Our move to Mexico, and my first real job as an anthropologist, began with Cajun blackened fish and Louisiana mud pie at an upscale restaurant in downtown Manhattan. Debra and I were guests of the Rockefeller Foundation and their program to bring PhD graduates of the social sciences into the highly technical world of plant breeding and agronomy in developing countries.
The Foundation, working with the Mexican government, was the early architect of the Green Revolution, a period between 1950 and the late 1960s when new crop varieties dramatically increased wheat and rice production worldwide. The successes eventually prompted the establishment of crop-based agricultural research centres in various parts of the world: maize and wheat in Mexico, rice in the Philippines, potatoes in Peru and dryland crops like sorghum and millet in India and Syria. The United Nations, The World Bank, and many national government, including Canada, funded the research. At its height in the early 1990s, the global network included 18 centres, each with a mandate for a specific crop, a major ecosystem or a strategic food and agriculture issue.
The productivity gains that launched the Green Revolution were based on a novel research paradigm from the Midwest of the United States, for which Norman Borlaug in 1970 received the Nobel Peace Prize for his contributions to global food supply. The paradigm involved a wholesale rejection of traditional agriculture’s reliance on animal traction, human labour, and crop biodiversity. These inputs were replaced with artificial fertilizers, chemical pesticides, machinery, and crop varieties selected to perform well in a highly modified field environment. Instead of working with nature, as farmers had for millennia, the Green Revolution technologies invited farmers to remake their fields into a radically different landscape where a single variety of a single plant could thrive. Monocultures produced a dramatic bump in harvested grain, and were appealing to scientists, governments and farmers alike. If Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz had been involved, she might have said of the new landscapes, “We're not in Kansas anymore.”
By the mid 1970s, problems began to emerge with trying to remake diverse developing country landscapes into versions of Kansas and Iowa. The cost of the package of technologies, and who was able to make use of it, was one problem but environmental harm from chemicals and impacts on the overall biological diversity of farming systems had also become apparent. Founders of the Green Revolution such as the Rockefeller Foundation responded by broadening the base of science involved to include agricultural economists, sociologists, and people trained in the emerging field of ecology to work alongside the plant breeders and soil scientists. Interdisciplinary and more socially oriented research, they thought, might be able to correct course.
One of these initiatives was a program of post-doctoral fellowships to identify talented, young and adventurous graduates in the social sciences and bring them into settings where new agricultural technology was being developed. Joyce Moock, the Associate Vice President at the Rockefeller Foundation, oversaw the program and chaired my interview in New York with a three-person selection committee.
My wife Debra participated in the interview and received almost as much attention as I did. She was impressive, dressed in a bright red suit and sitting calmly at my side. Wisely, Joyce knew that for most North Americans the success of an assignment to a developing country where most of the research centres were located depended a lot on the happiness of the people involved, including any spouses. She later turned the program away from its focus on North American graduates to scholars emerging from African universities and centres based in Africa, but retained the practice of including spouses in interviews whenever possible.
The success of the post-doctoral fellowship also depended on an offer of an assignment from one of the research centres. I turned down a position based in The Netherlands because the centre wanted me to live near Amsterdam and work with partners in South America. I calculated the hours in an airplane and determined that my body would drown in the feeling of being somewhere in the mid-Atlantic.
Instead, I went for an interview at the International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia, where I was offered a position with their tropical pastures program. They needed a social scientist to work with ranchers in Brazil to study how a novel pasture variety might work in their farming systems, and assess its impact on rates of deforestation. My PhD research on cattle, corn and conflict in Veracruz, Mexico, seemed like a good fit.
I remember one of the Rockefeller Foundation committee members asking me in New York if I was “willing to take the bull by the horns.” This turned out to be a prescient question I only recognized as I stepped off the airplane in Cali and was greeted by two young CIAT researchers with a warning that the proposed research was not exactly as it seemed. “You won’t get the full story from the pastures program,” they said. At some risk to their careers for snitching, they wanted to be sure that I was informed of early evidence they had collected showing strongly negative environmental and social impacts from the new pasture technology.
I appreciated their concern and candour, but remember being more unsettled by the apparent dispute within the organization than anything else. I also had doubts about life in Cali. By 1989, the “Cali Cartel” had successfully broken away from Pablo Escobar and the Medellín group to establish a second Colombian pole of drug-related crime. While CIAT staff assured me that their campus was safe and that there had only been a few incidents affecting staff and families, the prospect of leaving my pregnant wife in Colombia while I travelled for long periods of time to the Brazilian Amazon was worrisome.
On my way back to Ottawa from Cali I made a side trip to Mexico and arrived unannounced at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (known as CIMMYT, the Spanish acronym). It was located a few kilometres from Chapingo, Mexico’s premier agricultural university outside of Mexico City.
The organization is the direct outcome of Norman Borlaug’s work towards the Green Revolution, and arguably the most storied of all the international centres. With no other offer in hand, and Cali looking dicey, I needed to take my life into my own hands if I was to make something of the good fortune I had been given. I made my way to the CIMMYT Economics Program offices and, according to the head of the program, Derek Byerlee, introduced myself and boldly asked, “Why haven’t you hired me?”
Much later he told me the audacity got his attention. I don’t recall the interview, but he and his colleague Rob Tripp offered me a job. Accepting it turned out to be the most consequential decision of my working life. It drew me deeply into a fascinating world of agricultural science, helping establish my reputation for rigorous and engaged research practice. Mostly, however, I was relieved to be able to return home from Colombia and Mexico with a job offer my new wife might find appealing.
A year or so after I became a “Rocky post-Doc” working at CIMMYT in Mexico, I found myself sitting on an airplane beside a US Army Engineer trying to explain what I was doing there. After a few attempts, his face brightened and he said, “Ah, you are a human factors engineer.” This seemed apt enough, although I later described my work at CIMMYT as that of a translator between technical scientists and farmers, each with a deep understanding of their own world but confused by the complexity of the other.
The experience changed my world too. I became both a strong critic of the industrial agriculture paradigm underlying the Green Revolution and a proponent of a participatory and action-oriented approach to the creation of new technology and new knowledge. I learned to listen deeply to farmers and scientists, creating in me both respect for the values of science and great admiration for the power of farmer discovery.
Image: Honduran boy pointing his machete to a field of fertilizer bean.
Teodoro Reyes and the Fertilizer Bean
While Cajun blackened fish and Louisiana mud pie marked the culinary beginning of my journey as an anthropologist, Honduran farmers and an obscure bean became my primary teachers.
Teodoro Reyes, a farmer I met on a hillside near La Danta on the Caribbean coast of Honduras, was one of the first. He told me when I interviewed him on a steep slope overlooking a series of broken hillsides that, “With the fertilizer bean, cowardly land become brave again.” He was referring to Mucuna pruriens var. utilis (a.k.a. The Fertilizer Bean, or Velvetbean), an audacious plant with the humble purpose of protecting and improving the soil.
The farming practice is a simple crop rotation, locally called an abonera. It starts with clearing a field and planting it every metre or so with the bean using a dibble stick. After seven to eight months the plant develops into a thick tangle of soft, broad leaves, vines and seeds. The plant withers when slashed with a machete and forms a layer of decomposing leaves and vines. Maize is then planted directly into the mulch.
The brilliance of the technology soon revealed itself to me and others I worked with, culminating in several books and stimulating two decades of research by dozens of agronomists and social scientists spanning the tropical regions of Mexico, Central America and West Africa.
The aggressive vining plant easily smothers all other vegetation in the field, leaving the space virtually weed-free. There is no need to burn the field to control weeds and debris, as in the traditional slash and burn systems of Central America. By the time the maize crop is established, the bean has set its own seed. The pods burst open when dry, ejecting seeds over the field fairly evenly, and eventually sprouting on their own to start another cycle of growth and take over the field once the maize crop is harvested. Weeds are suppressed throughout the cycle.
Because of these features of the rotation, labour costs are very low compared to the alternative slash, burn, and weeding operations of a traditional woody fallow field. The caution, farmers pointed out, is that the abundant, leafy growth provides excellent habitat for rats, and consequently for poisonous snakes. Care is needed with the hooked stick and machete used to move through and cut down the soft vines.
The thick mat of decomposing plants provides another advantage specific to the environment of northern Honduras. Like the Miskito Coast that extends into Honduras from Nicaragua, Atlántida and the neighbouring province of Colón are wet almost all the time. Rainfall exceeds 3,000 mm a year, with daily downpours of 100-200 mm. The distribution of rainfall, the key factor in any rain-fed agricultural system, is bimodal, with peaks in March and six months later from October to December. This pattern is driven not only by exposure to storms from the Caribbean Sea but also the sudden rise from sea level to 2400 metres at the peak of the Nombre de Dios mountain range. Running parallel to the coastline for over 200 kilometres, the mountains interrupt moisture laden prevailing winds, producing some rain virtually every week of the year. For farmers, this creates two growing seasons, and the possibility of harvesting winter maize when prices are at their annual peak.
Image: Milton Flores, an Honduran agronomist and activist, examining mucuna residue.
A colleague at CIMMYT, a Colombian agronomist, said the best way to visualize the topography of Honduras is to crumple a piece of paper into a ball and then lightly stretch it out. The jumble of peaks, valleys and slopes of the paper could easily stand as a topographic map of the country.
The topography can also be a guide to the distribution of wealth in agricultural land. The valleys are owned by a relatively small number of wealthy ranching families and plantation owners, leaving the hillsides to everyone else. This upside-down-world places pastures in the valleys where crops should be grown and crops on the hillsides where pastures would do better at holding soil in place. The result in most parts of the country was and remains an ecological and socio-economic disaster, choking the rivers with precious soil and pushing the poor higher and higher up the hill until no forested peaks remain. Even in 1990, much of Honduras was deforested, vulnerable to severe land degradation, landslides and drought.
Image: Extreme sloping hillside cleared for maize.
The northern coast was an exception. Hillside land was still available, but vulnerable to soil erosion. The abonera rotation with Mucuna solved this problem by keeping the soil covered year round, conserving water in the soil profile and protecting it from direct exposure to high velocity rainfall. There are limits, however. On slopes greater than 45 degrees, the soft and weedless soil underneath an abonera field can slump suddenly, causing localized landslides.
A third advantage, reflected in the name “Fertilizer Bean” by which it is best known in Honduras, is perhaps the most striking. As a legume, Mucuna spp. have the capacity for nitrogen fixation, a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen in the air is converted into ammonia and “fixed” in the soil. The roots develop nodules that feed the leaves and vines of the plant with significant quantities of nitrogen (more than 100 kg/ha) and other nutrients made available to support any succeeding crop.
Maize is a nitrogen hog compared to most grains, and makes effective use of the abonera, doubling yields by the second year. The yield bump comes literally from the air, at no direct cost to the farmer. It also allows for the continuous cultivation of the same field, year after year, without the need to extend fallow periods or add external fertilizer. This ability to make cowardly land become brave again was unheard of in any agricultural system in the humid tropics, anywhere in the world.
Image: Maize in a think mulch of mucuna.
My first encounter with Mucuna pruriens and the farmers growing it was in October, 1990, two months before Debra’s date to deliver a child. I had negotiated an arrangement with CIMMYT that allowed us to live in Jalapa, Veracruz, for the duration of her pregnancy and until we could return to CIMMYT headquarters outside of Mexico City with our baby. Luisa Paré, who was living in Jalapa and managing the IDRC funded Sierra de Santa Marta Project by then, had kindly arranged for us to rent a tiny apartment on the outskirts of the state capital, overlooking a small forest. It met our needs, which were to have a secure, clean and beautiful place for a home birth, far from the polluted air of Mexico City. We knew that if we had stayed at CIMMYT our child’s first breath would include unhealthy amounts of carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone and both course and ultra fine particulates. Jalapa was familiar territory for me, and we had a kind and skilled midwife on hand to care for Debra while I was away.
I was gone for two and a half weeks, meeting Honduran researchers at the Regional University Centre of the Atlantic Coast (CURLA) located in La Ceiba, a small, picturesque coastal city with a large Garifuna population. A national park, Pico Bonito, covered in an old growth, humid tropical rainforest, protects the city from flooding by raging rivers descending to the sea.
