Agricultural+Terraces

= Agricultural Terraces =

Agricultural terraces better known as andens are a style of growing crop used primarily in South America. These andenes which look like giant steps allowed regular crops to grow on mountainsides where they otherwise would have failed. These large steps also allowed for an intricate irrigation system that flowed down every anden. Andenes were first built around 500 CE by the Wari and Huarpa tribes and later expanded upon on around 1400 CE by the Incas. Today it is estimated that 2.5 million acres of andenes were used across the Andes. Andenes were mostly abandoned during the Spanish conquest of the Inca. This was because of the deaths and relocations the farmers faced. In addition to this the Spanish used oxen and horses to plow but because of the 6 foot high walls and small steps used on the andenes, their efforts were fruitless. Another amazing innovation used on andenes were the stones layering the walls. During the daytime, the stones absorbed and retained heat from the sun. During the night the rocks released the heat into the soil where crops like maize affected by frost would stay warm. This frost occurred because the andenes could and would be built so high. Farmers grew their crops up to 14,000 feet above sea level, frost affected those crops at 7,000 feet above sea level. Because of the advancements in andenes, where crops would otherwise suffer and fail completely, were able to flourish.

By: Aiden Soprych