks to you for deepening my understanding!!
That's great!
🎉👏🙌 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖🙌
@@VeganSemihCyprus33 🙌 so funny bc when guys by my house see me working outside (I'm a woman), digging the chinampa-style garden or removing invasives from the forest by hand they say, "you know there's a machine for that" or "you're going to need a tractor". I say, "nah" and they just laugh at me. But I hope it makes them think a bit, realizing they don't have to destroy so much to get something done. 😏
So when can we see a video of your garden? 😊
@@aaaaaa2206 anyone who drives past my house can see it! 🤣
Having municipal wastewater flowing into the canals might slowly kill the chinampas. It is not the pathogens that I think we should be afraid of, but inorganic pollutants like salts and heavy metals. Unlike organic effluents these things don't decay easily and will accumulate continuously. Sitting in a basin also means that there are no outlets to flush them out.
🎉👏🙌 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖🙌
Hopefully theres some way to sequester inorganics before they reach the main body of water, ive heard some plants being able to but whether they exist in this area or are even enough to protect them idk
Many inorganic compounds can be broken down depending on concentration in biodynamic and organic processes that convert the energy inputs into raw materials and building blocks for other processes. The concentration can over tax the productivity. The key is to work together not let the greed of a few kill the bounty for all.
@@mmac4047 this is an assumption that works only when there is no corruption or other financial interests...and Mexico is not very known to efficiently counter that
Some crops do a gear job at pulling up heavy metals like hemp.
“Water management is a history of bad decisions.” The man nailed it!
@Tsukanoma Woodworks Yes, the “Conquistador” mindset of raping the colonies for everything you can in the short term, and screw the sustainability.
@Tsukanoma Woodworks good for you for going the permaculture route. Don’t get discouraged. I have had better luck using floating row covers to limit insect pests. Helps with the late and early frosts as well.
@Tsukanoma Woodworks no, it wasn't spanish water management. It was mexican water management. Even 100 yrs ago there were a lot of rivers and streams, 200 yrs ago there still was a lot of water. It was Mexican "modernity" that destroyed everything.
@@codniggh1139 i agree but like we as modern mexicans and as westernized projects of nation state building and economy, are totally heirs of Spain and hispanic culture, especially in Mexico City and central Mexico
@@Smoug Hell your Landowning class are the direct descendents of the wealthy well connected Aristocrats who migrated to the Spanish colonies.
I always felt that chinampas and xochimilco should be expanded and become a cultural landscape with farmer markets.
Mexico should take advantage of its pre European agricultural methods and implement many cultural landscape throughout the country.
I feel the same way, I think this type of system would be great in places that are seeing drought that are having water deficits, we must think out of the box, this was done out of necessity and like the video here illustrates, the soil that is produced is some of the best and that is what we need now, this is the type of program that should have been attempted back during the Dust Bowl when our government admitted that it needed to change the way agriculture is done. They did not change anything really in a revolutionary way, they simply brought in Monsanto to create seed that is Monsanto seed and Monsanto fertilizer along with Cargill and companies like this. Our government even created a program to combat these issues, but it appears that nothing much really was improved so much as they created ways of changing the seed, the fertilizer, the pesticides in order not to need good fertile soil. This policy has created devastation as much water is needed for this process that could have been seriously improved more than 90 years ago. We are in serious trouble right now, there is drought everywhere, water levels are falling, we need something truly revolutionary to farm with less water and in a way that will replenish the soil, this is a serious contender honestly.
I don't understand what you mean by.
The agricultural landscape.
That has nothing to do with where Hydroponics was based.
That was my statement
@@larrymarron1170 you mean cultural landscape?
Check this out
th-cam.com/video/qtzBn5jf-gk/w-d-xo.html
@@nicholecollins6126 wise
FUCK IT UTOPIA NOW :)
Spectacular system. I'm so impressed.
When I was about 3yrs old my family did a boat tour on the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco. It is one of my earliest memories. I reached for the lilies and fell out of the boat... but mom was ready and immediately yanked me to safety.