The islands of Roatan, famous for snorkelling, are offshore, adding to the tropical paradise vibe of La Ceiba. The third largest city in Honduras, La Ceiba had a reputation among Hondurans as distinct from the other main cities. Whereas Tegucigalpa (the capital) was where “people decide” and San Pedro Sula (the economic centre) where “people earn money,” La Ceiba was where “people dance.”
The university faculty rarely received visits from international scientists, who were drawn to the bigger national school, Zamorano, located near Tegucigalpa. Jorge Salgado, a young professor in charge of the agronomy program at CURLA, was open to working with me, a Canadian anthropologist who spoke Spanish fluently and came from CIMMYT, the best known and one of the most prestigious agricultural research organizations in the world. We hit it off, and within days were implementing an exploratory survey to find out who, where, and why farmers were planting their hillside maize crops in a layer of dead leaves and vines. At night, I danced with his friends in a local bar.
On that trip, and during many subsequent visits to Atlantic Honduras, I established a working relationship with partners new to me and to CIMMYT, planning and executing large surveys of farmers along the coast. I also developed an innovative approach to assessing farmer priorities, bringing out the detailed reasoning of mainly non-literate farmers by using coloured drawings of the advantages and disadvantages of the system. The survey crew laid the laminated cards in front of farmers and asked, “Of these advantages, which is the most important to you?” They then removed the selected card and asked, “Of those that remain, which is the most important to you?” This method of questioning produced a hierarchy of priorities, an approachI integrated into many participatory tools that became the focus for my research contributions decades later.
The hierarchy, and statistical analysis that followed, showed that adopters of the abonera system valued specific combinations of benefits. Differences in farmer circumstances showed a statistically significant connection between reasons for using the system and the land and labour resources available in each household. In short, the land-poor prioritized land productivity criteria and the labor-poor prioritized labour productivity criteria.
Image: Farmer showing his priorities. Card showing erosion control.
The concept of “farmer circumstances” is one of many research innovations developed and championed by CIMMYT throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. It refers to the constraints new technology encounters in a given situation that would need to be addressed or modified to create conditions for technology adoption. Don Winkelman, an economist and the first non-technical scientist to lead CIMMYT, pioneered the perspective and its corollary, the “recommendation domain.” This referred to the unique combination of the features of an agricultural technology and the specific circumstances of farmers. The strength of the two concepts was that they provided a pathway to scale out new crop technologies systematically or incrementally.
When I returned from my first field visit to Honduras in the fall of 1990, I thought I had encountered an ideal cropping practice for hillside farming, suitable for a wide range of farmer circumstances. My boss, Derek, told me he appreciated my ability to get to the bottom of things, a curiosity he felt was needed to be a good researcher. It was a good start to my post-doc.
Debra was happy too, but for a different reason. I had left her pregnant and alone to go to Honduras but stayed home analyzing the survey data and writing the first report in Spanish while she and our midwife prepared to give birth to our son. To this day, I associate the launch of my professional life as an anthropologist with Ryan’s birth in Jalapa on December 26, 1990, one of the happiest days in my life. A favourite family joke (at least a favourite of mine) is to say that Ryan was born in Jalapa (the namesake for the hot Jalapeño chile pepper) but doesn’t burn your mouth. He is “Jalapeño, pero no pica.” For me, it meant that he was sweet, good-natured and bright, like the fertilizer bean.
The study of Mucuna, a plant virtually unknown to all but remote farmers, a handful of agronomists, and a few development NGOs in Central America, offered me a unique opportunity to do a kind of anthropology well suited to my character: curiosity, attention to detail, an ability to think laterally. This was one of the reasons CIMMYT managers kept me on for another three years after my two-year Rocky Doc fellowship was over. The additional time allowed me to go deeper into the topic.
While not apparent to me or others in CIMMYT at the time, the Honduran experience with the abonera technology was fundamentally different from anything else the organization had worked with. Not only did it not rely on any purchased external inputs, it had been developed without the direct help of researcher science. It was a modern era act of “farmer discovery” and had spread among thousands of poor farmers without the aid of professional communication strategies known in the agricultural sciences as “extension.” From a few early adopters between 1970 and 1980, by 1992, the date of our largest survey, it had reached the vast majority of hillside farmers in the region, spread farmer-to-farmer.
It was a revolution in hillside farming practice, one I ironically called “the Green Manure Revolution” in several articles I published in international agriculture fora. While I was not the first to notice the invention, that credit probably goes to Milton Flores and Roland Bunch, two men based in Honduras,1for a time I was at the centre of the excitement. A year or two after starting to document the Honduran experience, a scientist at CIMMYT told me Mucuna would make me famous.
The Mucuna story quickly became an attention grabber in international agriculture circles. The Executive Director of CIMMYT, Don Winkelmann, decided to make the slide show I had created on the subject a preferred presentation for guests and dignitaries visiting to learn about CIMMYT’s work. The story was interesting and showed that CIMMYT was more than a plant breeding centre and capable of engaging in research on emerging trends in “sustainable agriculture.” While at times I felt like the dog and pony show for an organization heavily invested in the old paradigm, I was hooked on making poor or degraded land productive once again.
Without hesitation, I went down a rabbit hole to learn everything I could about this audacious plant.
What I discovered was a world in a grain of sand. The mucuna genus includes about 100 species of annual and perennial legumes, a dozen or so cultivated species and numerous crosses and hybrids. Some of the wild types, called “cow itch” in English, have abundant, long stinging hairs on the pod and can cause intensely itchy dermatitis in humans. In southern Veracruz where I completed my PhD research without once coming across the plant, the wild type is known as “Pica Pica Brava” (Sting - sting - ferocious) while the cultivated type is called “Pica Pica Mansa” (Sting - sting - tame). The Brava type was used to keep people from wandering into fields where they were not welcome. In Nigeria, the itchy type is known as the “Devils Bean.”
The cultivated species, Mucuna pruriens var. utilis , probably originated in southern China or northeastern India where reports from the 18th and 19th century indicate that the bean was eaten as a vegetable. Raw velvetbean seeds contain about 27% protein and are rich in minerals and medicinal properties. The bean also contains chemical compounds that, in high concentrations, produce nausea and vomiting. An incident of acute psychosis in Mozambique in the 1980s was attributed to velvetbean consumption during a drought when water was not discarded as part of the food preparation process.
A year after I joined CIMMYT I came across mucuna in a backyard garden near Kumasi in Ghana, West Africa while visiting with researchers in Benin and Nigeria. The elderly Ghanaian woman tending the garden showed me her harvest and explained that she boils the seed twice and discards the water each time before grinding the seed into paste and adding it to soups as a thickener. Farmers in Mexico and Guatemala told me they mucuna grown and roasted to make a coffee substitute, a use reflected in another local name for the plant: Nescafé.
Image: Ghanan grandmother with mucuna seeds and pods.
A decade later I was able to confirm Asian food uses first hand when I came across mucuna in a backyard garden in Nagaland, a remote corner of northeast India. The Naga woman growing mucuna in her yard explained to me that the seed was boiled, crushed, boiled again then eaten like any other vegetable. In another chapter I share details from their story, and my encounter on a jungle road with a squad of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland fighting for independence from India.
The English common name for the cultivated species is velvetbean. It was used historically as an aphrodisiac and in Ayurvedic Indian medicine to treat nervous disorders and arthritis. One of the chemical compounds, levodopa, is extracted commercially from raw velvetbean seed and combined with another compound, carbidopa, to make a safe and effective drug for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The Parkinson’s Foundation considers development of the drug in the 1960s one of the most important breakthroughs in the history of medicine. While a self-interested assessment, the claim has some merit. Levodopa is closely associated with the study and use of dopamine, a compound essential to the normal functioning of the central nervous system.
Reconstructing the story of how velvetbean got from China and India to the Honduran hillside, and converted from a minor vegetable to a major agronomic crop, turned me into a plant detective. I combined archival research with hunting trips to remote jungle rivers in Guatemala and Indigenous fields in southern Veracruz, as well as West Africa. Even my father pitched in. When I learned that velvetbean was at one time a prominent crop in the southern United States, he sought out professors at universities in Florida where he was spending his winters in retirement, and copied articles for me from the archives of small research stations across the state.
According to the files, velvetbean arrived in Florida during the 1870s from islands in the Caribbean, where it was probably grown as a vegetable by South Asian indentured workers. Today’s Indo-Caribbeans in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Martinique and other countries of the Caribbean basin are descendants of the colonial system of servitude expanded by the British, French and Dutch after “abolition” of slavery in the mid 1800s. They may have carried mucuna with them from India when they were pressed into Caribbean service.
By 1897 some 300 Florida orange producers were growing velvetbean as a “cover crop” to control weeds and improve soil fertility. Farmers in Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi then picked it up as a forage crop. Livestock, including pigs and cows, grazed directly in fields of velvetbean and the pods were taken to mills and crushed or ground with the hull to provide feed for cattle, horses and mules, largely replacing cottonseed meal as the protein component in animal feed.
It was also very popular in the cotton belt as a “green manure,” and according to many it had no equal as a soil improver. One American researcher, publishing in 1902, said that, “velvet beans are a cheaper source of nitrogen than is any nitrogenous material which may be bought as commercial fertilizer.” Another noted in 1919 that “the story of the velvet bean might be called an agricultural romance” and the “saviour of southern agriculture.” From about 1915 to the early 1940s it covered more than a hundred thousand hectares in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina and was grown in parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, North Carolina and Florida.
Image: Figure from my Economic Botany article.
Then something changed. By 1965 velvetbean had disappeared altogether from the agricultural statistics of the United States. No one was growing it. My hypothesis for this apparent mystery, hinted at in the archives of Florida research stations, was confirmed by statistics I acquired tracking the dramatic drop in the price of commercial fertilizers immediately following the Second World War. As petro-chemical sources of nitrogen became cheaper, supplying the nutrient by fallowing land with velvetbean presented farmers with an opportunity cost. They couldn’t grow a paying crop while the velvetbean was building up the soil and controlling the weeds.
Soybeans, introduced to southern farmers following the Great Depression, proved to be a more versatile solution to agricultural problems, with high value as a cash food crop and some of the same agronomic benefits of velvetbean. Livestock production also changed focus at this time, shifting from grazing open fields in the American south to feedlots in the American mid-west and new pastures in the Latin American tropics. This sealed the fate of velvetbean in America.
Retracing the mucuna journey across the globe took on a distinctly Hollywood turn a year or so after I arrived at CIMMYT when I decided to follow up on reports from Honduras that two Guatemalan brothers had in the 1970s carried the fertilizer bean with them from Guatemala to the Atlantic coast of Honduras.
I went first to Puerto Barrios, Guatemala’s port on the Caribbean, and then took a ferry to Livingston at the mouth of the Rio Dulce, today a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Livingston is one of the largest of the Garifuna villages dotting the coast from Belize through Guatemala and Honduras to Nicaragua.
The Garifuna are a mixed African and Indigenous people descended from “Black Caribs” of the islands of St. Vincent. They have a distinct language, food tradition based on yucca (a root crop), and a musical form called punta with a unique rhythm that moves the whole body. This cultural profile, and the thick tropical rainforest surrounding the community, made Livingston the perfect backdrop for the 1935 film The New Adventures of Tarzan with Herman Brix in the starring role. While not as famous a Tarzan as Johnny Weismueller, Brix was also a star athlete, winning a silver medal in shot put at the Olympic Games held in Amsterdam in 1928.
Scenes of Herman Brix going into the jungle were filmed at the mouth of the Rio Dulce next to Livingston, a route I took in a motorized canoe searching for signs of mucuna. I found it intercropped with maize in the fields of several Indigenous farmers along the river.
While in Guatemala, I also interviewed elderly residents in the valley of Polochic on the shores of Lago Izabal, and former banana plantation workers in Morales and Puerto Barrios. They told me that mules grazed fields of velvetbean planted by the United Fruit Company, until the animals were replaced by tractors to transport bananas to the railhead. This reflected the use of velvetbean as a forage crop in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
A reference my father had found of an anthropological study published in 1969 by the University of Florida provided the final piece of the puzzle. In it, the anthropologist describes quenk mula (mule bean) used by the Ketchi Indians of Guatemala as a crop rotation with maize. When I read the name they used for the plant, the penny dropped. I imagined that Ketchi workers had seen mucuna used on banana plantations as a forage crop for mules and noticed that the soil underneath the residue was weed-free and moist even at the height of the dry season. From there they invented the rotation with hillside maize, a technology passed on to Honduran farmers by two brothers migrating from Guatemala.
