My Travels In Peru

Inca Agriculture and Salt

The last three chapters have dealt with the Sacred Valley of the Incas and two of their important cities that lie in ruins, but this beautiful valley is not just about mountain gods and archaeological ruins; it's also about farming and feeding people. Growing food was an important activity then, as it is now, and the Incas paid close attention to it. They are often credited for having improved, if not revolutionized, farming methods throughout the Andes. What they lacked in modern implements they made up for with their knowledge of what grew best, where, and under what conditions. Their main products were potatoes and corn, among others, and they experimented with them to optimize production so that the empire (Tihuantinsuyo) could expand all along the Andes Mountains.

One of the excursions from Cusco took us to the Inca experimental farm near the small town of Maras, located a few miles off the Cusco to Urubamba highway. We're in a minibus with six other people, all of them locals. The 30 km trip takes us just over an hour, passing through the city of Chinchero, the biggest town between Cusco and Urubamba, located at a higher altitude than Cusco. It's the same road that connected Cusco to Machupicchu during the Inca Empire. From the bus we see modern whitewashed buildings covered with red clay-tile roofs spread around a large square. This is the seat of the municipality and the centre of the new city.

The ancient town, built as the emperor's summer residence, is farther up from the road, on the hillside. Apparently, its old square is still used for the weekly farmer's market. We're told that it has two major tourist attractions: a large Inca wall, which has ten trapezoidal niches, a typical feature of Inca architecture; and an impressive colonial church erected on the foundations of what might have been the emperor's palace.

From Chinchero, we descend towards the Urubamba River, and when we reach the road for Maras we got off, not knowing what transportation is available to take us into town. A friendly local got off with us and describes the options. After crossing the highway, we spot a taxi, which takes the three of us hire to takes us to the centre of town. For a modest fee, he will to take us to the experimental farm and the salt pans, and then back to the highway, for our trip back to Cusco.

Maras is a small colonial-era town, of which the church of San Francis of Assisi is the only thing remaining from that period. Beside the church is the Town Hall, and on the opposite side of the square is the municipal market. It's a modern building with eateries on the second floor, where we have a typical lunch (almuerzo) for a few dollars. It struck me as a big place for a town of its size. With the exception of a few locals having a hot lunch, there was nobody here. "That's because it's not market day," says the driver.

From the eatery, we have a good view of the large square, which is completely made of stones, except the six pie-shaped garden plots, covered with grass, trees, shrubs, and flowers. In the centre is a very large stone, on which stand effigies of a donkey, a man, and a woman, cleverly proclaiming that this is an agricultural town. The view leaves me with the impression that this is a wealthy community; yet, when we pass through some of the streets, the small adobe houses tell a different story. After some reflection, it occurs to me that the new town square has been built with tourist dollars, as the municipality takes a significant cut of the entrance fees to the nearby attractions.

Located on a high plateau, overlooking the Urubamba River, the Moray experimental farm is one of them. On the way to it we see the Sacred Valley and the town of Urubamba, in the distance. Clouds of mist gently rise from the valley floor, dispersing into the air as they climb towards the sky. Beyond are the ever-present snow peaks of Mount Chicón, one of the seven Apus that guard the valley. The red soil everywhere we look, provides a good contrast to the green plants that are starting to grow.

The success of the empire depended not only on its large armies, but also on keeping them well fed. Accordingly, agriculture was of primary importance to the Incas. The three circular depressions at Moray are believed to be experimental farms, where the Incas learned the techniques for maximizing product yield. Temperature is one of several important environmental parameters that affect plant growth and yield: sunlight and water are others. The guide tells us that the effects of temperature and water could be studied in the terraced depressions below us, where differences from top to bottom could be as much as 15C. We don't descent to the bottom to verify this significant change: we simply take his word for it. "The small stone canals that you see brought irrigation water to each terrace," says the guide, "and the flow could be controlled at each level." I suppose they would have varied not only the flow, but also the frequency of irrigation.

I'm admiring the workmanship of the perfectly circular terraces and water channels, when an image of the terraces fully planted with corn enters my mind. I see agriculturists, in Andean clothes, going around measuring the height of each plant, the number of cobs, and their sizes. I imagine that back in their offices they would correlate the various measurements for each of the terraces. 

"How did they measure temperature?" I ask myself. To apply the knowledge gained from the three experimental farms, they needed a way of measuring temperature, so that the best farm locations could be found for each crop. It's not a question of whether or not they could, but simply one of how. They wouldn't have gone to the trouble of building those amazing terraced plots if they didn't know how. 

The other nagging question is, "How did they record all the information?" To date, no evidence of writing has been unearthed. The guide's answer is the quipu, an ancient recording system that used strings and knots of different colours. It's possible that it could also have been used to do simple arithmetic. Although scientists are working on breaking its code, not much is known about it until they do.

The terraced depressions of Moray are interesting to look at for their peculiar shape and remarkable concept. Thinking about how they came up with the idea, and applied the results afterwards, fascinates me. If it wasn't for the fact that the driver is in a hurry to leave, I could stand here for hours contemplating these wonderful achievements.

Our next stop is the salineras (salt pans), another fascinating site. This one was in operation even before the Incas arrived in the Sacred Valley. They're located on one side of a deep gorge, a bit more than two kilometres north of Maras. We approach the salineras from the opposite side of the gorge, giving us a fantastic panoramic view. From this distance we see the side of the gorge facing us painted predominantly white, but also with yellow, beige, and rose colours interspersed. It's impressive from all imaginable viewing points. The colour depends on how dry the salt is in the more than one thousand pans. The closer we get to them, the more we can discriminate the individual pools.

We enter the actual site and descend to the canal that brings the water from the salt spring and we follow it, watching the water flow into the various pans. The means of controlling it, with rocks and sackcloth, is primitive, but it works. The average surface area of the salt pans is about ten square metres and the depth is about half a metre. It takes about one week for the water to evaporate, at which point the salt is raked into small mounts and then collected by hand into large plastic bowls. No salt is produced during the rainy season, which more or less begins in December and ends in February.

The operation is run by individual families. Each family has a number of flats and sells its salt to a cooperative, which in turn packages it and sells it to stores and tourists at the site. It's a simple operation. The sun and the wind do the hard work of evaporating the water. The people working the pans today are the descendants of those who worked them centuries ago. I have the feeling that the place looks the same today as it did when the Spaniards first arrived in Peru. It's more a work of nature than a work of humans. One salt flat is similar to the next, but collectively they have an irresistible charm. I stand here captivated by their intricate array of colour.

Before leaving buy a small bag of salt – the only souvenir of the entire trip – as a reminder of this wonderful place. As I'm buying the salt, I hear a couple conversing in Italian. They were on the last leg of a thirty-day world tour. I ask, "Of all the places you have seen on your tour, which one impressed you the most?" Their answer is Peru. No wonder tourism has grown so much in Peru, particularly in the Sacred Valley!