How awesome to connect that memory with this Ag system.
This made me smile. Thanks for sharing!
Is there anything dangerous in the water? Obviously drowning was probably her main concern but does it have a lot of poisonous snakes and such?
@@ArcAngle1117 not really but the canal itself, the vegetation from the bottom and the mud could trap you and it can be very difficult to get out. I live in Xochimilco and I've heard and read of cases where mainly drunk folks fall and don't get out. Other than that, only infections and rashes because water is very polluted sadly. You can find rattlesnakes in the natural reserve, not in populated areas.
This systm reminds me of our ''Polder''system we have in the Netherlands, where we claimed parts of the sea to use for agri culture, with simular canals and some also use willow trees, every year big tractors dig out the canals to feel up the land. where we graze alot of cows on freshly grown grass. You might take a look a dutch agriculture for a video. You chinampa video was very educational! keep up the good work. Kind regards form the Netherlands
unfortunately while there are a lot of similarities, the current polder system relies a lot on fertilizer use and monoculture, so it is not as sustainable as the system described in this video. There are also good practices however and they are the most productive fields in the world.
🎉👏🙌 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖🙌
I got tulips from Amsterdam in my garden
I really appreciate you making the connection between similar agricultural systems seen in other wetland / deltas around the world. Can you think of others than Mexico City and the Netherlands?
@@HaakSO There is this crazy video about papua new guinea. Check out this video, it maybe older then the Chinampa\s from mexico. I think the Nijl delta in Afrika used simular uses but with a river. And in souther parts of Iraq it used to be swamp, where they also found evidence for huge agriculture on the rivers. but check this link: th-cam.com/video/zyNkb_qjcOM/w-d-xo.html&ab_channel=DiscoveryChannelSoutheastAsia
This system should work well in Florida and Mississippi.
Except i would be scared of snakes and gators
@@noivern1380 Not in México city
@@noivern1380 the Mexican highlands does not have crocodilians (but in the lowlands). There are some big snakes and lots of spiders outside Mexico City
Anywhere with wetlands, really... I'm in New England near old sandstone quarries, and this would be awesome here
@@zmanx88 we can build like raised mounds/ bog paths like pond bridges/docks. Louisiana , Mississippi and Alabama too, anywhere along the gulf coast that is going to experience sea level rise anyway.
I've been around the world and it breaks my heart how many Americans are utterly ignorant of how interesting, vibrant, and mystical Mexico truly is!
Thank you Andrew, in this internet age people need to be more aware of the practices of ancient cultures and what they did to live harmoniously with the world around them!!! It's a skill we have truly lost in this modern age 😪
I was really surprised at how amazing Mexico City was as a whole. I'd only heard stories of pollution, poverty, and crime. It is a true gem of a place.
@@amillison not to mention the public art!
I met many Americans who don't even know where Canada is on a map 😂 (I'm from Québec, so they also don't have any clue that there are french speakers over here)
@@AliAhmed-zg7wl I'm replying to the first comment stating that Americans don't know much about Mexico, which doesn't surprise me as they don't know anything about where I'm from neither even though we live just a few hours from each other. Why do you sound so angry at such a simple statement talking about what most probably comes from a failure of the American education system and not people themselves????
And what does your stereotypes even have to do with what I said?
They still exist?? OMG, Andrew you're a legend for making this video, and Lucio for reviving them. And all the people who helped. Thank you!!
You should go see them. It's absolutely epic!
@@amillison Would love to, but it's a long way to Mexico... What I can imagine with the city around them, is that they become not only a hub for food production again, but for recreation.
As a Mexican this one sparks joy...
No he tenido la fortuna de acudir a esas tierras ancestrales, pero como maestro de biología de secundaria, uso a Xochimilco como el ejemplo de arquitectura sustentable y aparte ahí residen los famosos ajolotes, los cuales son endémicos de México.
