Rancho Agua Santa, Chiapas

Rancho Agua Santa

We got telcel BAM Banda Ancha Moviles on Thursday November 5th 2009. Connection has been very spotty. I took the BAM to Walmart/Aurrera and it worked wonderful at the store. Busy Saturday afternoon didn`t slow the youtube video viewing. Very happy. At the Agua Santa BAM improved dramatically!!! I don`t know what happened. Some things causing problems appear much better for now. Your suggestion of putting the BAM up outside can only help reception, it worked great in So. Calif. I didn`t find USB extension cable at Aurrera today but other computer stores should have them or I will have one made.

We will use Blog to write diaries of Rancho Agua Santa. The first draft is in English for it maked easy for me for now. We want to quickly create Blog.

Orlando and Osmand cleaned the entrance to the ranch, It looks nice. Need more work here as I like to plant and change not only the image and possibly more.

Palma de Aceite.
As of Friday 6th Nov. 2009.

3 containers from Oct. 23, 26 and Nov 6 totalling 7 tons have been paid and recieved on Friday Nov 6th.

The team has been busy planting this week with all the rain and what. The first week after Senor Casanova left for China. the boy were so relaxed, few took chance to rest.

The man named Nacho are picking up our desperdicio and wouldn`t let me pick up ours, something dirty is going on there. I talked to the manager and I was to see him last Saturday but Out Toyota pickup is having few problems of it`s own. Head mechanic at the Todo Servicio said Clutch and transmission is bad. The starting problem looks related for when we move the car in gear, most of the time it starts. I will take it in Next Monday morning. I didn`t want to until I got the Internet, telcel BAM.

PORQUE EL BAMBU?
Felipe Casanova García

Especialmente creciendo en regiones tropicales y subtropicales de nuestro planeta, se encuentran más de 1200 variedades de bambú, con aprox. 21 millones de hectáreas, distribuidos principalmente en Asia, África, Australia y en América a partir del Sur de Estados Unidos hasta Argentina.


China es el País más rico en este recurso pues cuenta con aprox. el 33%, con 7 millones de hectáreas y sin duda el que va a la delantera en cultivo, desarrollo y aprovechamiento tecnológico de sus bambúes.



Que es bambú?

En términos llanos podemos decir que es un grupo de plantas del Genero de la Gramíneas (Poaceae), cuyo tallo es generalmente leñoso y que algunas especies se comportan como un zacate gigante, que puede crecer en algunos casos más de un metro por día, siendo de una gran importancia económica global.

Dentro de la gran diversidad de variedades de bambúes que existen podemos encontrar desde tamaños miniaturas de apenas algunos centímetros de altura hasta los gigantes de hasta 30 mts. Los hay de distintos colores tales como negros, rojos, amarillos, verde con amarillo, etc.

Observamos que crecen en un rango de altitud desde el nivel del mar hasta más allá de los 3000 metros, en distintos tipos de suelos y en un amplio margen de climas.

El bambú en México.

México tiene un uso prehispánico del bambú, encontrándose registros de usos tales como flechas, instrumentos para caza, pesca y como vivienda, entre otros

En nuestro país crecen 15 variedades endémicas, es decir que únicamente las encontramos aquí; 20 variedades nativas, las que crecen aquí de forma natural y en otros países y 14 especies introducidas, mismas que han sido traídas de otros lugares y que ya están adaptadas.

Porque el Bambú?

El bambú tiene grandes ventajas económicas, ecológicas y sociales que lo distinguen sobre cualquier otra especie vegetal, además puede ser una verdadera alternativa de desarrollo Social para que mejoren las condiciones de vida de las mayorías, al aportar los siguientes beneficios:

Beneficios ecológicos:

Ayuda a mejorar el suelo, evita la erosión, mantiene los recursos hídricos, descontamina mantos freáticos, capta agua, protege las cuencas hidrológicas, captura el carbono del Co2 de la atmósfera, dejando libre el oxígeno, ayudando así a descontaminar el aire que respiramos, mejora el paisaje y es un excelente hábitat para aves y otros animales, etc.

Beneficios económicos:

Aplicando la ciencia y la tecnología que en otros países ya existe como en China y debido al rápido crecimiento de algunas especies es posible aprovechar este recurso para fabricar: Carbón y sus derivados, Papel, Cerveza, Muebles, Pisos, Textiles (ropa), Fertilizantes, Vinagres, Cosméticos, Pasta dental, Jabón de tocador, Complemento alimenticio y por supuesto Brotes comestibles.

