View source for LOCAL APPLICATION OF THE TECHNIQUE TERRACING SYSTEMS 25

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<!--  <h1 style="font-size: 16px; color: #AAAAAA; border-bottom: 0; font-weight: bold">TERRACING SYSTEMS - Colca Valley, PERU</h1>-->
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      <td><font style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; font-size: 24px; padding: 10px;">LOCAL APPLICATION OF THE TECHNIQUE</font></td>
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				                <td><font style="font-size: 16px; padding-left: 8px;">Technique:</font></td>
		        		        <td style="padding-left:10px;"><font style="font-size: 20px;">TERRACING SYSTEMS</font></td>
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						        <td><font style="font-size: 16px; ">Local name:</font></td>
				        		<td style="padding-left:10px;"><font style="font-size: 20px;">Colca Valley, PERU</font></td>
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                				<td><font style="font-size: 16px; padding-left: 54px;">Site:</font></td>
                				<td style="padding-left:10px;"><font style="font-size: 20px;">Colca Valley, PERU</font></td>
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            <h2 style="margin-top: 50px;">Location</h2>
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                <td><b>Continent:</b> South America
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                <b>Country:</b> Peru
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                <b>Site:</b> Colca Valley
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                <b>Coordinates:</b>
                <br>Lat: 
                -15.59
                <br>Long: 
                -71.87</td>
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            <h2 style="margin-top: 50px;">Description of the local variant of the technique</h2>
            <p style="text-align: justify;">The Colca Valley is situated in the Andes, in the west of the Caylloma province,&nbsp;in the Department of Arequipa, between 2200 and 4500 metres of altitude,&nbsp;which represents the highest limit of livestock rearing. Huge mountains&nbsp;dominate the valley which lies in a canyon over 100 km long, and carved by the&nbsp;river Colca. While since the pre-Inca period, the local population cultivated this&nbsp;land on terraces, relying on specific situations found at different altitudes, this&nbsp;technique was abandoned after the colonial period. The remaining&nbsp;terraces are&nbsp;neglected and little irrigated.&nbsp;The DESCO Peruvian ONG has started a rehabilitation of these terraces and&nbsp;their irrigation channels and to sensitize the population on their quality. The&nbsp;results are convincing: the productivity of land and crop yields have increased,&nbsp;erosion and water losses are reduced, the landscape is arranged and attractive&nbsp;to tourists.&nbsp;Lofty mountains dominate the valley which lies in a canyon, over 100 km long,&nbsp;hewn by the Colca river. Long before the Inca period, the local population&nbsp;cultivated their land on terraces, taking into account specific conditions at&nbsp;different altitudes, this technique was abandoned after the colonial period. The&nbsp;remaining terraces are neglected and little irrigated. The DESCO Peruvian ONG&nbsp;has started a rehabilitation of these terraces and of their irrigation canals,&nbsp;informing the population on their importance. The results are positive: soilproductivity and crop yields have increased, erosion and water losses are&nbsp;reduced, the landscape is well organized and made attractive to tourists.&nbsp;The Colca valley was originally inhabited by the Collahuas who had developed a&nbsp;production system based on terraces and particular irrigation methods. Even&nbsp;before the period of the Incas, the local population profited of the different&nbsp;qualities of&nbsp;the&nbsp;land&nbsp;at&nbsp;various&nbsp;altitudes.&nbsp;<span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">Approximately&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">60.000&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">people&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">fulfilled&nbsp;their&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">needs&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">solely&nbsp;through&nbsp;the&nbsp;resources&nbsp;of&nbsp;the&nbsp;valley&nbsp;(agriculture&nbsp;and&nbsp;animal&nbsp;husbandry), but this technique was abandoned after the colonial period and&nbsp;the population dwindled to only 6000.&nbsp;From the ecological point of view, this area is rich varieties of species: up to 15&nbsp;different ecosystems have been identified. In terms of agricultural production,&nbsp;there are however three major systems: the area of the high Andes, more than&nbsp;3800 m high, reserved to the breeding of camelids, the intermediate zone,&nbsp;between 3000 and 3800 m suitable for farming and agriculture associated with&nbsp;animal husbandry, and the lower area, more suitable for the&nbsp;cultivation of fruit.&nbsp;After the colonial period the productivity of the land in the valley of&nbsp;Colca&nbsp;diminished greatly. According to official estimates, 30% of arable land has been&nbsp;lost entirely due to the degradation of terraces and a lack of&nbsp;maintenance of the&nbsp;irrigation system.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">Poor land management has also contributed to the loss of fertility. In fact,&nbsp;people have abandoned traditional farming techniques, which consisted in&nbsp;enriching the soil through mulching (covering the flower with&nbsp;protective layer),&nbsp;crop rotation, mixed farming or compost. Short term agricultural production,&nbsp;maximizing immediate yields has been given priority to the detriment of&nbsp;sustainable development, and this has exhausted the resources and degraded&nbsp;soils. The felling of trees for the use wood for fuel is another cause of desertification.&nbsp;Mountainous areas are characterized by a severe&nbsp;lack of water, steep terrain and difficult weather conditions (frost, low&nbsp;humidity). The total annual rainfall is 350 mm, 60% of this&nbsp;much occurs between January and March thus allowing only one crop per year.&nbsp;Small properties are widespread and each household owns an&nbsp;average of 1.2&nbsp;hectares, divided into small parcels distributed along&nbsp;different slopes. Generally the inhabitants grow from eight to sixteen different&nbsp;plant species, the most common are corn, beans, potatoes, barley and quinoa. Traditional techniques to compensate for the&nbsp;difficulties of this environment consist in terracing, irrigation networks&nbsp;and&nbsp;adaptation of crops to the microclimate of each altitude.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 1.6em;">DESCO has worked out its project in 1992 in the province of Lari, Colca Valley,&nbsp;between 3,200 and 4,500 m of altitude. The objectives were to rehabilitate the&nbsp;terraces, improve irrigation facilities and introduce the practice of agroforestation in the region.&nbsp;The results expected were the improvement of agricultural productivity, public&nbsp;awareness of population and ecological approach to&nbsp;the revaluation of local traditional knowledge.&nbsp;The advantages of terraces go beyond the simple possibility of ploughing a&nbsp;slope. Terraces are effective for controlling erosion and improving water&nbsp;management. They help to break up the moisture in the soil thus reducing the&nbsp;risk of frost. Moreover, they allow to better exploit the microclimatic and&nbsp;ecological peculiarities of various altitudes. The rehabilitation of terraces in the&nbsp;Andes requires the restoration of three fundamental components. First the stone walls , which support the terraces. After digging a trench 50 cm&nbsp;deep along the contour line, large and heavy boulders are laid that form the&nbsp;foundation and give stability to the whole. On the surface, the wall is raised&nbsp;after laying stones of different sizes on top of each other, slightly jutting in the&nbsp;direction of the slope. The height of the wall depends on the width of the&nbsp;terrace. Some smaller stones are then added in the interstices of the larger&nbsp;blocks and behind the wall to reinforce it.The terraces themselves, are&nbsp;essentially created with the earth in the sloping lot which needs flattening.&nbsp;However, some are more elaborate than others and consist of different layers: a&nbsp;base bed consisting of large stones serves as a filter for draining irrigation&nbsp;water, an intermediate layer of small stones covered with sand and clay, and a&nbsp;final top layer of 50-80 cm of fertile land. The terraces are slightly jutting to&nbsp;allow water to seep slowly without causing erosion. Finally, access roads,&nbsp;consisting of small steps that cross-link the terraces. Usually these steps are&nbsp;inserted in the stone wall.&nbsp;Even the irrigation canals have been rehabilitated. Water from springs is&nbsp;collected in a reservoir upstream, then distributed by means of stone gutters&nbsp;from a terrace to another. The agro-forestation is greatly encouraged on the terraces. It consists on&nbsp;growing at the same time the annual species, such as cereals, and persistent&nbsp;species such as fruit trees. This method of production adds to the ecological&nbsp;and economic benefits, since it allows the farmers to diversify their products,&nbsp;thus enriching the soil. For the maintenance of terraces, it is useful to plant&nbsp;woodland species at the foot of the wall in order to support it and act as&nbsp;windbreaks. The species of trees recommended for their properties are thorns&nbsp;and cherry trees, cypresses and pines.</span></p>
 