Yo si mi buen… es un lugar espectacular y lleno de Nuestra Cultura… 😊
Cuando estaba en la universidad expuse todo sobre el ajolote, estaba tan fascinado con el animal que cuando supe de todos los problemas a los que se enfrenta y que por eso está en peligro de extinción mi ánimo se vino abajo, una lastima que la mayoría de los lugareños no cuiden tan bello lugar con tan extraordinaria fauna y flora
There's a similar system in the Altiplano, the highlands around lake Titicaca at 3,800+ meters over sea level. They're called Waru-warus or Camellones. The water moderates temperatures at night and the mud is used as fertilizer. Very old camellones are being reused
🎉👏🙌 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖🙌
Believe there is a similar, indigenous South American version where they used canals (with dug out ditches) to help moderate temperatures and protect plants from nightly freezing. These ditches create traps for the cold air while allowing the water to radiate heat to the plants at night. This was studied and found to be more productive than 'conventional' agriculture and the farmers were finding it more profitable as well as providing more employment for the locals. It was a big win-win.
Think this would be great in New Orleans, for rebuilding instead of dumping.
That's so wonderfully lush. The beautiful boats are great, too.
We had black soil like that growing up in most of the places where I lived. It's good soil.
We need to also preserve and rebuild the soil that we have. We need to convince more farmers to do no-till *with cover crops.* Notably some insurance companies will not insure a crop if covercropping is used. We need to eliminate that loophole. We need to de-complicate insurance requirements for federal monies for farming...
"we"?
A fool's errand to to attempt to "de-complicate" the federal government in order to live, eat, and breathe more healthfully locally.
@@tefinnegan5239
It makes absolute sense to. We need to pressure stores about what we want to eat, they will in turn pressure government to change the rules to protect their profitability. It's how the rules were put in place in the first case. We can contribute there, too by pressuring regulators and politicians.
The thing is is we must change our buying habits and put pressure on stores. Anything less is intellectual dishonesty.
@@b_uppy The insurance companies are in cahoots BIG BANKS and with BIG AG and with BIG OIL providing petrochemicals used in making BIG AGRO-CHEMICALS like fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, makers of irrigation equipment, tractors (they do not want them re-engineered to meet the new needs), and others. The Federal Government is in the pockets of the powerful lobbies representing these companies and banks. The list of EVIL VESTED SELFISH INTERESTS is endless!
@@b_uppy The chinampas is the world's first hydroponics system and first aquaponics system that is a self-sustaining food chain cycle ecosystems maintaining an enclosed and close-loop regenerative agricultural system. Combine that with rock dust remineralization and with biochar and the yields will be enormous.
With regular cover cropping and other proper land management techniques, you don't really need insurance after few years of good soil care.
I was devestated the last time i went to Xochimilco, so much of it was urbanized. It should be a place where the agricultura and axlotl thrive..... the government should protect it by relocating and getting housing for the people living in poor conditions there and restoring the area, but Mexico is plagued by corruption. I just hope that one day it will get the protection it deserves
The way I imagine it: build those people a 5 story building, and build the farms around them. Then they could use canoes as transport, and let people move in to live that peaceful lifestyle if they want it.
@@TyrianHaze oh amigo, it sounds kind of nice, but sadly an impossible dream 😕
Right. But still that this system has been sustained at all in such a place given the sheer scale of DF basin and what all has come & gone....
Truly unreal to me.
I only was there in Puebla City 2007-2011, never knew of this place, but was in DF for various things enough to more less see the city.
I'll never ceased to be amazed by MX & people.
Despite the corruption thing.
Tbh, it all seems better than my life in Wisconsin & the prospects of life in the US going forward.