I published the account in Economic Botany, a prestigious journal for the New York Botanical Garden “devoted to Past, Present, and Future Use of Plants by People.” The article, called Velvetbean: A “New” Plant with a History, is my most-cited sole-authored paper, and is still used as an authoritative source on mucuna. I started it with the cliché “Everything old is new again” but fortunately, for my own self-respect as a writer, the editor of the journal rejected the line and published the rest.
The linkages traced across time and space illustrate something important about the nature of scientific discovery. First, they show the social qualities of innovation and knowledge generation, whether it be by means of scientific methods or mindful observation and the application of logic and creativity in a problem-solving mode. The various uses of mucuna, including at least five distinct agricultural technologies (food crop, cover crop, forage crop, rotation crop, intercrop), are the result of experimentation by numerous farmers and scientists spanning several centuries and at least six countries.
The lesson that innovation is a collective, transpersonal act, has been demonstrated time and time again by formal histories of discovery, even though the misleading image of the lone scientist-inventor persists. The mucuna story smashes this mindset and also reminds us of humanity’s debt to women. At the base of all the mucuna inventions was the act of taming the wild velvetbean in the first place, and learning to make it food through the technology of cooking. It was undoubtedly women that did this, like the Naga in crimson red pressed into service with her family as an indentured worker bound for British Trinidad and Tobago and the Ghanaian grandmother dressed in sapphire blue straining the soaked seed to make her grandchildren soup. Observing and transforming the gifts of nature into food from one generation to the next is truly the mother of invention.
Second, the journey of mucuna from India to Mesoamerica shows that creativity and invention don’t operate in a vacuum, with something appearing out of nothing as it were. Each new use of mucuna emerged from some quality observed in its present use: food, forage, cover, fertilizer. Steven Johnson, who studies the natural history of innovation, calls this creative space “the adjacent possible,” that is, the realm of possibilities available at any given moment. He describes the moment as “a kind of shadow future, hovering on the edges of the present state of things, a map of all the ways in which the present can reinvent itself.”
I find this thought encouraging, even reassuring in this age of grave threats to human existence. What is required of us to survive and thrive is not some rare scientific genius or mystical intervention but rather the most common of human capabilities: the collective call to be attentive and mindful of all of our senses and faculties interacting in the present moment. From the possibility of what is, the magic of what could be emerges as an image of maize plants growing in a thick mat of mucuna residue. This is the science of the concrete.
The linkages across time and space can also be found in the process of telling the mucuna story. In the early 1990s, the Honduran experience with mucuna acquired an almost mythical status among non-governmental organizations and research groups at agricultural universities and centres in North America, Central America, Europe and West Africa.
My approach to research publications helped. I always wrote up the initial results in Spanish, creating co-authored, publishable papers in short periods of time and circulating these widely in the region. This practice, modelled by Yvan Breton in my earlier training on Mexican fisheries, became a routine for me, and was appreciated by Latin American researchers and activists alike. Jeffrey Bentley, an American anthropologist based at the time in Honduras, remarked that the Spanish language publication Tierra Cobarde Se Vuelve Valiente, the study from this period I am most proud of, was the best example he knew of a survey-based publication. This praise meant a lot to me because Jeffrey disliked the pretentious nature of much survey work. He also avoided romantic and anecdotal presentations of farmer experience.
Absurdly, an earlier report I prepared on the topic was republished a couple of years later, word for word, by a university professor that had nothing to do with the research. He had plagiarized the report, making himself the sole author and publishing in a regional journal. This was my second experience of plagiarism, the ultimate form of flattery.
While publishing was good for my academic career, the mucuna story underlines collective impact over individual achievement. Roland Bunch, the World Neighbours Executive Director in the early 1990s, and Milton Flores, an Honduran who set up and ran the International Centre for Documentation and Information on Cover Crops in Tegucigalpa, worked hard to promote cover crop rotations and intercropping practices in a wide range of settings in Central America and Mexico. Milton, a young man at the time with tight Afro-hair, gentle demeanour and warm smile, produced a remarkable video compilation of farmer testimony on mucuna called “What the Fertilizer Bean Has Taught Us.” Other internationally acclaimed scientists also picked up the thread, as did researchers in West Africa.
Bernard Triomphe, a coauthor with me and Gustavo Sain of the most frequently cited book on the topic, recently said to me that Milton’s video was a stellar translation of practical experience into a story that farmers could relate to directly, without the need for technical knowledge. By contrast, his own research on the agro-ecology of the abonera system provided what university-based researchers needed to know about how the technology worked, in a language and form they could recognize: quantified measures of long-term changes in soil properties and crop productivity, painstakingly collected in the field over a period of two years for his PhD dissertation in agronomy.
Bernard’s healthy skepticism of technology, delivered sardonically with a gentle French accent, helped convey the message credibly to other scientists. Gustavo Sain, an Argentinian economist at CIMMYT responsible for training researchers in Central America, worked with me on the economics of the abonera system. We adapted quantitative methods to capture the unique features of the farming system, giving weight to key observations about why a rotation crop made economic sense from both farmer and market points of view. The three of us worked well together, aided by Gustavo’s constant stream of jokes about Argentines, the Pope, and the American President sitting together on an airplane (Unfortunately, I’ve forgotten all the punch lines).
The work we did together contributed to the internationalization of the Central American experience with cover crops. The origins of the technology in farmer discovery established a credible link between the living practices of the farmer world and a growing body of evidence on ecological and regenerative agriculture emerging from the scientist world. It helped inform new research agendas and called into question research practices that promote exclusionary, hierarchical, and patriarchal practices of scientific discovery. As would become clear to me later in my professional life, reconciling the worlds of scientists and farmers means striking the right balance between what scientists have to offer and what farmers know, and don’t know. What made the mucuna story we told meaningful is that it gave us the courage to listen to both.
Use of mucuna in coastal Honduras declined sharply in the 2000s, under pressure from cattle ranching and the arrival of itchgrass (rottboellia cochinchinensis), an invasive weed it could not handle without more attention than farmers were willing to give to managing the cover crop.2 Currently, the region is under pressure from many forces, including drug cartels growing coca on remote hillsides and transforming the paste into cocaine for illegal export. While the abonera system remains a remarkable technology, unbeatable as a system for growing maize on hillsides, it simply cannot compete in this wider and vastly more complex social context.
In West Africa, mucuna cover crops were strongly promoted by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, CIMMYT’s sister organization, and the non-governmental organization Sasakawa Global 2000. The rotation was an effective control for spear grass (Imperata cylindrical), a highly invasive weed plaguing intensively managed lands in the region. I was in Benin in 1995 at the height of the campaign, to observe and provide advice. What I didn’t realize at the time is that the incentives provided through the campaign had distorted farmer assessment of the technology. Once the incentives were dropped, use by farmers fell away too. It was simply too difficult for farmers to dedicate time and resources to growing it for agronomic purposes alone.
Later, when I worked at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), I organized a successful workshop to share the West African experience.3 I also funded the development of an information clearing house on cover crops in West Africa, and laboratory research on the variability of Levodopa and other anti-nutritional factors in mucuna seed. By then other researchers had wisely turned their attention to reviving historical forage and food uses of mucuna, hoping that combined benefits would be enough to support sustained adoption. Marjatta Eilieta, a Finnish agronomist I met in the last year of my tenure at CIMMYT, coordinated a major research effort on this topic. Recently she told me that the results, while promising, were not actively promoted and failed to gain traction in national and international development circles.
Image: Farmer (left) and extension worker standing in a mucuna demonstration plot in Benin, 1992.
In retrospect, all of these efforts have been worthwhile, even though none have been “the solution” to key farming problems. Cooperation between scientists and farmers remains important as the world struggles to redirect agriculture from its destructive path towards a mode of production that can feed the world without costing the earth. I take pride in having contributed to this process, although the promised fame from Mucuna still eludes me.
Milton Flores ran a small non-governmental organization focused on documenting cover crop use in Central America. Roland Bunch, the author of an immensely popular book on developing country agriculture called “Two Ears of Corn: A Guide to People-Centered Agricultural Improvement,” worked at the time as the Honduras director of World Neighbours, an Oklahoma based organization that operates in some of the poorest countries of Latin America, Asia and Africa. ↩
Neil, S. and D. Lee. 1999. “Explaining the Adoption and Disadoption of Sustainable Agriculture: The Case of Cover Crops in Northern Honduras,” unpublished paper, Cornell University. ↩
Buckles, D., A. Etèka, O. Osiname, M. Galiba, and N. Galiano, 1998. Cover Crops in West Africa: Contributing to sustainable agriculture. IDRC/IITA/Sasakawa Globel 2000. ↩

Ár bogadh go dtí an Mheicsiceo, agus mo chéad obair fíor mar antropoloige, thosaigh le Cajun iasc blackened agus Louisiana páistí muice i mbialann ard i lár Manhattan. Bhí Debra agus mé ina n-aíonna ar an Rockefeller Foundation agus a gclár chun céimithe PhD sna heolaíochtaí sóisialta a thabhairt isteach i saol an-theicniúil na plandaí a chothú agus na talmhaíochta i dtíortha i mbéal forbartha.
Ba é an Fondúireacht, ag obair le rialtas Mheicsiceo, an t-ailtire luath ar an Réabhlóid Glas, tréimhse idir 1950 agus deireadh na 1960idí nuair a mhéadaigh cineálacha nua barra go suntasach táirgeadh cruithneachta agus rís ar fud an domhain. Chuir na rathanna seo le bunú ionaid taighde talmhaíochta bunaithe ar chothú i gcodanna éagsúla den domhan: arbhar agus cruithneacht sa Mheicsiceo, rís sna hOileáin Fhilipíneacha, prátaí sa Phéire agus barraí tiubh mar sorghum agus milse san India agus sa tSiria. Chuir na Náisiúin Aontaithe, An Banc Domhanda, agus go leor rialtais náisiúnta, lena n-áirítear Ceanada, maoiniú ar an taighde. Ag a airde go luath sna 1990idí, bhí 18 ionad san áireamh sa líonra domhanda, gach ceann acu le sainordú maidir le barra sonrach, éiceachóras mór nó saincheist straitéiseach bia agus talmhaíochta.
Bhí na gnóthachain táirgiúlachta a chuir tús leis an Réabhlóid Ghlas bunaithe ar pharadigim taighde nua ó Mheán-iarthair na Stát Aontaithe, ar a bhfuair Norman Borlaug i 1970 Duais Nobel na Síochána as a chuid ranníocaíochtaí le soláthar bia domhanda. Ba é an paraidím ná diúltú iomlán do thalmhaíocht thraidisiúnta - an spleáchas atá aici ar thréimhse ainmhithe, ar shaothar an duine agus ar bithéagsúlacht na mbarr. Cuireadh leasacháin artificiúla, lotnaidicídí ceimiceacha, meaisíní, agus cineálacha barra a roghnaíodh chun feidhmiú go maith i dtimpeallacht réimse an-athraithe na n-ionchur sin. In ionad oibriú leis an dúlra, mar a bhí ag feirmeoirí ar feadh na mílte bliain, d'iarr na teicneolaíochtaí Réabhlóid Ghlas ar fheirmeoirí a gcuid páirceanna a athdhéanamh ina tírdhreach atá go bunúsach difriúil áit ar féidir le cineálacha aonair plandaí aonair rath a chur orthu. Bhí méadú suntasach ar thráth na ngrás a bhaintear as aon-chultúr, agus bhí an-tóir ar eolaithe, ar rialtais agus ar fheirmeoirí araon. Dá mbeadh Dorothy ó The Wizard of Oz i gceist, b'fhéidir go mbeifíodh sí ag rá faoi na tírdhreacha nua, "Níl muid i Kansas a thuilleadh".
Faoi lár na 1970idí, thosaigh fadhbanna ag teacht chun cinn le iarracht a dhéanamh tírdhreacha éagsúla tíortha i mbéal forbartha a athdhéanamh i leaganacha de Kansas agus Iowa. Bhí costas an phacáiste teicneolaíochtaí, agus cé a bhí in ann é a úsáid, ina fhadhb amháin ach bhí an damáiste don chomhshaol ó cheimiceáin agus tionchair ar éagsúlacht bitheolaíoch iomlán na gcóras feirmeoireachta le feiceáil freisin. D'fhreagair bunaitheoirí an Réabhlóide Glas mar an Rockefeller Foundation trí bhunús na heolaíochta a bhí i gceist a leathnú chun eacnamaithe talmhaíochta, socheolaithe, agus daoine a oiliúint sa réimse atá ag teacht chun cinn den éiceolaíocht a chur san áireamh chun oibriú in éineacht leis na breeders plandaí agus eolaithe ithreach. Bhí siad ag smaoineamh go bhféadfadh taighde idirdhisciplíneach agus níos dírithe go sóisialta a bheith in ann an cúrsa a cheartú.