            <h2 style="margin-top: 50px;">Survival prospects</h2>
            
            <h2 style="margin-top: 50px;">Images</h2>
            <p><img alt="" src="http://oldtkwb.dev.esacor.com/libs/kcfinder/upload/images/800px-Colca_Canyon_Puno.jpg" /></p>

            <h2 style="margin-top: 50px;">Deepening</h2>
            
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          <td align="center" valign="top"><h3>TRADITIONAL TECHNIQUE DATA</h3>
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              <td style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"><a href="/index.php?title=GENERAL_DEFINITION_OF_THE_TECHNIQUE_TERRACING_SYSTEMS">TERRACING SYSTEMS</a></td>
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              <td style="background-color: #f9f9f9;"><a href="/index.php?title=B_Agriculture"  >B - Agriculture</a></td>
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              <td style="background-color: #999999; font-weight: bold;">Identification code</td>
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              <td style="background-color: #f9f9f9;">B1</td>
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              <td><a href="/index.php?title=TERRACING_SYSTEMS_LOCAL_APPLICATION_OF_THE_TECHNIQUE"><div style="height: 30px; width: 30px; border: 1px solid #000000; background-color: #FAE7B4; float: left; margin-right: 5px;">

              </div></a><a href="/index.php?title=TERRACING_SYSTEMS_LOCAL_APPLICATION_OF_THE_TECHNIQUE">Other Local applications of the technique</a></td>
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              <td><h3>RELATED TECHNIQUES</h3></td>
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              <td> <div style="width: 110px; height: 182px; font-size: 11px; text-align: center; float:left;  line-height: 1; cursor: pointer;" ><div style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-top: 2px; width: 35px; padding-left: 1px;">B1a</div><a href="/index.php/GENERAL_DEFINITION_OF_THE_TECHNIQUE_LARGE_TERRACING_SYSTEMS"> <img src="http://oldtkwb.dev.esacor.com/imgcategory/B1a.jpg" width="100" height="100" />LARGE TERRACING SYSTEMS </a></div><div style="width: 110px; height: 182px; font-size: 11px; text-align: center; float:left;  line-height: 1; cursor: pointer;" ><div style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: left; margin-left: 5px; margin-top: 2px; width: 35px; padding-left: 1px;">C14</div><a href="/index.php/GENERAL_DEFINITION_OF_THE_TECHNIQUE_WATER_MANAGEMENT_ON_TERRACED_FIELDS"> <img src="http://oldtkwb.dev.esacor.com/imgcategory/C14.jpg" width="100" height="100" />WATER MANAGEMENT ON TERRACED FIELDS </a></div> </td>
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              <td style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align:top; width:40%">Author:</td>
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	              <tr><td>IPOGEA, www.ipogea.org</td></tr>
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              <td style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align:top;">Other authors:</td>
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              <td style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align:top;">Reference:</td>
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