SUMMARY
Amazon Pilot Farm
barons and Brazil nut collectors. Puerto Maldonado Amazon Pilot Farm was a boom town as little as twenty years ago but the people that flocked to Madre de Dios are not farmers by tradition and as such suffer trying to make the meager plots of land awarded to them by the government rentable.
The riches of the area soon dried up leaving the fortune-seekers high and dry without local knowledge and sufficient means to make them capable farmers. The concept of the pilot farm is to help the locals manage their land efficiently and hence reduce their impact on the surrounding forest. Hunting, fishing, timber extraction, charcoal burning and palm leaf collection are time-consuming and labour intensive
Amazon Pilot Farm
activities which they would gladly rescind given the opportunity Amazon Pilot Farm.
Amazon Pilot Farm We are fortunate enough to be able to perform various experiments with crops and productivity that local farmers do not have the luxury of testing. We are now in a position whereby we have created a self-sufficient module for local
families. However, there is a problem. Various international charities have tried to work in the area before with
concepts designed to revolutionize the lifestyles of the local communities but having brought the locals around to
their way of thinking the money has always dried up and the participants have been left high and dry. This has resulted, and justifiably so, in general mistrust of people trying to help. We are now in a position to help the locals
without the need for an initial financial investment by the communities concerned. When people come to us for aid we know that they are receptive to our ideas and the passive approach we have adopted over recent years is finally
proving productive. Our combination of livestock management, tropical flower cultivation for sale and crop cycling is finally reaching the surrounding communities and many communities benefit from an improved standard of living
whilst impacting the forest around them less and less.
Amazonia peru :
The concept of the pilot farm is to help the locals manage their land efficiently and hence reduce their impact on the surrounding forest. Hunting, fishing, timber extraction, charcoal burning and palm leaf collection are time-
consuming and labour intensive activities which they would gladly rescind given the opportunity. We, at Taricaya, are fortunate enough to be able to perform various experiments with crops and productivity that local farmers do not
have the luxury of testing. We are now in a position at Taricaya where we have created a self-sufficient module for local families. With this model established we have been helping local communities in the management of their land.
The second phase is an agroforestry project designed to help farmers recover abandoned farm plots with timber and plants that will provide high income from lands already left fallow. The soil in such plots is infertile and cannot
support high density crops such as maize, rice and bananas. However with careful management and natural fertilisers they can be turned into productive wood plantations or fruit farms.
ITINERARY
Amazon Pilot Farm
Summary to Date Amazon Pilot Farm :
Amazon Pilot Farm -Taricaya now has two plots of land where we work. The original farm plot which was started in 2004 is now being maintained and used as a base for the production of saplings for transplantation to other areas.
The second is a newly acquired area that had been abandoned by its former owners and we are trying to make the land productive again to demonstrate that it is, indeed, possible. Whilst working with traditional crops we have also been working with tropical flowers, mostly from the Heliconia family, that are being produced and sold both locally and elsewhere in Peru.
Methods Amazon:
In Peru, and indeed most developing countries, monocultures are recognised as the standard farming technique. Huge areas of land are cleared for the planting of one major crop such as corn or rice. Not only does this require a lot
of area but maintenance is high and the risk involved is great. Disease, drought or flooding can wipe out a farmers entire production and he is forced to start over, often without the financial means to do so. At Taricaya we have been working hard on polycultures whereby we plant many different crops in the same farm plot and so the farmer can produce more at less risk.
For example, one can plant bananas and cocoa initially, these trees grow quickly and the shade can be used to plant coffee, chillis and pineapples. This is a very basic example but already the farmer has five cash crops in the same area producing at different times of year. This model is one we have worked hard on and have achieved not just with plants but also livestock (goats, chickens, sheep and even guinea pigs- a delicacy in Peru). Volunteers now help in the maintenance of the first pilot farm and help us work with the local communities when necessary.
The second plot was an abandoned farm and we have begun work by trying to recover the land with bananas and corn (for the animals in the rescue centre, and us!). These crops will produce short term but
simultaneously we have planted saplings of timber species of tree that will grow whilst we harvest the other crops.
The idea is to demonstrate that reforestation is not independent of working the land and can be done in parallel until the trees are big and the other crops out-competed.
Future Plans Amazon :
We hope to confirm that the recovery of abandoned lands is both possible but also profitable to the owners. By making reforestation economically advantageous we hope to convince more people to become involved in our work,
either independently or with our help. Education and project awareness are vital in communicating our success and whilst local television and radio shows have taken an interest already we hope to expand our
area of influence.