milpa

Definition

A cyclical crop-growing system used throughout Mesoamerica.

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish milpa, from Classical Nahuatl.

Example Sentences

• "Milpa is based on seed crops, particularly the uniquely productive combination of maize, beans and squash, and in the past its techniques were normally those of swidden cultivation."
• "These three plants are often grown together in a single field called a milpa, the beans creeping up the corn stalks while the squash plants catch along the lower leaves of the corn plants."
• "That means that no one can get rich or make someone else rich by farming a milpa. Since it works against capital accumulation, it is antithetical to entrepreneurship. In short, planting a milpa optimizes resources in a very particular way."