The Incas planted trees, especially the nitrogen-fixing alder tree Alnus amcuminata, to prevent erosion, while also gaining a source of building material and fuel. Inorganic sediment and metals present in ice-core drillings from pre-Inca societies between 2000 BC to 100 AD suggest that erosion and runoff were persistent problems during this era. These fertilizers included cameloid manure, island birds’ manure (guano), or some other form of nitrogen rich organic material. In order to compensate for the lack of native fertile soil on the Peruvian highlands, the Incans introduced natural fertilizers in order to maintain a nutrient rich field without the use of fallow crop rotation. These important agricultural tools were simple wooden sticks with heads made of metal or a harder wood. Chakitaqllas were foot-plows that allowed farmers to aerate the soil before planting crops. Salted cameloid meat was also an important food source that the Incas would put in storage (link) for long periods of time up to four years!ĭue to the lack of large domesticated animals available to Incan farmers, the preparation of the farmland was mostly human labor intensive. Alpacas and llamas served as pack animals for transportation and were important sources of wool, meat, and milk. In time, the farmers also crossed and selected different strains of tubers that were more able to resist frost as well as gather nutrients from the highly used fields.Īlthough the South American continent lacked the variety of land mammals available to early European agrarian settlements, the Incas made heavy domesticated use of the cameloids endemic to the mountainous Andes. Thus crops like the potatoes were cultivated as early as 6000 BC. The tuber family of plants adapted especially well to high altitudes up to 1300ft above sea levels on the Andean slopes.

While farmers in warm and coastal areas could easily cultivate maize, beans, and squash, farmers in the mountain regions face problems like shorter growing seasons, low temperature as well as arid conditions. The farmers of each region grew crops suited to their area's altitude and climate. They were able to do so both by taking advantage of given resources and by maximizing them through the use of technology. The Incas’ ability to thrive in areas poorly suited for agricultural production is perhaps their most impressive feature. The Incan Empire encompassed a wide variety of landscapes from coastal deserts to tropical forests and from mountain terrain to wet punas (windy plateaus).

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