@@genossinwaabooz4373 with my last period in the usa, i agree 😕
Many ecological activists have tried to change the situation in my country, but they all end up dead, many efforts have been done but only a few have been “successful”. Over 70% of our rivers are used as sewers, some of them have been dry for over ten years , they are now building the maya train which is devastating some of the natural areas we have left, we don’t have that many left, by the year 1992 we had already devastated 90% of our lacandona forest, I live now in Oaxaca, rivers are being devastated by the extraction of river sand, there is a huge garbage dump right in front of a vegetable and fruit market in the capital you literally just walk right next to it, and you can see the pollution in the air, the quality of the water is really really bad, Canadians and Americans are building with no control on the beaches, huatulco specially, playa tejon looks really bad, they are building really close to the beach, I was born in one of the most polluted cities of my country, and no matter where I go, i see devastation, it breaks my heart
As a Mex American I am in love with our indigenous history and was lucky enough to visit the Chinampas a year ago. The knowledge of our ancestors is immense, thank you for sharing our culture with the rest of the wider world. I love this, we must protect the chinampas for all future generations
Beautiful, inspiring! Mexico it’s so rich of true wealth.
Great video. It really hits home how we modern people know very little about real farming. We can do mono crop farming but we are unable to think beyond chemical use.
I do dry farming in southern Arizona. Not many people are trying to do dry farming here because it takes a lot of thinking and labor. Most people buy a green house and use lots of water and chemicals to make their plants grow. Unfortunately, Arizona no longer has the water to support this kind of resource intensive farming.
I hope that we all can learn a better way to grow food before it is too late.
What plants do you grow? I live in the high desert. Dry land farming is basically dead here. There are remnants of dry land farming but most people have no idea.
Dry Farming? thas really cool, I'm from Arizona and I would like to learn more from it. thanbks.
@@abzafox7777 try moringa :)
Seems like many people would love to learn from you! :)
we out put hundreds of times more food than the ENTIRE ancient world did combined. we modern people objectively know far more about farming than we used to. seriously this idea that human sacrificing mud farmers know more than we do know with the internet and the ability to land humans safely on other stellar bodys is absurd.
Damn thats just huge aquaponics we need this all over the world
I've lived around the Xochimilco area for my entire life but never had any contacts nor plans to involve myself in any experiences around the place. I didn't know there was a serious labor involving maintaining the place, keeping these ways of agriculture, reintroducing flora and facing modern problems but the fact that there's experts trying to help, like the one guiding you over the place was something very good to know. Not much is said about this in Xochimilco, the tourism just promotes sightseeing in the chinampas and historic explanations in the tour guides but there's not much interest about their present roles or goals like in this video. Great work of photography, illustrating and narrating too!!
Looking at the Arca Tierra project you linked in the description, honestly it looks very awesome!! Deberas que necesito ver alguna forma de apoyar lo que se hace acá con los proyectos locales poquito a poquito 😅 gracias!!!
I am surprised that you didn't talk about the three sisters (the three main crops grown in these chinampas). Super sophisticated techniques in such a lush culture. I think about these chinampas a lot ever since I learned about them a decade ago or so. So impressive.
Andrew, your videos fill my heart with hope for the world like nothing else that can be found on mainstream and online media. Thank you. Hope was getting harder and harder to find. 🥰👍🙏
Thank you so much for the thoughtful comment. I appreciate the kind words. You're so welcome, it's my pleasure to create this kind of content. :)
I love learning things about Mexico I feel like we don't know enough about our neighbors to the South
And that’s just the tip of the cultural iceberg
Excellent, just excellent video and info. The agri-engineering on display, made hundreds or thousands of years ago no less, is truly a marvel.
I have also tried to built a Chinampa like system, but at a very small scale
My garden gets flooded during the rainy season, and I am unable to grow anything during that time, so I dug out a trench and deposited the soil some the both sides of the trench, besides this, I can also take advantage of high ground water table in my garden
Now I have planted Turmeric over the raised beds and Lotus in the trench, and as the waters will rise during the monsoon season, I will release native catfish into it
Add some bananas too they can't get enough water and swamp mallow which is medicinal.
@@msdramamusic I have already planted 3 Banana plants, as there is sufficient water to water them
I have also planted Ginger lily and taro to take advantage of the soil conditions
That's good
I had black soil like that in my yard in Michigan we tried growing tomatoes once in the yard next to the garage and they went completely wild 2 plants turned into 4 boxes of tomatoes and we still had some that rotted on the plant.