Beneficios Sociales:

La construcción de casas de Interés Social puede ayudar a disminuir el déficit que en este tema existe e incluso se construyen ya verdaderas residencias con este material siendo Colombia el País que con el bambú llamado Guadua angustifolia es el más desarrollado en este aspecto. También se construyen puentes peatonales de hasta 40 mts. de claro con una belleza y funcionalidad sin igual, entre algunas construcciones mas.

La experiencia que me da el haber estado en China aprendiendo del bambú, observando la enorme vocación forestal que nuestro país tiene, aprovechando el TLC con Estados Unidos y de acuerdo a la alta demanda de madera que en México existe; me atrevo a sugerir que debemos impulsar fuertemente este cultivo para producir Brotes comestibles; Carbón y sus múltiples derivados, materia prima para construcción, así como productos con procesos sencillos como palillos, abatelenguas, palitos para elotes y paletas, entre otros.

Actualmente estamos llevando a cabo el proyecto “Desarrollo de Bambú en el Norte de Chiapas” mismo que es apoyado por la Fundación Produce Chiapas AC, presidida por el MVZ Mauricio Lastra Escudero, siendo su objetivo la promoción de este cultivo con miras a formar un sistema producto bambú. Como parte de este objetivo nos encontramos el Ing. Pedro Mario Nájera Solórzano y un servidor, en la ciudad de Hangzhou China, formando parte de un seminario para desarrollar este cultivo, y al mismo tiempo redactando un convenio de cooperación técnica entre CBRC ( China bamboo research center) y la Fundación Produce Chiapas AC.de tal manera que en el corto plazo podamos contar con la asesoría de uno de los mejores centros de investigación de bambú en el mundo. 

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At the ranch
The Bamboos that were planted at the entrance looks like they were planted too deep. It appears like 20 cm too deep. They all died at the base about 20 cm. We will clean this area again and plant new bamboos since Mr. Casanova likes see bamboo planted here. We are looking into planting outside at the entrance.