Ceann de na tionscnaimh sin ba é clár de chomaoiní iar-dochtúireachta chun céimithe cumasacha, óga agus eachtrannach sna heolaíochtaí sóisialta a aithint agus iad a thabhairt isteach i suíomhanna ina raibh teicneolaíocht talmhaíochta nua á fhorbairt. D'fhéach Joyce Moock, Leas-Uachtarán Comhpháirtí ag an gCiste Rockefeller, ar an gclár agus bhí sí i gceannas ar mo agallamh i Nua Eabhrac le coiste roghnúcháin trí dhuine.
Bhí mo bhean chéile Debra páirteach sa agallamh agus fuair sí beagnach an oiread aird agus a fuair mé. Bhí sí iontach, ag caitheamh gúna dearg geal agus ina suí go socair in aice liom. Bhí a fhios ag Joyce go ciallmhar go raibh rath na n-aistriúchán chuig tír atá ag forbairt ina raibh an chuid is mó de na hionaid taighde ag brath go mór ar shásamh na ndaoine a raibh baint acu, lena n-áirítear céilí ar bith. Ina dhiaidh sin, d'athraigh sí an clár ó díriú ar chéimithe Mheiriceá Thuaidh go scoláirí a tháinig amach ó ollscoileanna agus ó ionaid na hAfraice atá lonnaithe san Afraic, ach d'fhág sí an cleachtas a bhí ann céile a chur san áireamh i agallaimh nuair is féidir.
Bhí rath na scoláireachta iar-dochtúireachta ag brath freisin ar thairiscint ar thuras ó cheann de na hionaid taighde. Dhiúltaigh mé do phost san Ísiltír toisc gur theastaigh ón ionad dom cónaí in aice le Amstardam agus oibriú le comhpháirtithe i Meiriceá Theas. Rinne mé an t-am a bhí mé ar eitleán a ríomh agus chinn mé go mbeadh mo chorp ag dul i mbun uisce ag mothú go raibh mé i lár an Atlantaigh.
Ina áit sin, chuaigh mé ar agallamh ag an Ionad Idirnáisiúnta um Talmhaíocht Trópaiceach (CIAT) i Cali, an Cholóim, áit ar cuireadh post ar fáil dom ina gclár féaraí trópaiceacha. Bhí eolaí sóisialta ag teastáil acu chun oibriú le feirmeoirí sa Bhrasaíl chun staidéar a dhéanamh ar an gcaoi a bhféadfadh cineálacha nua féarais a bheith ag obair ina gcórais feirmeoireachta, agus a thionchar ar rátaí dífhoraoisiú a mheas. Bhí mo thaighde PhD ar bhaoil, arbhar agus coimhlint i Veracruz, Meicsiceo, cosúil le hiompar maith.
Is cuimhin liom go raibh duine de chomhaltaí an choiste de chuid Fondúireacht Rockefeller ag fiafraí díom i Nua-Eabhrac an raibh mé "ag iarraidh an t-eireaball a ghlacadh ag na corna". Bhí sé seo ina cheist réamhtheachtach nár aithin mé ach nuair a shín mé as an eitleán i Cali agus chuir dhá thaighdeoir óg CIAT fáilte romham le rabhadh nach raibh an taighde a bhí beartaithe go díreach mar a bhí sé. "Ní bhfaighidh tú an scéal iomlán ó chlár na n-eadar-theacha", a dúirt siad. Ag riosca éigin dá ngairmeacha mar gheall ar snitching, bhí siad ag iarraidh a bheith cinnte go raibh mé ar an eolas faoi fhianaise luath a bhailíodh siad a thaispeánann tionchar suntasach diúltach comhshaoil agus sóisialta ón teicneolaíocht féaraigh nua.
Bhí meas agam ar a n-imní agus a n-íogaireacht, ach cuimhin liom gur chuir an díospóid a bhí le feiceáil laistigh den eagraíocht níos mó imní orm ná aon rud eile. Bhí amhras agam freisin faoi shaol i Cali. Faoi 1989, bhí an "Cartel Cali" tar éis briseadh amach ó Pablo Escobar agus ó ghrúpa Medellín chun an dara póil Colómbia a bhunú de choireacht a bhaineann le drugaí. Cé gur dhearbhaigh foireann CIAT dom go raibh a gcampas sábháilte agus nach raibh ach cúpla eachtra a raibh tionchar acu ar fhoireann agus ar theaghlaigh, bhí an t-ionchas go bhfágfaí mo bhean chéile torracha sa Cholóim agus mé ag taisteal ar feadh tréimhsí fada san Amazon na Brasaíle imníoch.
Ar mo bhealach ar ais go Ottawa ó Cali rinne mé turas taobh go Meicsiceo agus tháinig mé gan fógra ag an Lárionad Idirnáisiúnta um Fheabhsú Corn agus Gruaige (ar a dtugtar CIMMYT, an t-acrainm Spáinnis). Bhí sé suite cúpla ciliméadar ó Chapingo, príomh-ollscoil talmhaíochta Mheicsiceo lasmuigh de Chathair Mheicsiceo.
Is toradh díreach é an eagraíocht ar obair Norman Borlaug i dtreo an Réabhlóid Glas, agus is dócha gurb é an t-ionad is mó a bhfuil an-scéal aige de na hionaid idirnáisiúnta go léir. Gan aon tairiscint eile i láimh, agus Cali ag breathnú risky, bhí mé a ghlacadh mo shaol i mo lámha féin más rud é go raibh mé a dhéanamh rud éigin de na dea-fortune a bhí tugtha dom. Chuaigh mé go dtí oifigí Chlár Eacnamaíochta CIMMYT agus, de réir cheann an chláir, Derek Byerlee, chuir mé mé féin i láthair agus d'fhiafraigh mé go cróga, "Cén fáth nár fhostaigh tú mé?"
Níos déanaí dúirt sé liom an audacity fuair a aird. Ní cuimhin liom an t-agallamh, ach thairg sé féin agus a chomhghleacaí Rob Tripp post dom. Is é glacadh leis an gcinneadh is mó a bhí i gceist i mo shaol oibre. Chuir sé go mór isteach mé i saol suimiúil na heolaíochta talmhaíochta, ag cuidiú liom mo cháil a bhunú mar chleachtas taighde déine agus tiomanta. Go príomha, áfach, bhí suaimhneas orm a bheith in ann filleadh abhaile ó Cholóim agus ó Mheicsiceo le tairiscint oibre a d'fhéadfadh a bheith tarraingteach do mo bhean chéile nua.
Bliain nó mar sin tar éis dom a bheith ina "post-Doc Rocky" ag obair ag CIMMYT sa Mheicsiceo, fuair mé mé féin ina suí ar eitleán in aice le hinnealtóir Arm na Stát Aontaithe ag iarraidh a mhíniú cad a bhí á dhéanamh agam ann. Tar éis cúpla iarracht, d'fhéach a aghaidh níos soiléire agus dúirt sé, "Ah, is innealtóir fachtóirí daonna tú". Bhí sé seo oiriúnach go leor, cé gur thuairiscigh mé mo chuid oibre ag CIMMYT ina dhiaidh sin mar aistriúchán idir eolaithe teicniúla agus feirmeoirí, gach ceann acu le tuiscint dhomhain ar a saol féin ach mearbhall ar chastacht an duine eile.
D'athraigh an taithí seo mo shaol freisin. Tháinig mé ina chríticí láidir ar an bparadaigim talmhaíochta tionsclaíoch atá mar bhunús leis an Réabhlóid Ghlas agus ina thacaí ar chur chuige rannpháirtíochta agus atá dírithe ar ghníomh chun teicneolaíocht nua agus eolas nua a chruthú. D'fhoghlaim mé éisteacht go domhain le feirmeoirí agus le heolaithe, ag cruthú ionam meas ar luachanna na heolaíochta agus meas mór ar chumhacht na fionnachtana feirmeora.
Grianghraf: Buachaill Honduran ag díriú a machete ar réimse feola talún.
Teodoro Reyes agus an Bhanbhán Fertilizer
Cé gurbh é an t-iasc dubh Cajun agus an píosa muice Louisiana tús na cócaireachta ar mo thuras mar antropoloige, bhí feirmeoirí Hondúrais agus bean obscure mar mo phríomh-oide.
Bhí Teodoro Reyes, feirmeoir a bhuail mé ar chlé in aice le La Danta ar chósta na Cairibeach i Hondúras, ar cheann de na chéad daoine. Dúirt sé liom nuair a rinne mé agallamh leis ar chonair throm a bhí ag breathnú thar shraith cnoic bhriste, "Le bean an fhóirdheolaí, bíonn talamh feargach feargach arís". Bhí sé ag tagairt do Mucuna pruriens var. úsáid (a.k.a. An Fertilizer Bean, nó Velvetbean), planda dúchasach a bhfuil an cuspóir humble chun an ithir a chosaint agus a fheabhsú.
Is é an cleachtas feirmeoireachta rothlú simplithe barra, ar a dtugtar abonera go háitiúil. Tosaíonn sé le réimse a ghlanadh agus é a phlandaíocht gach méadar nó mar sin leis an mbonn ag baint úsáide as bata dibble. Tar éis seacht nó ocht mí, forbraíonn an plandaí ina fhuaimín tiubh de dhuilleoga bog, leathan, fíonchaora agus síolta. Marúann an planda nuair a ghearrtar é le machete agus cruthaíonn sé sraith de dhuilleoga agus fíneálacha atá ag díchumas. Déantar an arbhar a chur isteach sa mulch go díreach.
Go luath nocht mé féin agus daoine eile a raibh mé ag obair leo an iontach teicneolaíocht, rud a tháinig chun cinn i roinnt leabhair agus a spreag dhá scór bliain de thaighde ag mórán agronomists agus eolaithe sóisialta a shíneadh ar réigiúin thrópaiceacha Mheicsiceo, Mheiriceá Láir agus an Afraic Thiar.
Tá an plandaí fíonchaora ionsaitheach seo in ann gach plandaíocht eile sa réimse a shárú go héasca, rud a fhágann go bhfuil an spás beagnach saor ó luibheanna. Ní gá an réimse a dhó chun locht agus scrios a rialú, mar atá i gcórais thraidisiúnta gearradh agus dó i Meiriceá Láir. Faoin am a bunaítear an barra arbhar, tá a síol féin curtha ag an mbonn. Osclaíonn na pods nuair a bhíonn siad tirim, ag scaipeadh síolta thar an réimse go cothrom, agus sa deireadh ag sprouting ar a gcuid féin chun timthriall eile fáis a thosú agus an réimse a ghlacadh nuair a bhíonn an barra arbhair á bhailiú. Cuirtear bac ar an weeds ar fud an timthrialla.
Mar gheall ar na gnéithe seo den rothlú, tá costais saothair an-íseal i gcomparáid le hoibríochtaí malartacha eile a bhaineann le réimse tréidneach traidisiúnta a ghearradh, a dhó agus a dhíghlasáil. Is é an rabhadh, a thug feirmeoirí le fios, ná go dtugann an fás go leor, duilleach áit chónaithe den scoth do chíoráin, agus dá bhrí sin do nathracha nimheacha. Ní mór aire a thabhairt don chnámh crochta agus don machete a úsáidtear chun dul tríd agus na fíonchaora bog a ghearradh.
