Milpa as a Mesoamerica traditional permacultural approach, likely adapted in part from naturally occurring symbiotic relationship between wild corn relative TeosinteW and wild bean ancestor of the common bean.W
The milpa cycle calls for 2 years of cultivation and eight years of letting the area lie fallow. Agronomists point out that the system is designed to create relatively large yields of food crops without the use of artificial pesticides or fertilizers, and they point out that while it is self-sustaining at current levels of consumption, there is a danger that at more intensive levels of cultivation the milpa system can become unsustainable.