As a permaculture and plant geek, I gotta say this is one excellent inspiring video about chinampas.
I am from Xochimilco, México city, saludos y un fuerte abrazo .
Thank you so much for explaining this and documenting it. Makes so much more sense. The layers. The diversity. The inclusion. No wonder, no wonder it works.
Could have mentioned that the aztecs had pluricultures, 3 or 4 plants on the same spot, like beans, squashes, and tomatoes. They also ate the insects and sheets of dried algae like kelp leaves.
i think it's called companion planting. the eastern woodlands indians in NA did this: The Three Sisters, the Four, Five and Six Sisters. Apparently each plant shelters the other(s) from various pests and plants.
@@STScott-qo4pw Yes. And example in the SW, they'd managed to store up maize/grain reserves 7 years worth as a practice when colonizers arrived & trashed it all.
milpa
This is the best information I've seen on chinampas, Andrew. Your video was beautiful in production values and your drawings and explanation really brought to life the visual material collected at this excellent site. I'll be re-watching to fully take it all in. Thank you.
Just came back from Xochimilco, it’s spectacular and also a great legacy. Sustainable ways of living are possible❤ 🌱
Thank you, Andrew for your world class work. I'm so grateful for your valuable time iniciating the PDC course (6/21) and have continued to learn from you as I develope our forest garden at home in Costa Rica. Passionately seeking to learn more.
🎉👏🙌 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖🙌
Stellar work Andrew, your best video yet, also, being from Mexico I was happy to see you here. If you ever need a camera operator, I'm happy to just tag along to know you and help you in the mission.
I wonder if a derivative of this system could implemented in the mississippi river valley as a way to exist with flooding in a controlled way
Definitely!
Try it.
How do you get rid of the toxins?
@@christinebaker3293 guess it depends on the toxins. excess nitrates from farm run off and animal warehouses can be fixed with plant growth. pesticides are much harder but I would imagine having the water run through gravel and then grown into hardy plants that you then dont use or burn. But some pesticides and forever chemicals seem to be too much
@@christinebaker3293 what type of toxins ? Are you familiar by chance ?
Spent my birthday on a boat at Xochimilco. Its magical, timeless. Something truly special
I visited Xochimilco just last week! I was on one of the boats like at 16:14, and it was an incredibly neat experience. Thanks for diving deeper into the agricultural benefits of this system.
That was a superb presentation. Congratulations and thanks to Andrew, the film team, Lucio and the farmers. What beautiful and productive agriculture. Loved the way they sowed the seed. I am going to treat my garden with more respect because of your insight and inspiration. You should be very proud of what you are doing.
Thanks for the kind words :-)
Yeah, I'm gonna need way more videos on these. This is too cool. I live on a forested hill in the PNW and want to figure out how to do something similar, but the hill makes this challenging. Maybe smaller pools with little waterfalls?
Hey Andre, I like your spirit. There are fantastic water management strategies for hillsides that are different than the ones used for a nearly flat lake bottom. Check out other videos from this channel, and I’ll bet you’ll find inspiration
Swales, berms and key line are the terms you seek. Andrew has videos on all of these.
Ingenuity.
the amount of effort you put into your videos is insane. Best videos out there on whole TH-cam. come to the Netherlands and become minister of agriculture please. we have a very weird one and we could use someone with bright innovative ideas that has proven their worth.
Ik neem de baan. Maar ik moet eerst nederlands leren.
Half the netherlands could be in chinampa system! 😉😁
@@matthiasbrunger1179 ... with Maastricht stick out above the climate change floods... ... occupied by the Mountaineering Club of the Netherlands. : )))))))
@@amillison Don't worry Andrew, we speak English. If you use simple terms even the older politicians will understand.
This is absolutly impressive, they could create a system that feed them. I am so amazed of this technics of managing water and fertile soil. I wish We can implement this in our aride country NIGER, we do have a lot ground water but lands are unfortunatly facing erosion day by day.
isn’t your country trying to reforest the sahara?