Tá buntáiste eile ag an mbrat tiubh de phlandaí atá ag dul i gcontúirt a bhaineann go sonrach le timpeallacht thuaidh Honduras. Cosúil leis an gCósta Miskito a shíneann isteach i Honduras ó Nicarágua, tá Atlántida agus an chúige Colón fliuch beagnach an t-am ar fad. Tá na báistí níos mó ná 3,000 mm in aghaidh na bliana, agus tá 100-200 mm de thromlach laethúil. Tá dáileadh na báistí, an príomhfhachtóir in aon chóras talmhaíochta a fhaigheann uisce ó na báistí, dé-mhodálta, le buaicphointí i mí an Mhárta agus sé mhí ina dhiaidh sin ó Dheireadh Fómhair go Nollaig. Tá an patrún seo tiomanta ní amháin ag nochtadh do stoirmeacha ó Mhuir na Cairibe ach freisin an ardú tobann ó leibhéal na farraige go 2400 méadar ag barr an tslabhra Nombre de Dios. Ag rith in aice leis an gcósta ar feadh níos mó ná 200 ciliméadar, scoirfidh na sléibhte gaotha atá i réim, a bhfuil taise orthu, ag táirgeadh roinnt báistí beagnach gach seachtain den bhliain. Maidir le feirmeoirí, cruthaíonn sé seo dhá shéasúr fáis, agus an fhéidearthacht arb é an t-am is fearr chun arbhar an gheimhridh a bhailiú nuair a bhíonn praghsanna ag an mbarr bliantúil.
Grianghraf: Milton Flores, feirmeoir agus gníomhaí Honduran, ag scrúdú iarmhar mucuna.
Dúirt comhghleacaí ag CIMMYT, agronómóir Colómbia, gurb é an bealach is fearr chun topagrafaíocht Hondúras a shamhlú píosa páipéir a chrócaireacht i mbaile agus é a shíneadh amach go héasca. D'fhéadfadh an t-easnamh de bhuachaillí, gleannta agus sléibhte an pháipéir seasamh go héasca mar léarscáil topagrafach den tír.
Is féidir leis an topagrafaíocht treoir a thabhairt freisin maidir le dáilte saibhreas i dtalamh talmhaíochta. Tá na gleannta faoi úinéireacht líon réasúnta beag teaghlaigh feirmeoireachta saibhre agus úinéirí plandaíochta, ag fágáil na cnoic do gach duine eile. Sa domhan seo a bhfuil an bun os a chionn, cuirtear féaraí sna gleannta áit ar chóir barra a fhás agus barra ar na cnoic áit a mbeadh féaraí níos fearr chun an ithir a choinneáil ina háit. Ba é an toradh sa chuid is mó den tír ná tubaiste éiceolaíochta agus socheacnamaíoch, agus tá sé fós, ag cur ithir luachmhar ar na haibhneacha agus ag cur na bochta níos airde agus níos airde ar an gcnoc go dtí nach bhfuil aon bhuachaillí foraoiseacha fágtha. Fiú i 1990, bhí cuid mhór d'Honduras dífhoraoisithe, leochaileach do thruailliú talún tromchúiseach, le sleamhnáin talún agus triomaigh.
Íomhá: Sléibhte sráide thar a bheith tuirseach a ghlanadh le haghaidh arbhar.
Bhí an chósta thuaidh ar eisceacht. Bhí talamh ar chladach na cnoic ar fáil fós, ach bhí sé leochaileach do éadóisiú ithreach. Réitíodh an fhadhb seo le rothlú abonera le Mucuna trí chlúdach an ithir a choinneáil ar feadh na bliana, uisce a chaomhnú i bpróifíl an ithir agus é a chosaint ó nochtadh díreach do bháisteach ardluais. Tá teorainneacha ann, áfach. Ar chonair níos mó ná 45 céim, is féidir leis an ithir bhog agus gan féar faoin réimse abonera titim go tobann, ag cruthú sceitheadh talún áitiúla.
Is é an tríú buntáiste, a léirítear sa ainm Fertilizer Bean a bhfuil aithne is fearr air i Hondúras, an ceann is suntasaí b'fhéidir. Mar léigí, Mucuna spp. Tá cumas acu nítrigin a cheanglaithe, próiseas ceimiceach trína ndéantar nítrigin mhóilíneach san aer a thiontú ina amóicéad agus a 'cheanglaítear' sa ithir. Forbraíonn na fréamhacha nóidlí a thugann cainníochtaí suntasacha nítrigine (níos mó ná 100 kg/ha) agus cothaithigh eile a bheidh ar fáil do gach barra a bheidh ar fáil ina dhiaidh sin do dhuilleoga agus do fhineacha an phlanda.
Tá an arbhar ina shearbhón nítrigine i gcomparáid leis an gcuid is mó de ghráin, agus úsáideann sé an abonera go héifeachtach, ag dúbailt na dtorthaí faoin dara bliain. Tagann an méadú ar an dtorthaí go litriúil ón aer, gan aon chostas díreach don fheirmeoir. Ceadaíonn sé freisin an talamh céanna a chothú go leanúnach, bliain i ndiaidh bliana, gan gá le tréimhsí fánaíochta a fhadú ná le breosla seachtrach a chur leis. Ní raibh an cumas seo chun talamh feargach a dhéanamh feargach arís ann i gcóras talmhaíochta ar bith sna trópaiceanna taise, in áit ar bith ar domhan.
Íomhá: Corn i mulch mucuna.
Bhí mo chéad agallamh le Mucuna pruriens agus na feirmeoirí ag fás sé i mí Dheireadh Fómhair, 1990, dhá mhí roimh Debra's dáta a thabhairt ar fáil leanbh. Bhí socrú déanta agam leis an CIMMYT a lig dúinn maireachtáil i Jalapa, Veracruz, ar feadh tréimhse a toirchis agus go dtí go bhféadfaimis filleadh ar cheanncheathrú an CIMMYT lasmuigh de Chathair Mheicsiceo lenár leanbh. Luisa Paré, a bhí ina chónaí i Jalapa agus a bhainistiú an IDRC maoinithe Sierra de Santa Marta Tionscadal ag an am, bhí dearfach socraithe againn chun árasán beag a fháil ar cíos ar imeall an chaipitil stáit, a shíltear foraoise beag. Bhuail sé lenár riachtanais, a bhí ina áit shábháilte, glan agus álainn le haghaidh breith sa bhaile, i bhfad ó aer truaillithe Cathair Mheicsiceo. Bhí a fhios againn dá mba chonaic muid ag CIMMYT go mbeadh méideanna míshláintiúla de mhónoicsíd charbóin, dé-ocsaíde sulfair, ózóin agus dá réir sin de phéirtíní ultrafhiúcha ar an gcéad anailís a thug ár leanbh. Bhí Jalapa ina thearmann eolach dom, agus bhí beirtheach cairdiúil agus sásúil againn chun aire a thabhairt do Debra nuair a bhí mé as láthair.
Bhí mé ar shiúl ar feadh dhá sheachtain go leith, ag bualadh le taighdeoirí Hondúrais ag Ionad Réigiúnach Ollscoile an Chósta Atlantach (CURLA) atá lonnaithe i La Ceiba, cathair bheag, pictiúrtha cósta le daonra mór Garifuna. Tá páirc náisiúnta, Pico Bonito, clúdaithe i seanfhás, foraoise báistí trópaiceacha taise, ag cosaint na cathrach ó shárú trí abhainní raging ag titim go dtí an fharraige.
Tá oileáin Roatan, a bhfuil cáil orthu mar gheall ar snorkeling, ar muir, ag cur le vibe paráid trópaiceach La Ceiba. Ba é La Ceiba, an tríú cathair is mó i Hondúras, a raibh cáil aige i measc Hondúrais mar rud atá ar leith ó na cathracha móra eile. Cé go raibh Tegucigalpa (an phríomhchathair) ina raibh "daoine ag cinneadh" agus San Pedro Sula (an t-ionad eacnamaíoch) ina raibh "daoine ag airgead a thuilleamh", bhí La Ceiba ina raibh "daoine ag damhsa".
Is annamh a fuair lucht eolaíochta idirnáisiúnta cuairt ar fhoireann na hollscoile, a bhí tarraingthe chuig an scoil náisiúnta níos mó, Zamorano, atá suite in aice le Tegucigalpa. Bhí Jorge Salgado, ollamh óg atá i gceannas ar chlár na talmhaíochta ag CURLA, oscailte chun oibriú liomsa, an t-anthrópaí Cheanadaigh a labhair Spáinnis go raidhseach agus a tháinig ó CIMMYT, an eagraíocht taighde talmhaíochta is cáiliúla agus is mó a bhfuil cáil uirthi ar domhan. Bhuail muid go maith leis, agus laistigh de chúpla lá bhí suirbhé iniúchta á chur i bhfeidhm chun a fháil amach cé, cá háit, agus cén fáth a raibh feirmeoirí ag plandáil a gcuid barraí arbhair ar chladach cnoic i sraith de dhuilleoga agus fíonchaora marbh. Ar an oíche, d'imigh mé ag damhsa lena chairde i mbár áitiúil.
Ar an turas sin, agus le linn go leor cuairteanna ina dhiaidh sin ar Hondúras an Atlantaigh, bhunaigh mé caidreamh oibre le comhpháirtithe nua domsa agus do CIMMYT, ag pleanáil agus ag cur suirbhéanna móra ar fheirmeoirí ar feadh an chósta i gcrích. D'fhorbair mé cur chuige nuálach freisin chun tosaíochtaí feirmeoirí a mheas, ag cur amach réasúnaíocht mhionsonraithe feirmeoirí nach raibh i bhfad i gcúis leo, trí líníochtaí datha a úsáid ar bhuntáistí agus míbhuntáistí an chórais. Chuir an fhoireann suirbhé na cártaí lamíneáilte os comhair na bhfeirmeoirí agus d'iarr siad, "Dhá na buntáistí seo, cé acu is tábhachtaí duit?" Ansin thóg siad an cárta roghnaithe agus d'iarr siad, "Dhá na cinn atá fágtha, cé acu is tábhachtaí duit?" D'eisigh an modh ceisteála seo ordlathas tosaíochtaí, cur chuige a chomhtháthaigh mé i go leor uirlisí rannpháirtíochta a tháinig chun bheith mar fhócas ar mo chuid ranníocaíochtaí taighde blianta ina dhiaidh sin.
Léirigh an ordlathas, agus an anailís staidrimh a lean, go raibh luach ag lucht glacadh leis an gcóras abonera ar chomhcheangail shonracha sochair. Léirigh difríochtaí i gcúinsí feirmeoirí go raibh nasc suntasach go staitistiúil idir cúiseanna leis an gcóras a úsáid agus na hacmhainní talún agus saothair atá ar fáil i ngach teaghlach. Go hachomair, chuir na daoine bochta talún tosaíocht ar chritéir táirgiúlachta talún agus na daoine bochta saothair tosaíocht ar chritéir táirgiúlachta saothair.
Grianghraf: Feirmeoir ag taispeáint a thosaíochtaí. Cárta a léiríonn rialú creimeadh.
Tá an coincheap "imthosca feirmeora" ar cheann de na nuálaíochtaí taighde a d'fhorbair agus a champaigh CIMMYT i rith na 1980idí agus sna 1990idí. Tagraíonn sé do na srianta a bhíonn ag teicneolaíocht nua i gcás áirithe a bheadh gá le dul i ngleic leo nó a mhodhnú chun dálaí a chruthú d'aistriú teicneolaíochta. Bhí Don Winkelman, eacnamaí agus an chéad eolaí neamhtheicniúil a bhí i gceannas ar CIMMYT, ina cheannródaí ar an bpeirspictíocht agus ar a corollair, an "faoinne moladh". Ba é neart an dá choincheap ná gur thug siad bealach chun teicneolaíochtaí nua barra a scála amach go córais nó go meabhrach.
Nuair a d'fhill mé ó mo chéad chuairt ar an réimse go Honduras i rith an tsamhraidh 1990, shíl mé go raibh cleachtas oilteoireachta idéalach agam le haghaidh feirmeoireachta ar chlé, oiriúnach do réimse leathan de chúinsí feirmeora. Dúirt mo sheanfhear, Derek, go raibh meas aige ar mo chumas dul go bun na rudaí, fiosracht a bhraith sé a bhí ag teastáil chun a bheith ina taighdeoir maith. Bhí sé ina tús maith le mo iar-dochtúir.
Bhí Debra sásta freisin, ach ar chúis difriúil. D'fhág mé í ag iompar clainne agus ag dul go Honduras, ach d'fhan mé sa bhaile ag anailísiú na sonraí suirbhé agus ag scríobh an chéad tuarascáil sa Spáinnis agus í féin agus ár mbrathair ag ullmhú chun ár mac a bhreith. Go dtí an lá seo, déanaim nasc idir mo shaol gairmiúil mar antropoloige agus breith Ryan i Jalapa ar 26 Nollaig 1990, ceann de na laethanta is sona i mo shaol. Is é an greann is fearr leat sa teaghlach (ar a laghad is fearr liomsa) a rá go rugadh Ryan i Jalapa (an t-ainm a thugtar ar an bpípéar chili te Jalapeño) ach nach ndéanann sé do bhéal a dhó. Is é Jalapeño, pero no pica. dom, ciallaíonn sé go raibh sé milis, dea-nádúrtha agus geal, cosúil leis an bean leasacháin.
