Inca Terrace Farms

Terrace farms were an infrastructure used to provide food for the Incas.

The lands that the Inca called home were the mountain ranges of the Andes. The huge mountains that make up the range are only a part of the many challenges making an empire of the range would bring. Active volcanos are dotted throughout the mountain range, the winds of El Niño periodically batter the coast, and on top of those, the area is an earthquake hot zone (D’Altroy, 10). So suffice it to say, taking care of large populations in those conditions was a Herculean achievement. The primary reason for this success was Incan agriculture. Their productive terrace farms produced maize, potatoes, and even cotton (D’Altroy, 10). These terrace farms conserved water, could be built into mountain sides, and pretty much could not flood. To add to this, the Inca managed to learn how to freeze dry potatoes and meat (the Inca had jerky first). This advancement made it possible to provision a larger army, but perhaps even more consequential, provide reliable food duress times of bad harvests. The Inca’s skill with managing resources, especially terrace farmed food, is one of the greatest achievements they managed to accomplish over the course of their all to short history.