Definición de Permacultura El petróleo y sus derivados están ya restringiendo el desarrollo humano, después de 300 años de crecimiento continuo y 50 años de crecimiento súperacelerado. El fin de la era de energía barata se acerca dado que las reservas del oro negro están llegando a su fin no sin antes atentar contra la vida entera del planeta. El regreso al uso de energía basada en recursos renovables es inminente y los modelos de ecosistemas naturales muestran el camino hacia una cultura que requiere cambios fundamentales en la forma de vida y comportamiento de los humanos, si es que deseamos continuar nuestra existencia en este planeta. David Holmgren La Permacultura es una respuesta de diseño creativo ante el descenso energético mundial y la disponibilidad de recursos, es un Sistema de Diseño y Filosofía Práctica, una fusión única de conocimiento científico y tradicional que aspira hacia el establecimiento de una Cultura capaz de promover Vida más allá de la Sustentabilidad en todos los países del planeta. El concepto de Permacultura se utiliza para crear medio ambientes humanos respetuosos de su entorno, que nocontaminan ni explotan, y cuyo centro es el hombre sus actividades y estructuras en base a un pensamiento Integral y Holístico que toma en cuenta todos los aspectos de un sistema y no nada mas algunas de sus partes. La Palabra Permacultura es una integración de los vocablos permanente y cultura, permacultura o sea Cultura que Permanece. Sus Éticas se basan en el respeto al planeta y a todos los seres vivos que lo habitamos. Sus Principios y Criterios imitan la interrelación, biodiversidad y patrones que rigen los ecosistemas naturales. Su enfoque es el Diseño y la integración de nuestros estilos de vida, nuestra subsistencia y uso de suelo en sintonía con las realidades ecológicas actuales. La Producción de Alimentos Sanos (Agricultura Orgánica) ocupa un lugar predominante en el desarrollo de la permacultura y se estudia a detalle en base a las más novedosas estrategias de desarrollo social y producción. Permacultura es la opción creativa que abre las puertas a una vida sencilla, despierta el interés y gusto por participar en los procesos de la Naturaleza, ayuda a entenderla, respetarla y a trabajar en armonía con Ella. “Para resolver problemas debemos utilizar una manera de pensar distinta a la que utilizamos cuando los creamos” La permacultura aporta ésta nueva visón. Para ver un resumen de los Fundamentos de la permacultura puedes hacer click en éste botón. La Permacultura enseña a Diseñar y Remodelar casas, granjas y pueblos de manera Sana y Ecológica, orienta en el uso de la Tecnología Alternativa y muestra la importancia de la Tecnología Apropiada. Muestra como utilizar los ciclos naturales de las plantas, el manejo de biofertilizantes, el uso de minerales y abonos naturales para crear hortalizas y huertos orgánicos con mucha fertilidad y sin químicos. Te muestra como cosechar, conservar y almacenar semillas. Demuestra como integrar los animales en la producción de alimento, abono y servicios ecológicos de manera sustentable. Aporta soluciones para captar y conservar agua, restaurar los mantos acuíferos y reciclar el agua. En el tema de suelos, aporta soluciones para controlar la erosión, rehabilitar, reacondicionar y construir un buen suelo apto para el cultivo de alimentos, huertas y bosques. Propone estrategias de Desarrollo Urbano Sustentable ilustrando el uso de sistemas económicos alternativos, métodos apropiados de comercialización productor-consumidor. En resumen aporta soluciones prácticas que aseguran nuestra supervivencia en el planeta de manera permanente. ¿QUE CAMBIOS HA PROMOVIDO LA PERMACULTURA? Reforzado, los valores tradicionales de autosuficiencia y frugalidad. Apoyado a gente mayor sugiriendo formas de aplicar sus habilidades y experiencia en la vida hacia un futuro más sustentable. Promovido un estilo de vida más hogareña y autosuficiente fomentando el asentamiento rural de familias que buscan un mejor medio ambiente para sus hijos. Aportado alternativas motivantes a políticas de oposición para gente joven en un mundo de incertidumbre. La Permacultura como promotora de ideas progresistas en diversos campos: En agricultura la permacultura ha influenciado la innovación en revegetación, agroforestería, aportado opciones nuevas de cultivos de árboles, métodos orgánicos y biodinámicos, manejo de aguas pluviales, diseño de granjas y ranchos así como otros usos productivos de la naturaleza. Con el rápido crecimiento de la Agricultura Orgánica, ha promovido los Mercados y Tiánguis de campesinos y las Granjas de Suscripción. En el tema de Casas Ecológicas, permacultura ha promovido la investigación de los aspectos geobiológicos en las casas, la integración de invernaderos adjuntos a la vivienda, reciclaje de aguas negras, uso de materiales reciclados y alternativos en la construcción. En Desarrollo Comunitario, los activistas de permacultura han estado en el centro tanto en el inicio como en la promoción de las Hortalizas Comunitarias y las Granjas Citadinas. Ha promovido un sinnúmero de diversos negocios en Eco-turismo y Educación Ambiental. Ha sido clave en la evolución de Viviendas Compartidas y los Ecopueblos, los cuáles están a la vanguardia en la Revolución de Soluciones Ecológicas. En el aspecto de Inversión Ética, los promotores de la permacultura en Australia iniciaron el cambio de inversiones de criterio negativo a criterio positivo, invirtiendo en lo que realmente quieren en lugar de simplemente evitar lo que no quieren, como por ejemplo Bioreservas en lugar de minas de uranio o tabaco. Un amplio rango de soluciones alternativas se han iniciado y promovido a través de permacultura, incluyendo el LETS (Sistema Local de Transferencia de Energía) el cual es un Sistema Evolucionado de Trueque; Mercado Directo Productor a Consumidor, la Suscripción de Granjas en el Sistema de WW00F (Trabajadores Voluntarios en Granjas Orgánicas). La permacultura ha renovado estructuras gubernamentales y políticas negativas, siendo a menudo un actor invisible apoyando organizaciones gubernamentales y no gubernamentales (ONGs), por ejemplo: En la Fundación Australiana para la Conservación, donde los permaculturistas no solo han aportado soluciones ambientales exitosas, también han sido parte activa en el desarrollo de la agenda ambiental. En grupos para Cuidar la Tierra y Dependencias Gubernamentales, en donde los activistas de permacultura han influenciado en todos los niveles, desde grupos locales hasta