D'fhógair staidéar ar Mucuna, planda beagnach anaithnid do gach duine ach feirmeoirí iargúlta, dornán de agraineolaithe, agus cúpla eagraíocht neamhrialtasach forbartha i Meiriceá Láir, deis uathúil dom cineál antropoilíochta a dhéanamh a oireann go maith do mo charachtar: fiosracht, aird ar mhionsonraí, cumas smaoineamh go taobh. Ba é seo ceann de na cúiseanna a choinnigh bainisteoirí CIMMYT mé ar feadh trí bliana eile tar éis mo chomhpháirtíocht dhá bhliain Rocky Doc a bheith críochnaithe. Thug an t-am breise deis dom dul níos doimhne sa ábhar.
Cé nach raibh sé soiléir domsa ná do dhaoine eile i CIMMYT ag an am, bhí taithí Hondúrais ar theicneolaíocht abonera difriúil go bunúsach ó aon rud eile a d'oibrigh an eagraíocht leis. Ní amháin nach raibh sé ag brath ar aon ionchur seachtrach a ceannaíodh, bhí sé forbartha gan cabhair dhíreach ó eolaíocht taighdeora. Bhí sé ina ghníomh nua-aimseartha de "fhorbairt feirmeora" agus scaip sé i measc na mílte feirmeora bochta gan cabhair ó straitéisí cumarsáide gairmiúla ar a dtugtar "fhorleathnú" sna heolaíochtaí talmhaíochta. Ó roinnt luath-aontaitheoirí idir 1970 agus 1980, faoi 1992, dáta ár suirbhé is mó, bhí sé tar éis teacht ar an bhformhór mór d'fheirmeoirí cnoic na réigiúin, scaipthe ó fheirmeoir go feirmeoir.
Ba réabhlóid í sin i gcleachtas feirmeoireachta na cnoic, rud a thug mé "an Réabhlóid Fhianna Glas" air go hionraic i roinnt alt a d'fhoilsigh mé i bhFóraim Talmhaíochta Idirnáisiúnta. Cé nach mise an chéad duine a thug faoi deara an aireagán, is dócha go bhfuil an creidiúint sin ag Milton Flores agus Roland Bunch, beirt fhear atá lonnaithe in Honduras,1agus bhí mé ar feadh tamaill i lár an spreagadh. Bliain nó dhó tar éis dom tosú ag cur an taithí Hondúrais i gcuntas, dúirt eolaí ag CIMMYT liom go ndéanfadh Mucuna clú dom.
Bhí an scéal Mucuna go tapa ina ghabháil aird i gcruinneacha talmhaíochta idirnáisiúnta. Chinn Stiúrthóir Feidhmiúcháin CIMMYT, Don Winkelmann, an taispeántas sleamhnáin a chruthaigh mé ar an ábhar a chur i láthair do na hóstach agus do na dignitaries a thug cuairt chun foghlaim faoi obair CIMMYT. Bhí an scéal suimiúil agus léirigh sé go raibh CIMMYT níos mó ná ionad feirmeoireachta plandaí agus go raibh sé in ann dul i mbun taighde ar threochtaí atá ag teacht chun cinn i "talmhaíocht inbhuanaithe". Cé go raibh mé ag mothú uaireanta mar an seó madra agus pónaí d'eagraíocht a d'infheistigh go mór sa sean-pharadaigim, bhí mé ag iarraidh talamh bocht nó díghrádú a dhéanamh táirgiúil arís.
Gan aon leisce, chuaigh mé síos i mbosca na coiníní chun gach rud a d'fhéadfadh a fhoghlaim faoin ngléasra dochreidte seo.
Ba é an rud a fuair mé amach saol i ngráin gaineamh. Áirítear ar an gcineál mucuna thart ar 100 speiceas de léagóga bliantúla agus ilbhliantúla, dosaen speiceas cultúrtha nó mar sin agus go leor crosanna agus hibridí. Tá gruaig mhór fada, stinging ar an pod agus is féidir le dermatitis itchy dian a bheith ag daoine. I ndeisceart Veracruz, áit a chríochnaigh mé mo thaighde PhD gan teacht ar an ngléasra uair amháin, is é an cineál fiáine ar a dtugtar Pica Pica Brava (Sting - sting - ferocious) agus an cineál cultúrtha ar a dtugtar Pica Pica Mansa (Sting - sting - tame). Baineadh úsáid as an gcineál Brava chun daoine a choinneáil ó bheith ag siúl isteach i réimsí nach raibh fáilte rompu. Sa Nigéir, is é an cineál itchy ar a dtugtar an Devils Bean.
An speiceas cultúrtha, Mucuna pruriens var. Is dócha gur tháinig an bean as an tSín theas nó ó thuaidh na hIndia, áit a léiríonn tuairiscí ón 18ú agus ón 19ú haois go raibh an bean á ithe mar glasraí. Tá thart ar 27% próitéine i síolta cruadhta na bpeacaí velvet agus tá siad saibhir i mianraí agus i ngnéithe leighis. Tá comhdhúile ceimiceacha sa bhéanna freisin a chuireann nausea agus vomiting ar fáil, i dtiúchan ard. Cuireadh i leith eachtra de síceóis ghéar i Mhoisambic sna 1980idí le tomhaltas beanna velvet le linn triomachta nuair nach raibh uisce a scriosadh mar chuid den phróiseas ullmhú bia.
Bliain tar éis dom a bheith páirteach i CIMMYT tháinig mé ar mucuna i gcarr cúl in aice le Kumasi i Gána, san Afraic Thiar agus mé ag tabhairt cuairte ar thaighdeoirí i mBéinín agus sa Nigéir. Léirigh an bhean sean Gaanacha a bhí ag faire ar an gclann dom a cuid fómhar agus mhínigh sí go gcuireann sí an síol le huisce dhá uair agus go gcaitheann sí an t-uisce gach uair sula ndéanann sí an síol a mhiondealú ina phéiste agus é a chur le huisceanna mar thiúbhlóir. Dúirt feirmeoirí i Meicsiceo agus i Ghuatamala liom go bhfásann siad mucuna agus go rostaítear iad chun ionad caife a dhéanamh, úsáid a léirítear i ainm áitiúil eile don phlanda: Nescafé.
Grianghraf: Máthair-mháthair Ghanan le síolta agus cnaipí mucuna.
Deich mbliana ina dhiaidh sin bhí mé in ann a dhearbhú go n-úsáideann bia na hÁise é ar dtús nuair a tháinig mé trasna mucuna i gcarr-chúl in Nagaland, cearnóg iarthuaisceart na hIndia. Mhínigh an bhean Naga a bhí ag fás mucuna ina cíos dom go raibh an síol bruite, brúite, bruite arís agus ansin ithe mar aon glasraí eile. I gcaibidil eile roinnim sonraí óna scéal, agus mo bhualadh ar bhóthar i ngléasra le scáileán de Chomhairle Náisiúnta Sóisialach Nagaland ag troid ar son neamhspleáchais ó India.
Is é an t-ainm coitianta Béarla don speiceas atá á chultúrú ná velvetbean. Baineadh úsáid as go stairiúil mar aphrodisiac agus i leigheas Ayurvedic Indiach chun míchompord néarógach agus arthritis a chóireáil. Déantar ceann de na comhdhúile ceimiceacha, levodopa, a bhaint go tráchtála ó síolta cruadhta velvetbean agus a chomhcheangal le comhdhúile eile, carbidopa, chun cógais shábháilte agus éifeachtach a dhéanamh chun cóireáil a dhéanamh ar ghalar Parkinson. Measann an Parkinson's Foundation go raibh forbairt an druga sna 1960idí ar cheann de na sásamh is tábhachtaí i stair na míochaine. Cé gur measúnú féin-spéisiúil é, tá roinnt fhianaise ag an éileamh. Tá dlúthbhaint ag levodopa le staidéar agus úsáid dopamine, comhdhúil atá riachtanach d'fheidhmiú gnáth an chórais néaróg lárnach.
Ag athchruthú an scéil ar conas a tháinig an bhéile velvet ó tSín agus ón India go dtí cnoc na Hondúire, agus a thiontú ó ghlasraí beag go barr agrónach mór, d'athraigh mé i bhfianaise plandaí. Chomhcheangail mé taighde taifid le turais seilge chuig aibhneacha iargúlta i ngléas i Guatemala agus i réimsí dúchasacha i ndeisceart Veracruz, chomh maith le hAfraic Thiar. Fiú amháin mo athair iolann isteach. Nuair a d'fhoghlaim mé go raibh an bhéile velvet ar uair amháin ar thrácht suntasach i ndeisceart na Stát Aontaithe, d'iarr sé ar ollamh in ollscoileanna i Florida áit a raibh sé ag caitheamh a chuid geimhreacha ar scor, agus d'ionsaigh sé alt dom ó chartlanna stáisiúin taighde beaga ar fud an stáit.
De réir na gcomhad, tháinig velvetbean i Florida le linn na 1870idí ó oileáin sa Mhuir Chairib, áit a raibh sé ag fás mar ghlasraí ag oibrithe indentured na hÁise Theas. Is sliocht iad na hInd-Caribeanna atá inniu ann i Trinidáid agus Tobago, Iamáice, Martinique agus i dtíortha eile de bhosca na gCaraibí den chóras coilíneach seirbhíse a leathnaigh na Breataine, na Fraince agus na hOlandaigh tar éis 'an sclábhaíocht a dhíothú' i lár na 1800idí. B'fhéidir go raibh mucuna acu leis ón India nuair a cuireadh i bhfeidhm orthu seirbhís sa Mhuir Chairib.
Faoi 1897 bhí thart ar 300 táirgeoir oráiste Florida ag fás velvetbean mar 'crann clúdaigh' chun luí a rialú agus torthúlacht na talún a fheabhsú. Ansin ghlac feirmeoirí i Georgia, Alabama agus Mississippi é mar chothú forage. Bhí feithidí, lena n-áirítear muc agus muca, ag féileadh go díreach i réimsí na mbéithín bhéite agus tugadh na póid chuig muilneacha agus brúitear nó brúitear iad leis an gcorp chun bia a sholáthar do bhaoil, capaill agus muileáin, ag malartú ar bhia cotan mar chomhpháirt próitéine i mbia ainmhithe.
Bhí an-tóir air freisin i mBailte an Chotúin mar "leithdín ghlas", agus de réir go leor daoine ní raibh aon chomhionannas aige mar fheabhsaitheoir ithir. Dúirt taighdeoir Meiriceánach, a d'fhoilsigh i 1902, gur foinse níos saoire nítrigine é  bean velvet ná aon ábhar nítrigineach a d'fhéadfaí a cheannach mar leasachán tráchtála.  Thug duine eile faoi deara i 1919 go bhféadfadh  scéal an bháin velvet a bheith ar a dtugtar romansa talmhaíochta  agus  sábhálaí talmhaíochta an deiscirt.  Ó thart ar 1915 go dtí go luath sna 1940idí chlúdaigh sé níos mó ná céad míle heicteár i Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, agus Carolina Theas agus d'fhás sé i gcodanna de Louisiana, Arkansas, Carolina Thuaidh agus Florida.
Grianghraf: Fíor ó mo alt Bótán Eacnamaíoch.
Ansin athraigh rud éigin. Faoi 1965, bhí an bhéile velvetbean imithe go hiomlán ó staitisticí talmhaíochta na Stát Aontaithe. Ní raibh aon duine ag fás é. Mo hipitéis ar an rúndacht is cosúil, le hinted ar i gcartlann na stáisiún taighde Florida, bhí deimhnithe ag staitisticí a fuair mé ag rianú an titim drámatúil i praghas leasacháin tráchtála díreach tar éis an Dara Cogadh Domhanda. De réir mar a tháinig foinsí nítrigine peitriliam-cheimiceacha níos saoire, chuir soláthar an chothaitheach trí thalamh a chur i bhfostú le beann velvet ar chostas deis ag feirmeoirí. Ní fhéadfaidís a bheith ag fás ar thorthaí a íocann agus an beann velvet ag tógáil an ithir agus ag rialú na weeds.