@@ralfantino2291 We are trying to reforest the inhabited areas, because the desert is advancing at high speed.
Reforesting the Sahara is a challenge that we are trying to face, but it is an extremely difficult task because of the politics of our country. I started planting tree around the town but our country need more. People should be concern about this danger.
@@boubacarmoustapha despite the hardships, I’ve heard that thousands of trees have been planted in your country with the use of FMNR
@@ralfantino2291 Yes, and there are many organizations that are helping to mitigate desertification. In fact, what we need is to implement permaculture to restore nature, by planting fruit trees and growing usable crops. Until now, Niger does not produce enough food for the population. That is why my family and I are restoring some land and trying to plant more fruit trees because most of the trees in Niger do not produce edible fruit. My father has restored more than 300 hectares, but unfortunately, the shepherds use to bringing their flocks to the farm, in the end, the crops are threatened.
@@boubacarmoustapha congrats, your family is doing a good job, I hope your crops survive and you get a good harvest
Until I watched this Film I had not realised that this system was anything other than of Historical interest. How wrong I was! Having studied Agriculture in Scotland in the 1970s, I can honestly say that I was more than impressed by the innovative and incredible system started so long ago, but still surviving/producing today! I can honestly say that I can see the benefit that developing and maintaining such systems can have for both mankind and nature in suitable areas.
6:40 he is totally right. Plants actually soak up water only due to their ability to "sweat" it out. It's called transpiration.
"Water is necessary for plants but only a small amount of water taken up by the roots is used for growth and metabolism. The remaining 97-99.5% is lost by transpiration and guttation."
beautifully shown... yes the situation is the same everywhere... it's like cutting down the branch you are on...
I love when we can use the ingenuity from the past that were, completely or mostly, thrown out for one reason or another (often colonization, industrial breakthroughs and christians who "knew" they were far smarter, more civilized and therefore knew best no matter the topic or place) and resurrect the practices while using science and technology to make it the best it can be. It warms my heart when science, technology and past knowledge of the earth merge to help ecosystems spring back to life. I'm so glad I found this channel!
Thanks for being here! :)
Proud to say my people used old age hydroponics back in the day. Brilliant folks.
Thanks Andrew, I had planned a Chinampas in my design for a swampy area. I’ll be adding the filter system at the end of the channel. It’s hard to leave the farm but a trip to Mexico may be in the near future!
same as Zamalek island in middle of Cairo it was a permaculture paradise in the middle of Cairo but the oligarchy built a city over this paradise you have a look at major trees at the corners of this city
The Chinampas design is way way more advanced in thinking. Amazing man!
They're doing an incredible job and a savior for the City. They should be honored and recognized on a global scale, as a way to help save our planet. Thank you very much for promoting the Arca Tierra project and to ALL the people working on the project. They are true Heros!!
That is such a cool permaculture system, who would have known?, or that Mexico City was once a lake, great work! I must admit that salamander does in fact look godlike, strangely enough…🤣
They are so cool, funky and cute at the same time! I really hope they dont go extinct 😟🙏🏼
Who would have known that Mexico City was once a giant lake?
Oh I don't know, maybe millions of Mexicans and 100s of 1000s if not millions of educated and inquisitive people worldwide that have ever heard of geography, history, colonialism and early mesoamerican cultures?
@@ajusa2024 clever, your genius elitist troll comment produces such value to society and to the readers here. I’m sorry for not taking the exact right courses in school, -you must be really well balanced and happy in the real world…👌🔥🎇⚔️🍻
@@TheNewMediaoftheDawn 😘😘😘😘
The canals are probably the reason the Axolotls evolved at all. It's thought that they evolved to not go through metamorphosis to a salamander because the canals were such a perfect habitat for them that becoming terrestrial was a disadvantage. As long as they stay in their aquatic form in the narrow canals, they are completely safe from aerial and terrestrial predation, they are protected from the elements and there is no more or less available food.
Really interesting!