políticas públicas para promover la agenda de Sustentabilidad. Proposed site of the sustainable agricultural community Sustainable Agriculture Sustainable agriculture integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. These goals have been defined by a variety of disciplines and may be looked at from the vantage point of the farmer or the consumer. Contents [hide] 1 Description 2 Economics 3 Methods 3.1 Soil Treatment 4 Off-farm impacts 5 Urban planning [edit]Description Sustainable agriculture refers to the ability of a farm to produce fertile soil for crops and produce along with livestock and fish from managed ponds, without causing severe or irreversible damage to ecosystem health. Two key issues are biophysical (the long-term effects of various practices on soil properties and processes essential for crop productivity) and socio-economic (the long-term ability of farmers to obtain inputs and manage resources such as labor). The physical aspects of sustainability are partly understood.[1] Practices that can cause long-term damage to soil include excessive tillage (leading to erosion) and irrigation without adequate drainage (leading to salinization).Long-term experiments have provided some of the best data on how various practices affect soil properties essential to sustainability. Although air and sunlight are available everywhere on Earth, crops also depend on soil nutrients and the availability of water. When farmers grow and harvest crops, they remove some of these nutrients from the soil. Without replenishment, land suffers from nutrient depletion and becomes either unusable or suffers from reducedyields. Sustainable agriculture depends on replenishing the soil while minimizing the use of non-renewable resources, such as natural gas (used in converting atmospheric nitrogen into synthetic fertilizer), or mineral ores (e.g., phosphate). Possible sources of nitrogen that would, in principle, be available indefinitely, include: recycling crop waste and livestock or treated human manure growing legume crops and forages such as peanuts or alfalfa that form symbioses with nitrogen-fixing bacteria called rhizobia industrial production of nitrogen by the Haber Process uses hydrogen, which is currently derived from natural gas, (but this hydrogen could instead be made by electrolysis of water using electricity (perhaps from solar cells or windmills)) or genetically engineering (non-legume) crops to form nitrogen-fixing symbioses or fix nitrogen without microbial symbionts. The last option was proposed in the 1970s, but would be well beyond the capability of early 21st century technology,[citation needed] even if various concerns about biotechnology were addressed. Sustainable options for replacing other nutrient inputs (phosphorus, potassium, etc.) are more limited. More realistic, and often overlooked, options include long-term crop rotations, returning to natural cycles that annually flood cultivated lands (returning lost nutrients indefinitely) such as the Flooding of the Nile, the long-term use of biochar, and use of crop and livestock landraces that are adapted to less than ideal conditions such as pests, drought, or lack of nutrients. In some areas, sufficient rainfall is available for crop growth, but many other areas require irrigation. For irrigation systems to be sustainable they require proper management (to avoid salinisation) and musn't use more water from their source than is naturally replenished, otherwise the water source becomes, in effect, a non-renewable resource. Improvements in water well drilling technology and the development of drip irrigation and low preasure pivots submersible pumps have made it possible for large crops, including produce to be regularly grown where reliance on rainfall alone previously made this level of success unpredictable. However, this progress has come at a price, in that in many areas where this has occurred, such as the Ogallala Aquifer, the water is being used at a greater rate than its rate of recharge. Socioeconomic aspects of sustainability are also partly understood. Regarding less concentrated farming, the best known analysis is Netting's study on smallholder systems through history.[2] Sustainable agriculture was also addressed by the 1990 farm bill [3]. It was defined as follows: Stated by: “the term sustainable agriculture means an integrated system of plant and animal production practices having a site-specific application that will, over the long term: satisfy human food and fiber needs enhance environmental quality and the natural resource base upon which the agricultural economy depends make the most efficient use of nonrenewable resources and on-farm resources and integrate, where appropriate, natural biological cycles and controls sustain the economic viability of farm operations enhance the quality of life for farmers and society as a whole.”[4] [edit]Economics Given the infinite supply of natural resources at any specific cost and location, agriculture that is inefficient or damaging to needed resources may eventually exhaust the available resources or the ability to afford and acquire them. It may also generate negative externality, such as pollution as well as financial and production costs. The way that crops are sold must be accounted for in the sustainability equation. Food sold locally requires little additional energy, aside from that necessary for cultivation, harvest, and transportation (including consumers). Food sold at a remote location, whether at a farmers' market or the supermarket, incurs a different set of energy cost for materials, labour, and transport. The most important factors for an individual site are sun, air, soil and water. Of the four, water and soil quality and quantity are most amenable to human intervention through time and labour. What grows and how and where it is grown are a matter of choice. Two of the many possible practices of sustainable agriculture are crop rotation and soil amendment, both designed to ensure that crops being cultivated can obtain the necessary nutrients for healthy growth. [edit]Methods Many scientists, farmers, and businesses have debated how to make agriculture sustainable. One of the many practices includes growing a diverse number of perennial crops in a single field, each of which would grow in separate season so as not to compete with each other for natural resources.