Bhí an-luach ag an mbonn só, a tugadh isteach i bhfeirmeoirí ó dheas tar éis an Chéad Chéim Mhór, mar réiteach níos solúbtha ar fhadhbanna talmhaíochta, le luach ard mar chultúr bia airgid agus cuid de na buntáistí agraimníúla céanna a bhaineann le beann velvet. D'athraigh táirgeadh feola fócas ag an am seo freisin, ag bogadh ó fheirmeacha oscailte féaracha i ndeisceart Mheiriceá go feedlots i lár-thiar Mheiriceá agus féaracha nua i trópaiceacha Mheiriceá Laidineach. Seo sealaithe an fhás velvetbean i Meiriceá.
Ag athshlánú an turas mucuna ar fud an domhain ghlac sé cas Hollywood ar leith bliain nó mar sin tar éis dom teacht ar CIMMYT nuair a shocraigh mé leanúint ar aghaidh ar thuairiscí ó Hondúras go raibh beirt deartháireacha Guatemalan sna 1970í ag iompar an bhéim leasacháin leo ó Ghuatamala go cósta Atlantaigh Hondúras.
Chuaigh mé ar dtús go Puerto Barrios, calafort Ghuatamala ar an gCaraib, agus ansin thóg mé farantóireachta go Livingston ag béal an Rio Dulce, atá faoi láthair ar Chúlchiste Bithsféir UNESCO. Tá Livingston ar cheann de na sráidbhailte is mó de chuid na Garifuna a bhfuil an chósta ag dul ó Bheilíse trí Ghuatamala agus Honduras go Nicarágua.
Is pobal measctha Afracach agus Dúchasach iad na Garifuna a tháinig ó Caribs Dubha ar oileáin Naomh Vincentius. Tá teanga ar leith acu, traidisiún bia bunaithe ar yucca (cruach fréamhacha), agus foirm cheoil ar a dtugtar punta le rithim uathúil a ghluaiseann an corp ar fad. Rinne an próifíl chultúrtha seo, agus an foraoise thrópaiceach tiubh a bhí timpeall an phobail, Livingston mar chúlra foirfe do scannán 1935 The New Adventures of Tarzan le Herman Brix sa ról réalta. Cé nach raibh sé chomh cáiliúil mar Tarzan agus Johnny Weismueller, bhí Brix ina lúthchleasaí réalta freisin, ag buachan bonn airgid i shot put ag na Cluichí Oilimpeacha a tionóladh in Amstardam i 1928.
Scéimeanna Herman Brix ag dul isteach sa jungle a bhí scannánú ag an mbéal an Rio Dulce in aice Livingston, bealach a ghlac mé i canoe mótarghníomhach ag cuardach le haghaidh comharthaí de mucuna. Fuair mé é i measc na mbreiseán arbhair i réimsí roinnt feirmeoirí Dúchasacha ar feadh na habhann.
Agus mé i Ghuatamala, rinne mé agallamh freisin le cónaitheoirí scothaosta i ghleann Polochic ar chladaí Lago Izabal, agus le fostaithe i mbunaíocht banana i Morales agus Puerto Barrios. Dúirt siad liom go raibh muileáin ag féileáil i réimsí na mbánán velvet a bhí curtha ag an gCumhlacht Fruit Aontaithe, go dtí go raibh na hearraí in ionad na n-ainmhithe chun bananaí a iompar go dtí an ceann iarnróid. Léiríonn sé seo úsáid an bhéile velvet mar chothú forage i Georgia, Alabama, agus Mississippi.
Thug tagairt a fuair m'athair d'fhéachaint ar staidéar antropoilíochta a d'fhoilsigh Ollscoil Florida i 1969 an píosa deiridh den phéistle. Ina chuid, déanann an t-anthrópaí cur síos ar quenk mula (bhonn muile) a úsáideann Indians Ketchi i Guatemala mar rothlú barra le arbhar. Nuair a léigh mé an t-ainm a úsáideadh siad don gléasra, thit an penny. Shíl mé go raibh oibrithe Ketchi le feiceáil mucuna a úsáidtear ar phlandaí banana mar chothú forage do muileáin agus thug siad faoi deara go raibh an ithir faoi na fágtha weed-saor agus taise fiú ag an airde an séasúr tirim. Ón áit sin a chruthaigh siad an rothlú le arbhar cnoc, teicneolaíocht a thug dhá dheartháir a d'imirce ó Ghuatamala ar fheirmeoirí Hondúrais.
D'fhoilsigh mé an cuntas i Botaníocht Eacnamaíoch, iris uasal do Ghardán Botanúil Nua Eabhrac  tiomanta do Úsáid na nPlandaí ag Daoine san Am atá caite, sa Am atá ann, agus sa Todhchaí. Is é an t-alt, ar a dtugtar Velvetbean: A  New  Plant with a History, mo pháipéar údair is mó a luaitear, agus úsáidtear é fós mar fhoinse údarásach ar mucuna. Thosaigh mé leis an cliche "Tá gach rud sean nua arís" ach go fortunately, ar mhaithe le mo féin-mheas mar scríbhneoir, dhiúltaigh eagarthóir an iris an líne agus d'fhoilsigh sé an chuid eile.
Léiríonn naisc a rianófar thar am agus spás rud éigin tábhachtach faoi nádúr na fionnachtana eolaíochta. Ar an gcéad dul síos, léiríonn siad cáilíochtaí sóisialta na nuálaíochta agus na gineadh eolais, cibé acu trí mhodhanna eolaíocha nó trí bhreathnú aireach agus trí loighic agus cruthaitheacht a chur i bhfeidhm i modh réitigh fadhbanna. Tá na húsáidí éagsúla de mucuna, lena n-áirítear cúig theicneolaíocht talmhaíochta ar a laghad (bronntanas bia, bronntanas clúdach, bronntanas forlíonta, bronntanas rothlú, bronntanas idirfhillte), mar thoradh ar thriail ag go leor feirmeoirí agus eolaithe a shíníonn roinnt céadta bliain agus ar a laghad sé thír.
Tá an ceacht go bhfuil nuálaíocht ina ghníomh comhchoiteann, trasphearsanta, léirithe arís agus arís eile ag stairiúla foirmiúla na fionnachtana, cé go leanann an íomhá míthreorach den eolaí-fhionnachtóir aonair. Cuireann an scéal mucuna an smaointeoireacht seo i gcontúirt agus cuireann sé i gcuimhne dúinn go bhfuil fiacha an chine daonna i leith na mban. Ag bun na n-infheistíochtaí mucuna go léir bhí an gníomh an bhféile velvet fiáin a taming sa chéad áit, agus ag foghlaim é a dhéanamh bia trí theicneolaíocht an chócaireachta. Is cinnte gur mná a rinne é seo, cosúil leis an Naga i dearg cróime a cuireadh i seirbhís lena teaghlach mar oibrí indentured a bhí ag dul go Trinidád agus Tobago na Breataine agus an t-aigne Gháineach a bhí i mblaosc safhair ag cur an síol soaked chun an tsúp a dhéanamh dá nighneacha. Is é an t-amhrán a bhaineann le hais a bheith ann ná na bronntanais a fhaigheann an nádúr a fheiceáil agus a athrú go bia ó ghlúin go glúin.
Ar an dara dul síos, léiríonn turas mucuna ón India go Meis-Mheiriceá nach n-oibríonn cruthaitheacht agus aireagán i bhfuaim, rud éigin a thagann amach as aon rud mar a bhí sé. Tháinig gach úsáid nua de mucuna amach as cáilíocht éigin a breathnaíodh ina úsáid reatha: bia, forage, clúdach, leasachán. Steven Johnson, a dhéanann staidéar ar stair nádúrtha na nuálaíochta, glaonn sé ar an spás cruthaitheach seo "an féidearthacht in aice láimhe", is é sin, réimse na féidearthachtaí atá ar fáil ag am ar bith. Déanann sé cur síos ar an nóiméad mar "a chineál todhchaí scáth, ag dul ar imeall an staid reatha rudaí, léarscáil de na bealaí go léir inar féidir leis an láthair é féin a athfhoghlaim".
Is mothú spreagúil, fiú daingne é seo domsa san aois seo ina bhfuil bagairtí tromchúiseacha ar an duine. Ní gá dúinn a bheith beo agus a bheith rathúil le heanlathas eolaíoch nó le hiontráil mhistíúil ach an ceann is coitianta de chumas an duine: an glao ar chách a bheith aireach agus aireach ar ár mbrionglóidí agus ar ár gcumas a idirghníomhaíonn sa nóiméad reatha. Ó fhéidearthacht na rudaí atá ann, tagann draíocht na rudaí a d'fhéadfadh a bheith ann mar íomhá de phlandaí arbhar ag fás i mbrat tiubh de chúlchiste mucuna. Is é seo eolaíocht na concróide.
Is féidir naisc thar am agus spás a fháil freisin sa phróiseas chun an scéal mucuna a insint. Go luath sna 1990idí, fuair taithí Hondúrais le mucuna stádas beagnach miotasach i measc eagraíochtaí neamhrialtasacha agus grúpaí taighde in ollscoileanna agus ionaid talmhaíochta i Meiriceá Thuaidh, Meiriceá Láir, san Eoraip agus i nDeisceart na hAfraice.
Chabhraigh mo chur chuige maidir le foilseacháin taighde. Scríobh mé na torthaí tosaigh i gcónaí i Spáinnis, ag cruthú páipéir chom-authored, in-fhoilsiú in amanna gearr agus iad a scaipeadh go forleathan sa réigiún. Bhí an cleachtas seo, a rinne Yvan Breton a mhodhnú i mo oiliúint níos luaithe ar iascaigh Mheicsiceo, ina ghnáthamh domsa, agus bhí meas ag taighdeoirí agus gníomhaithe Mheiriceá Laidineach araon air. Dúirt Jeffrey Bentley, an t-anthrópaí Meiriceánach a bhí lonnaithe ag an am i Hondúras, gurb é an foilseachán sa Spáinnis Tierra Cobarde Se Vuelve Valiente, an staidéar ón tréimhse seo ar a bhfuil an-bhród orm, an sampla is fearr a bhí ar eolas aige de fhoilseachán bunaithe ar suirbhé. Bhí an moladh seo an-tábhachtach dom mar ní raibh an nádúr pretentious de chuid mhaith den obair suirbhéireachta ag Jeffrey. Sheachain sé freisin cur i láthair rómánsúil agus aneddotach taithí feirmeora.
Go hachomair, athfhoilsigh ollamh ollscoile a raibh aon rud a dhéanamh leis an taighde tuarascáil a d'ullmhaigh mé ar an ábhar cúpla bliain ina dhiaidh sin, focal ar fhocal. Bhí sé tar éis an tuarascáil a phláigéadú, ag déanamh é féin mar an t-údar aonair agus ag foilsiú i ngréasán réigiúnach. Ba é seo mo dara taithí ar phláigíocht, an cineál is fearr de flatter.
Cé go raibh foilsitheoireacht go maith le haghaidh mo shlí bheatha acadúil, cuireann an scéal mucuna béim ar thionchar comhchoiteann thar éachtaí aonair. D'oibrigh Roland Bunch, Stiúrthóir Feidhmiúcháin World Neighbours go luath sna 1990idí, agus Milton Flores, Honduran a bhunaigh agus a bhain an Lárionad Idirnáisiúnta um dhoiciméadacht agus faisnéis ar Chroí Clúdaigh i Tegucigalpa, go crua chun rothaí chlúdaigh agus cleachtais idirchroí a chur chun cinn i raon leathan suíomhanna i Meiriceá Láir agus sa Mheicsiceo. Rinne Milton, fear óg ag an am le gruaig Afro-dlúth, dearcadh milis agus gáire te, comhlánú físe iontach de fhianaise feirmeoirí ar mucuna ar a dtugtar What the Fertilizer Bean Has Taught Us. D'éirigh le heolaithe eile a raibh cáil idirnáisiúnta orthu an snáithe a thógáil freisin, mar a rinne taighdeoirí san Afraic Thiar.
