Agricultural history of Peru

The agricultural history of Peru tells the story of how people in Peru grew food, plants, and herbs over many years. Farming in Peru began a long time ago, and it has changed a lot since then. People learned how to grow crops in different climates and places, which helped them feed many communities. This history is important because it shows how humans have worked with the land to grow food and survive. Today, we can learn from these old farming ways to help grow food better in the future.

Pre-history

Much of the early history of Peru was shaped by where people could farm. The coastal areas of Peru have two mountain ranges and many rivers that flow through a dry desert. During dry times, only the mountains had enough rain for farming, and the coast stayed empty. When it rained more, many cultures lived along these rivers.

The Inca people lived in the mountains and moved to lower areas when the climate got wetter. Another group, the Moche, lived in lower areas but disappeared after a very wet season caused big floods and then a long dry period. People in Peru were among the first to grow crops like squash, peanuts, and cotton thousands of years ago.

Peru’s coast has a special climate because of a cold ocean current called the Humboldt Current. This current brings nutrients to the ocean, which once made Peru’s waters very rich for fish. On land, the cool mist from this current helps some desert plants get water from the air instead of rain. However, Peru’s roads and connections were not well developed, making it hard to move farm products to markets. Today, Peru grows many crops such as asparagus, potatoes, maize, rice, quinoa, and coffee. Peru is a big supplier of quinoa and organic coffee, even though it faces challenges from other countries’ support for their own farmers.

pre-history of Peru • Moche • El Niño • drought • squash • peanuts • cotton • Ñanchoc • Humboldt Current • over fishing • Andean • natural resources • tin • silver • gold • guano • rubber • Brazil • Inca road system • asparagus • potatoes • maize • rice • quinoa • organic coffee • Kenya • Coffea arabica • Jamaica • Hawaii

Aqueducts and terraces

Main article: Irrigation in Peru

The ancient people of Peru built amazing systems to move and store water, like the aqueducts of Cumbe Mayo (around 1500 BCE) and the Nazca's underground aqueducts called Puquios. They also created terraced gardens on hillsides, which helped prevent soil from washing away. The Chavin, Moche, and Incas used these terraces, called andenes, to grow crops safely on steep slopes. Even today, some of these old farming methods are still used.

Guano

In the 1800s, guano, a special fertilizer made from bird droppings, became very important in Peru. The rich supply of guano built up over time because cold ocean currents brought many fish, which attracted large numbers of birds. These birds, safe from predators, left behind lots of guano that stayed rich in nutrients due to Peru’s dry climate.

Between 1840 and 1880, Peru sold about 20 million tons of guano, mostly to Great Britain, earning a huge profit. However, Peru lost its guano to Chile during the War of the Pacific. Later, new ways to make fertilizers reduced guano’s value. As the supply of guano ran low, the government tried to manage what was left, but the number of birds also dropped, making it even harder to get more guano.

Current production

Peru is among the largest producers of several important crops. It is one of the top five producers of avocado, blueberry, artichoke, and asparagus. It is also one of the top ten producers of coffee and cocoa, and one of the top fifteen producers of potato and pineapple. The country grows a lot of grape, sugarcane, rice, banana, maize, and cassava.

In 2018, Peru grew large amounts of these crops, including millions of tons of sugarcane, potato, and rice, as well as smaller but still important amounts of banana, maize, cassava, and many fruits and vegetables.

There are also traditional farming methods and tools used in places like the Peruvian Amazon, such as the tacarpo, which helps grow certain plants.

Wine

Peruvian agricultural products

Peru is known for growing many important crops. Farmers there grow potato plants, maize ears, rice fields, rice plants, and flowering coffee trees. These plants are a big part of Peru's farming history and are important for the country's food and economy.