The best agriculture video I had ever seen.
after all this time i spent on youtube, idk why it took so long for them to show me your channel
im digging your videos, amazing work thank you for that
Would be amazing if the chinampas keep growing as the city sinks. I want to see this place. And build my own chinampas. Hopefully a whole community of farmers someday.
Same happened in the netherlands. All farmland is surrounded by moats, rivers and ditches
I was able to go-to Mexico City in '82. We took a boat tour of the floating gardens.
Thank you for making the video! Saludos desde México!
Just over here thinking about how much important knowledge we've lost to the ages.
This is what I imagined as a young visionary about a productive ecosystem and food production. A system of smaller and bigger water channels which give life to all the soil around it.
this is truly incredible. it's the epitome of giving to the land, not pillaging and not destroyin. permaculture at its finest. this is how agriculture should be. trees not being cut down, but instead used to further cultivate the land, no monocultures, keeping animal habitats intact, thus promoting biodiversity; etc.
Gracias por documentar Xochimilco, cada vez que estoy allí me presiona el majestuoso recurso hidrológico, es unico, los sedimentos acumulados y volcánicos han propiciado esa riqueza mineral, por algo hace 10,000 A.C la megafauna tan basta y diversa cómo en ningún otro lado en esa región, pero en México nunca hay presupuesto para la investigación y menos hoy. Gracias!
What a beautiful asset for Mexico city. And I had never heard of it. I had heard of Montezuma's floating city but I thought that was for defense.
Moctezuma*
I really like this... one thing I would really, really like is the tours for city folk... I believe that should happen in the states, the farming methods are truly fascinating, and would make great tourism sectors in states with little else; like Nebraska, or the Dakotas... teaching people about where there food comes from I think would be a great way to solve some modern problems.
Loved this so much! And yes we have so much to learn from these ancient cultures
I’ve been doing similar we’re I live and I’ve realised that the big trees 🌲 help pull minerals up to the surface via roots to the smaller plants 🌱. Some of these materials might be to heavy to bring themselves back to the surface but the roots of tree will pull them up full filling the plants 🌱 needs....
What beautiful work our ancient ancestors 🙏🏾 did for us...
We must always respect ✊🏾 our ancestors who are avatars of us and are watching and guiding us.
We must be clear enough and open to hear 👂 what they are so desperately trying to guide us.
They watch us always and are always rooting for us.
If we fight our ancestors fight too but they don’t want to fight because when they were 😢alive they say that they were there friends...
I love this! This is my first time learning about this way of farming.
Yes yes yes! I love these! I've been dying to see more detail about them ever since I learned.... There are so many different ways to grow things, it's so inspiring
Fun fact, México city was connected through canals like Venice. Commerce and transportation was made by boats in the main canals. It connected the whole city with the centre and it was like that for hundreds of years. Some streets and avenues still have the names and shapes of the rivers and canals that once existed
And then the white man came and destroyed it all😢
Awesome information! I was motivated by xochimilco in 2011 and built an aquaponic system in my basement that I used to grow leafy greens, beets, carrots and other vegetables for years. It was eye opening how much faster crops grew with the increased rate of air, water and fertilization by the fish feces. Thanks for sharing!
Thx amigo! Amazing info about Mexican permaculture. Congrats!
Wow! so beautiful! Well done!
Chinampas are definitely the most effective *local* farming system -- where you have water and nutrient-rich mud from the bottom of the lake within meters, instead of transporting it from who knows where. I wonder if there's some project of farming on floating structures, where you can water the plants with nutrient-rich muddy water pumped from the bottom of a lake. Then you don't even need to have a shallow lake to build a structure for chinampas.
But as you said, you could also easily transform marshland into farmland with this technique.
You can get really good soil from ponds or marshes in the forest just by digging it up and letting it dry passively on the side and fetch it later.
The Aztecs actually did that. They had sort of barges that floated on the lakes.
Awesome video. I took my backhoe and dug too deep trenches to try and collect a little bit of rain we get. I took the post hole digger and dug holes down each side of the bed and packed it with organic matter. I hope to grow a food forest this summer. That is a food forest :-)
Thank you for bringing this video to us! Excellent as usual.
