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In Search of Soil is a lyrical documentary film-in-progress examining the farming practices of campesinos in the rural highlands of Perú, and follows the work of a team of archaeologists, agronomists and biologists from The Cusichaca Trust, a Peruvian NGO. In many parts of the country they are farming beautifully and effectively following the same sustainable agricultural processes that their ancestors perfected before the time of the conquistadors.
In ancient times the Incas fed an empire with marginal land utilizing sustainable farming techniques—even managing to store 3-5 years worth of extra food in case drought, hail or frost ruined a year's crops. These methods must be documented before time irretrievably alters them and the knowledge is lost to us and future generations of sustainable farmers. The terraces, called andenes, modify vast tracts of steep cactus-covered slopes into arable land, prevent erosion and make the most of what rain comes along. While malnutrition and poverty are rampant, thousands of hectares of andenes lie abandoned and unused. What began as a mass exodus from the country to the cities in the age of Sendero Luminoso is now reversing itself, as people move back to the land of their birth.
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In ancient times the Incas fed an empire with marginal land utilizing sustainable farming techniques—even managing to store 3-5 years worth of extra food in case drought, hail or frost ruined a year's crops. These methods must be documented before time irretrievably alters them and the knowledge is lost to us and future generations of sustainable farmers. The terraces, called andenes, modify vast tracts of steep cactus-covered slopes into arable land, prevent erosion and make the most of what rain comes along. While malnutrition and poverty are rampant, thousands of hectares of andenes lie abandoned and unused. What began as a mass exodus from the country to the cities in the age of Sendero Luminoso is now reversing itself, as people move back to the land of their birth.
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Blog Flickr
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