TRADITIONAL SYSTEMS OF SEED BEAN AND SQUASH STORAGE IN YAXCABÁ, YUCATÁN

Abstract

This study was undertaken in the community of Yaxcabá, Yucatán, México from August 2001 to June 2002, in order to understand local systems for storing bean (Phaseolus spp.) and squash (Cucurbita spp.) harvests, controlling harvest pests, and seed selection strategies. Directed interviews were conducted with 61 traditional farmers from the community. In most cases, information was obtained directly from the place where the farmers had stored their seed, which varied between their cornfields (or milpas) and their houses and home gardens. The interviews were carried out in Spanish or Yucatec Maya. Yaxcabá farmers utilize diverse strategies for storing their harvests. Beans are stored both in the shell (46.8 %) or as seed (53.2 %), while squash is always conserved as seed (100 %). They are stored in a variety of containers, including traditional woven baskets, plastic or burlap sacks, plastic bags, and plastic tubs or bottles. In most cases, the location of storage is in kitchens or the house of the farmer, and only occasionally in the rustic houses that farmers contruct in their milpas. Farmers use distinct strategies for controlling insect pests that infest seeds during storage; controls include placing seed containers in the smoke from the kitchen fire, use of powdered lime (calcium carbonate), and application of commercial insecticides. Nevertheless, 32 % of farmers reported using no pest control method on their stored beans, while 71 % reported the same for their squash seeds. During the selection of bean and squash seed for planting, Yaxcabá farmers use distinct criteria based on their particular farming needs. Most farmers select their seeds every agricultural cycle (86 % for beans and 76 % for squash), with the actual process of selection taking place variously at the time of harvest or prior to the planting season during the subsequent agricultural cycle.