Abstract
Landholding fragmentation is a common feature of the agricultural systems of small farmers in the tropics. This paper presents a case study from an ejido in central Chiapas, Mexico, where this pattern is common. Farmers recognize soil types of different quality, embodied in a folk soil tāxonomy. They argue that fragmentation is the result of their desire to maintain an equitable distribution of all land types among them, independently of the amount of land each controls. ¯The evidence shows that while not all farmers have all soil types, farmers belonging to all ranges of socioeconomic strata control soils in all the soil classes. There is no marked concentration of any soil type by any specific group, types are distributed among farmers by their abundance. Farmers have rejected previous government proposals to consolidate their landholdings. Fragmentation is associated with a high degree of social control over the land and a participatory process present in this community.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bellon, M. R. (1990). The Ethnoecology of Maize Production under Technological Change. Unpublished PhD dissertation, University of California, Davis, University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor.
Bellon, M. R. (1991). The ethnoecology of maize management under technological change: A case study from Mexico.Human Ecology 19(3): 389–418.
Bellon, M. R., and Brush, S. B. (1994). Keepers of maize in Chiapas, Mexico.Economic Botany 48(2): 196–209.
Bellon, M. R., and Taylor, J. E. (1993). Farmer soil taxonomy and technology adoption.Economic Development and Culture Change 41(4): 763–786.
Bentley, J. W., and Netting, R. M. (1993). Making ends meet with scattered fields.American Anthropologist 95(4): 1003–1005.
Bentley, J. W. (1990). Wouldn't you like to have all your land in one place? Land fragmentation in Northwestern Portugal.Human Ecology 18(1): 51–79.
Bentley, J. W. (1987). Economic and Ecological Approaches to land fragmentation: In defense of a much-maligned Phenomenon.Annual Review of Anthropology 15: 31–67.
Binns, B. O. (1950).The Consolidation of Fragmented Agricultural Holdings. FAO Agricultural Studies 11, Washington.
Brush, S. B. (1980). Estrategias agrícolas tradicionales en las zonas montañosas de América Latina. In A. R. Novoa and Posner, J. L. (eds.),Agricultura de Ladera en América Tropical. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica, pp. 65–76.
Carter, W. E. (1969).New Lands and Old Traditions: Kelchi Cultivators in the Guatemalan Lowlands. University of Florida Press, Gainsville.
DeWalt, B. R. (1979).Modernization in a Mexican Ejido: A Study of Economic Adaptation. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Edwards, R. J. A. (1987). Farmers' Knowledge: Utilization of Farmers' Soil and Land Classification in Choice and Evaluation of Trials. Paper presented at the Workshop “Farmers and Agricultural Research: Complementary Methods”. Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, July.
García, E. (1979).Modificaciones al Sistema de Clasificación Climática de Koeppen. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México, D.F.
Hard, R. J., and Merrill, W. L. (1992). Mobile agriculturalists and the emergence of sedentism: Perspectives from Northern Mexico.American Anthropologist 94: 601–620.
Kirkby, A. V. T. (1973). The Use of Land and Water Resources in the Past and Present Valley of Oaxaca. Memoirs of the Museum of Anthropology no. 5, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Luna, P. (1982). Estudio Comparativo sobre la Clasificación Campesina de Suelo en dos Comunidades del Valle de México. Tesis de Maestro en Ciencias, Colegio de Postgraduados, Chapingo, México.
Netting, R. McC. (1981).Balancing on an Alp: Ecological Change and Continuity in a Swiss Mountain Community. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Ollier, C. D., Drover, D. P., and Godelier, M. (1971). Soil knowledge amongst the Banuya of Wonenara, New Guienea.Oceania 42(1): 33–41.
Pérez-Pool, J. M. (1984). Caracterización y Uso de la Clasificación Maya de los Suelos en el Municipio de Oxkutzcab, Yucatán. Tesis professional, Departamento de Suelos, Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, Chapingo.
Phlipponneau, M. (1975). Breton farmyard politics.Geographical Magazine 47(5): 289–295.
Quiroz, M. J. (1983). Clasificación Otomí de Tierras en dos Sistemas Terrestres del Valle del Mezquital, Hidalgo. Tesis professional, Departmento de Suelos, Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, Chapingo.
Reyes, S., Stavengagen, R., Eckstein, S., and Ballesteros, J. (1974).Estructura Agraria y Desarrollao Agrícola: Estudio sobre las Relaciones entre la Tenencia y Uso de la Tierra y el Desarrolo Agrícola de México. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, D.F.
SahagÚn, B. de (1981).Historia General de las Cosas de Nueva Espanña. PorrÚa, México, D.F. (originally published 1590).
Salcedo, S., García, J. A., and Sarnaga, M. (1993). Política agrícola y maíz en México: Hacia el libre comercio norteamericano.Comercio Exterior 43(4): 302–310.
Téllez, L., Castañeda, G., Villalón, F., Valdés, R., González, C., and Viesca, E. (1994).Nueva Legislación de Tierras, Bosques y Aguas. Fondo de Cultura Económica, México, D.F.
Wilken, G. C. (1987).Good Farmers: Traditional Agricultural Resource Management in Mexico and Central America. University of California Press, Berkeley.
Williams, B. J. (1985). Clasificación nahua de los suelos. In Rojas-Rabiela, T., and Sanders, W. T. (eds.),Historia e la Agricultura: Epoca prehispánica-Siglo XVI. Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, México, D.F., pp. 233–236.
Williams, B. J., and Ortiz-Solorio, C. A. (1981). Middle American folk taxonomy.Annals of the Association of American Geographers 71(3): 335–358.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bellon, M.R. Landholding fragmentation: Are folk soil taxonomy and equity important? A case study from Mexico. Hum Ecol 24, 373–393 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02169395
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02169395