I had no idea that the Chinampas still existed! they represent exactly what I was talking about in "The coming GREAT real estate investment opportunity" Live stream, and also "Hill Houses", to a certain extent - although that focused more on what we can do with rivers and plains. On a small, backyard scale, we can gain the benefits of water retention and edge effect of agroforestry putting channels UNDER the pathways, see "Water for Every Garden". I absolutely LOVE this stuff, and learn more and more every day.
Thanks for this excellent description of Chinampas. Great video all around!
It is so amazing to finally see this because we spend a part of every year in school on ancient C. American cultures and this system is a major part of what we hear about and as an adult i've spoken on it with others - BUT I FINALLY have gotten to see it and if i went to Mexico City this would be a must see for me! It was like aquaponic farming in a way but 100s of years before this supposid modern farming system!
This is my favorite system. It's like a wind up garden.
I read that up to 85 percent of Mexico city land is used for agriculture. I was amazed by the extent of agriculture here. We have Xochimilco but also all the land surrounding the city. No wonder there's plenty of food
It's the other way around; the urban sprawl is rapidly devouring and polluting what little remains of the chinampas. Where did you get your "85 percent of Mexico City land is used for agriculture"? There is hardly any land left for agriculture in the City itself, or its surroundings for that matter, as it is ever expanding, destroying everything in its wake.
🎉👏🙌 The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 💖🙌
Thank you for making the doc I always wanted! Totally a favorite regardless of how short it is. Definitely have Xochimilco on my bucket list.
That's fascinating, the Astecs were really blessed by the local geography. I wonder we could replicate this design somewhere in France.
This is awesome. I'm an OSU student and I see that you taught a permaculture course there. I'm hoping you do another one so I can take it. Do you think a version of chinampas would be possible in central Oregon with either the Deschutes or one of the lakes?
Hi Jared. Anywhere that there is temporary or permanent inundation I could see a version of this working. There are lots of seasonally flooded areas in oregon that could be developed using the raise and lower pattern of the chinampas.
Many parts of central / south Florida seems like a suitable area for this type agriculture.
Thank you for this glimpse into this ancient study, which has always fascinated me! And so good to hear about the revival - may more become aware of the value!
I love DF. Beautiful architecture, people and personality that is 'alive'. Ya gotta experience it to 'get it.' Cheers.
Really nice! Thanks for creating this video and making this knowledge and this place available to us all!
Interesting! I have been looking perhaps buying land (wetlands areas) near the St Johns River in Florida as a permaculture residence. I can imagine the same principles may be used?
Hi, i am in florida and can picture this method in many of our lakes. I say go for it my only concern is alligators and snakes
Such a very fascinating video! And so well-produced.
So uplifting to see people working in harmony with their environment.
Great video Andy! Best video I've seen on the Chinampas out there.
I always enjoy your videos but I love this one!
Truly beautiful scenes, skilled filmmaking and inspiring stories. This needs attention! ❤🤙🏼
Revive low cost, ancient methods of farming that enable communities to thrive
Had I watched these videos as a kid. I would have taken up farming as career for sure. Thanks Andrew for these wonderful videos.
Another high quality video, thanks Andrew. I have a new place to visit on my bucket list. From a previous intellectual awareness of the chinampas, now I have a visceral need to be amongst them!
If you come and want an interpreter/ guide let me know! I know of a tour where you can learn about all of this very hands on
Mind blowing farming system
Your work is amazing! Thank you for sharing such fantastic knowledge.
I Really like this Video about the Fantastic Chinapas of Mexico City! What a Great Natural Way to Grow Massive amounts of Food for the People of this place!! Gosh the Mexican Gentleman is a Treasure for Mexico City!! He's trying to rejuvenate the Chinapas and the Abundance they brought in Ancient times!!
Wow this is an awesome video! So many ideas I want to research more about and possibly borrow from. I like all your videos but this one was outstanding. Thank you! From a fellow Oregonian. :)