[5] This system would result in increased resistance to diseases and decreased effects of erosion and loss of nutrients in soil.Nitrogen fixation from legumes, for example, used in conjunction with plants that rely on nitrate from soil for growth, helps to allow the land to be reused annually. Legumes will grow for a season and replenish the soil with ammonium and nitrate, and the next season other plants can be seeded and grown in the field in preparation for harvest. Monoculture, a method of growing only one crop at a time in a given field, is a very widespread practice, but there are questions about its sustainability, especially if the same crop is grown every year. Growing a mixture of crops (polyculture) sometimes reduces disease or pest problems [6] but polyculture has rarely, if ever, been compared to the more widespread practice of growing different crops in successive years (crop rotation) with the same overall crop diversity. Cropping systems that include a variety of crops (polyculture and/or rotation) may also replenish nitrogen (if legumes are included) and may also use resources such as sunlight, water, or nutrients more efficiently (Field Crops Res. 34:239). Replacing a natural ecosystem with a few specifically chosen plant varieties reduces the genetic diversity found in wildlife and makes the organisms susceptible to widespread disease. The Great Irish Famine (1845-1849) is a well-known example of the dangers of monoculture. In practice, there is no single approach to sustainable agriculture, as the precise goals and methods must be adapted to each individual case. There may be some techniques of farming that are inherently in conflict with the concept of sustainability, but there is widespread misunderstanding on impacts of some practices. For example, the slash-and-burn techniques that are the characteristic feature of shifting cultivators are often cited as inherently destructive, yet slash-and-burn cultivation has been practiced in the Amazon for at least 6000 years[7]; serious deforestation did not begin until the 1970s, largely as the result of Brazilian government programs and policies.[8] To note that it may not have been slash-and-burn so much as slash-and-char, which with the addition of organic matter produces terra preta, one of the richest soils on Earth and the only one that regenerates itself. There are also many ways to practice sustainable animal husbandry. Some of the key tools to grazing management include fencing off the grazing area into smaller areas called paddocks, lowering stock density, and moving the stock between paddocks frequently.[9] Several attempts have been made to produce an artificial meat, using isolated tissues to produce it in vitro; Jason Matheny's work on this topic, whichin the New Harvest project, is one of the most commented.[10] [edit]Soil Treatment Soil steaming can be used as an ecological alternative to chemicals for soil sterilization. Different methods are available to induce steam into the soil in order to kill pests and increase soil health. [edit]Off-farm impacts A farm that is able to "produce perpetually", yet has negative effects on environmental quality elsewhere is not sustainable agriculture. An example of a case in which a global view may be warranted is over-application of synthetic fertilizer or animal manures, which can improve productivity of a farm but can pollute nearby rivers and coastal waters (eutrophication). The other extreme can also be undesirable, as the problem of low crop yields due to exhaustion of nutrients in the soil has been related to rainforest destruction, as in the case of slash and burnfarming for livestock feed. Sustainability affects overall production, which must increase to meet the increasing food and fiber requirements as the world's human population expands to a projected 9.3 billion people by 2050. Increased production may come from creating new farmland, which mayameliorate carbon dioxide emissions if done through reclamation of desert as in Israel, or may worsen emissions if done through slash and burnfarming, as in Brazil. Additionally, Genetically modified organism crops show promise for radically increasing crop yields, although many people and governments are apprehensive of this new farming method. Some advocates of sustainable agriculture favour organic farming as the only system which can be sustained over the long-term. However, organic production methods, especially in transition, yield less than their conventional counterparts and raise the same problems of sustaining populations globally[11] While evidence supports organic farming during periods of drought[12], these figures must be interpreted with care, and modern food storage technology reduces risks associated with transient droughts. If periods of prolonged drought occur because of global warming, organic production methods can be considered as a way to adapt to a changing climate. [edit]Urban planning There has been considerable debate about which form of human residential habitat may be a better social form for sustainable agriculture. Many environmentalists advocate urban developments with high population density as a way of preserving agricultural land and maximizing energy efficiency. However, others have theorized that sustainable ecocities, or ecovillages which combine habitation and farming with close proximity between producers and consumers, may provide greater sustainability[citation needed]. The use of available city space (e.g., rooftop gardens, community gardens, garden sharing, and other forms of urban agriculture) for cooperative food production is another way to achieve greater sustainability[citation needed]. One of the latest ideas in achieving sustainable agricultural involves shifting the production of food plants from major factory farming operations to large, urban, technical facilities called vertical farms. The advantages of vertical farming include year-round production, isolation from pests and diseases, controllable resource recycling, and on-site production that reduces transportation costs[citation needed]. While a vertical farm has yet to become a reality, the idea is gaining momentum among those who believe that current sustainable farming methods will be insufficient to provide for a growing global population[citation needed]. For vertical farming to become a reality, billions of dollars in tax credits and subsidies will need to be made available to the operation.[13] It may be difficult to justify spending billions of dollars on a vertical farm that will only feed 50,000 people when agriculture land remains abundant.