Identification of soil properties associated with the peasant perception of the suitability of the land for growing organic coffee: the case of traditional agriculture in the “Mixteca Alta” mountains of Oaxaca, México

ABSTRACT

A failure to select a suitable location to grow organic coffee translates into low plantation productivity and degradation of such agroecosystems. Therefore, we need to know a priori the suitable environmental conditions. Twenty-eight soil profiles were described in this study in the Mixteca Alta, Oaxaca. Physical and chemical properties were measured, and a regression model approach identified the main properties associated with the peasant perception of soil suitability for organic coffee production. We found that peasant perception of high soil suitability is in altitudes higher than 1400 masl, soil depth greater than 1 m, slightly basic condition in its maximum pH value, 0.4 to 1 dS m⁻¹ of Electric Conductivity at its maximum, and low values of Na.

KEYWORDS:

• Highland coffee
• organic coffee
• traditional knowledge
• regression modeling
• soil functions
• Oaxaca

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS:

• SDG 1: No poverty
• SDG 2: Zero hunger

Acknowledgments

We especially thank the farmers in Santa María Yucuhiti and Santiago Nuyoo. Especially to coffee growers Café Yucuhiti, Small Mixtec Producers, and the State Coordinator of Coffee Producers of Oaxaca (CEPCO). To Monserrat Barragán-Maravilla and Gabriel Hernández-Vallecillo for their field work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data available on request from the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad under Grant GRP-P 10159, PT 33531; Dirección General de Apoyo al Personal Académico de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México under Grant PAPIIT IN209218; and Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONAHCYT) under Grant 283135.