Dúirt Bernard Triomphe, comh-údar liomsa agus le Gustavo Sain ar an leabhar is mó a luaitear faoin ábhar, liom le déanaí gur aistriúchán iontach é físeán Milton ar thaithí phraiticiúil i scéal a d'fhéadfadh feirmeoirí a ghabháil go díreach leis, gan an gá le heolas teicniúil. Ar a mhalairt, chuir a chuid taighde féin ar an ngníomhach-eicleolaíocht den chóras abonera ar fáil an méid a theastaigh ó thaighdeoirí ollscoile a fháil amach faoi conas a d'oibrigh an teicneolaíocht, i dteanga agus i bhfoirm a d'fhéadfadh siad a aithint: tomhais chainníochtúla de athruithe fadtéarmacha i dtréithe ithir agus táirgiúlacht barra, a bailíodh go cúramach sa réimse thar thréimhse dhá bhliain dá dhíshearscríbhinn PhD i ngníomhach-eicleolaíocht.
Chabhraigh amhras sláintiúil Bernard ar theicneolaíocht, a tugadh go sarcasach le béim bhéasach Fraincis, an teachtaireacht a chur in iúl go creidiúnach do eolaithe eile. D'oibrigh Gustavo Sain, eacnamaí Argentineach ag CIMMYT atá freagrach as taighdeoirí a oiliúint i Meiriceá Láir, liom ar gheilleagar an chórais abonera. D'athraigh muid modhanna cainníochtúla chun gnéithe uathúla an chórais feirmeoireachta a ghabháil, ag tabhairt meáchain do phríomh-amharcanna faoi cén fáth go raibh ciall eacnamaíoch ag an gcultúr rothlach ó thaobh feirmeoir agus margadh de. D'oibrigh an triúr againn go maith le chéile, cabhraíodh le sruth leanúnach Gustavo de ghreann faoi na hArgintíne, an Pápa, agus Uachtarán Mheiriceá ina suí le chéile ar eitleán (Ar an drochuair, tá dearmad déanta agam ar na línte punch go léir).
Chuir an obair a rinneamar le chéile le hidirnáisiúntaú taithí Mheiriceá Láir le barraí clúdaigh. Bunaíodh bunús na teicneolaíochta i bhfiosrúchán feirmeoirí nasc creidiúnach idir cleachtais mhaireachtála an domhain feirmeora agus comhlacht fianaise atá ag fás ar fheirmeoireacht éiceolaíoch agus athghiniúna a thagann amach as an domhan eolaíoch. Chabhraigh sé le clár oibre nua taighde a chur ar an eolas agus chuir sé i gceist cleachtais taighde a chuireann cleachtais eisiatacha, ordlaethúla agus patriarchal na fionnachtana eolaíochta chun cinn. Mar a bhí soiléir dom níos déanaí i mo shaol gairmiúil, ciallaíonn athmhuintearas saol na n-eolaithe agus na bhfeirmeoirí an chothromaíocht cheart a bhaint amach idir an méid atá le tairiscint ag na heolaithe agus an méid atá ar eolas ag na feirmeoirí, agus nach bhfuil ar eolas acu. Cad a rinne an scéal mucuna a d'inis muid bríomhar ná gur thug sé an misneach dúinn éisteacht leis an dá cheann.
Thit úsáid mucuna i gcosta Honduras go géar sna 2000í, faoi bhrú ó chothú beorach agus ó theacht an itchgrass (rottboellia cochinchinensis), fíonchaora ionrach nach bhféadfaí é a láimhseáil gan níos mó aird ná a bhí na feirmeoirí sásta a thabhairt chun an chothú clúdach a bhainistiú.2 Faoi láthair, tá an réigiún faoi bhrú ó go leor fórsaí, lena n-áirítear cartels drugaí ag fás coca ar chladaí cnoic iargúlta agus ag athrú an phaiste i gcokain le haghaidh onnmhairiú mídhleathach. Cé go bhfuil an córas abonera fós ina theicneolaíocht shuntasach, gan aon choimhlint mar chóras chun arbhar a fhás ar shliabháin, ní féidir leis dul san iomaíocht sa chomhthéacs sóisialta níos leithne agus i bhfad níos casta seo.
I nDeisceart na hAfraice, chuir an Institiúid Idirnáisiúnta Talmhaíochta Trópaiceach, deartháir eagraíocht CIMMYT, agus an eagraíocht neamhrialtasach Sasakawa Global 2000 cultúir clúdaithe mucuna chun cinn go láidir. Ba rialú éifeachtach é an rothlú ar fheoil spear (Imperata cylindrical), féar an-ionrach a bhí ag cur báis ar thailte a bhainistiú go dian sa réigiún. Bhí mé sa Bhénin i 1995 ag an gcruinniú is airde den fheachtas, chun breathnú agus comhairle a thabhairt. Ní raibh a fhios agam ag an am sin go raibh na dreasachtaí a tugadh tríd an bhfeachtas tar éis measúnú feirmeoirí ar an teicneolaíocht a mheabhrú. Nuair a thit na dreasachtaí, thit úsáid na bhfeirmeoirí as freisin. Bhí sé ró-deacair do fheirmeoirí am agus acmhainní a chaitheamh chun é a fhás chun críocha agraimnéasacha amháin.
Níos déanaí, nuair a d'oibrigh mé ag an Ionad Taighde Forbartha Idirnáisiúnta (IDRC), d'eagraigh mé ceardlann rathúil chun an taithí san Afraic Thiar a roinnt.3 Chisteáil mé freisin forbairt teach imréitigh faisnéise ar chultúir chlúdach san Afraic Thiar, agus taighde saotharlainne ar athrú Levodopa agus fachtóirí frith-chothaitheacha eile i síolta mucáin. Ag an am sin bhí taighdeoirí eile tar éis a gcuid aird a thiontú go ciallmhar chun úsáidí forage agus bia stairiúla mucuna a athbheochan, ag súil go mbeadh na buntáistí comhcheangailte go leor chun tacú le glacadh leanúnach. Bhí Marjatta Eilieta, feirmeoir Fionlainne a bhuail mé sa bhliain dheireanach de mo chuid ama ag CIMMYT, ag comhordaíocht iarrachta taighde mór ar an ábhar seo. Dúirt sí liom le déanaí, cé go raibh na torthaí geallta, nár cuireadh chun cinn iad go gníomhach agus nár éirigh leo tarraingt a fháil i gcearcaí forbartha náisiúnta agus idirnáisiúnta.
Grianghraf: Feirmeoir (ar chlé) agus oibrí leathnú seasamh i bpláta taispeántais mucuna i mBeinín, 1992.
Má chuirtear siar é, bhí na hiarrachtaí sin go léir luachmhar, cé nach raibh aon cheann acu mar "réitíocht" do phríomhfhadhbanna feirmeoireachta. Tá an comhar idir eolaithe agus feirmeoirí fós tábhachtach agus an domhan ag streachailt chun an talmhaíocht a atreorú óna bhealach díothraitheach i dtreo modh táirgthe is féidir a chothú ar fud an domhain gan costas a chur ar an talamh. Tá mé bródúil as bheith rannpháirteach sa phróiseas seo, cé nach bhfuil an clú geallta ó Mucuna fós agam.
Bhí Milton Flores ag rith eagraíocht bheag neamhrialtasach a d'aird ar úsáid chlúdach chothracha a dhoiciméadú i Meiriceá Láir. Bhí Roland Bunch, údar leabhar an-tóir ar fheirmeoireacht na tíre atá i mbéal forbartha dar teideal Two Ears of Corn: A Guide to People-Centered Agricultural Improvement, ag obair ag an am mar stiúrthóir Hondúrais ar Neighbours Domhanda, eagraíocht atá lonnaithe in Oklahoma a oibríonn i roinnt de na tíortha is boichte i Meiriceá Laidineach, san Áise agus san Afraic.
Neil, S. agus D. Lee. 1999 - Tá an t-am ann. An Chóiré Thuaidh: An t-Eagrán um Thír Chonair, Páipéar neamhfhoilsithe, Ollscoil Cornell.
Buckles, D., A. Etèka, O. Osiname, M. Galiba, agus N. Galiano, 1998. Cultúir Clúdaigh san Afraic Thiar: Cur le talmhaíocht inbhuanaithe. IDRC/IITA/Sasakawa Globel 2000.


Lewis & Clark National Trail
William Clark and Meriwether Lewis left from Clarksville on October 26, 1803, to begin the Lewis and Clark Expedition to explore the Louisiana Purchase. The departure site was the home site of George Rogers Clark, older brother of William Clark. The Clarksville and Louisville areas are where they recruited, enlisted, and trained the "Corps of Discovery." The departure site is also referred to as "Clark's Point" and "Falls of the Ohio." Lewis and Clark returned to Clarksville in November 1806.
The Lewis and Clark National Trail was recently extended by 1,200 miles with a law signed in March 2019. The trail extends through Indiana Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. The Clarksville section of the trail is at the Falls of the Ohio State Park along the Ohio River where a historic replica of George Rogers Clark's cabin is located.
The trail's extension now opens the door for more public education and tourism throughout the Ohio River Valley. "The Lewis and Clark Expedition was the most important adventure of exploration and discovery in our nation's history," historian Lou Ritten said. View the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail site.
Lewis & Clark Celebrates the Handshake - A Homecoming Celebration 2020
Where: George Rogers Clark Homesite - 1021 Harrison Ave., Clarksville, IN 47129
Take an adventure to the Falls of the Ohio where today, a replica of the cabin that George Rogers Clark lived in, stands on the site overlooking the Ohio River. This year marks the 217th anniversary of the handshake that began the expedition. The site is on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail. The Falls of the Ohio State Park staff maintains the cabin and staffs it; groups are welcome, and reservations for guided tours are available. The exhibit includes reenactments from blacksmiths to demonstrations of 19th-century medicine as well as other games, literature, and weaving will be on hand. The Lewis and Clark Handshake Festival is held here annually.

Slighe Náisiúnta Lewis & Clark
D'fhág William Clark agus Meriwether Lewis ó Clarksville an 26 Deireadh Fómhair, 1803, chun tús a chur le Taistil Lewis agus Clark chun Ceannach Louisiana a iniúchadh. Ba é an suíomh imeartha suíomh baile George Rogers Clark, deartháir níos sine William Clark. Is i gceantair Clarksville agus Louisville a earcaíodh, a liostáladh agus a oiliúnaíodh an "Cór na Fionnachtana". Tugtar "Clark's Point" agus "Falls of the Ohio" ar an suíomh imeachta freisin. D'fhill Lewis agus Clark go Clarksville i mí na Samhna 1806.
Leathnaíodh an Lewis agus Clark National Trail le mílí 1,200 le dlí a síníodh i mí an Mhárta 2019. Tá an rian ag leathnú trí Indiana Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, agus West Virginia. Tá an chuid Clarksville den chos ag Páirc Stáit Ohio ar feadh Abhainn Ohio áit a bhfuil cóip stairiúil de chábán George Rogers Clark suite.
Osclaíonn síneadh an rianta anois an doras do níos mó oideachais phoiblí agus turasóireachta ar fud Gleann Abhainn Ohio. "Ba é an Taistil Lewis agus Clark an eachtra taistil agus fionnachtana is tábhachtaí i stair ár náisiúin", a dúirt an staire Lou Ritten. Féach ar shuíomh Slighe Stairiúil Náisiúnta Lewis & Clark.
Lewis & Clark ag ceiliúradh an lámhdhéanamh - ceiliúradh ar ais abhaile 2020
Cá háit: George Rogers Clark Homesite - 1021 Harrison Ave., Clarksville, IN 47129
Tóg eachtraíocht go dtí na Caillte Ohio áit a bhfuil, inniu, cóip den chábán a raibh George Rogers Clark ina chónaí, ar an suíomh a bhfuil radharc ar Abhainn Ohio. I mbliana tá 217 bliain caite ón lámhdhéanamh a thosaigh an turas. Tá an suíomh ar Threo Stairiúil Náisiúnta Lewis agus Clark. Déanann foireann Pháirc Stáit Ohio an caibín a chothabháil agus a fhoireann; tá fáilte roimh ghrúpaí, agus tá áirithintí le haghaidh turais threoraithe ar fáil. Áirítear sa taispeántas athchraoltaí ó mhiontair go léirithe ar leigheas an 19ú haois chomh maith le cluichí eile, litríocht, agus fíodáil. Reáchtáiltear Féile Glac Láimhe Lewis agus Clark anseo gach bliain.