What did the Inca people grow?

What did the Inca people grow?

They developed resilient breeds of crops such as potatoes, quinoa and corn. They built cisterns and irrigation canals that snaked and angled down and around the mountains. And they cut terraces into the hillsides, progressively steeper, from the valleys up the slopes.

Did the Incas grow crops?

In addition to these staple crops the people of the Inca empire cultivated a great variety of fruits, vegetables, spices and medicinal plants. Some of these other foods grown consist of tomatoes, chili peppers, avocadoes and peanuts. Many fruit trees were also utilized in crop production.

How many crops did the Inca grow?

Inca society was sophisticated, and boasted around seventy different crops across the empire’s various climates.

Where did the Incas plant their crops?

Incan farmers planted crops on the steep peaks of the Andes by using agricultural terraces like these seen at the ruins of Winay Wayna in Peru. In the 13th century, a small group of people living high in the Andes Mountains migrated down into the valley of Cuzco in southeastern Peru.

How did Incas grow crops?

The Incas had to create flat land to farm since they lived in the mountains. They did this by creating terraces. Terraces were carved steps of land in the mountainside. Not only did this genius way of farming help them grow crops, it was also great for irrigation and preventing drought.

How did the Incas grow crops on the high mountain slopes?

How did the Incas grow crops in the Andes? They farmed lands along rivers and also hillsides by cutting terraces, or strips of level land that are planted with crops. Irrigation canals carried water to terraces.

What was the Incas main crop?

Potatoes were the most important ingredient in Inca diet and their main source of nourishment. The potato is one of Peru’s native crops and was domesticated more than 8000 years ago by pre-Inca cultures.

What was the agriculture of the Incas?

Crops cultivated across the Inca Empire included maize, coca, beans, grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes, ulluco, oca, mashwa, pepper, tomatoes, peanuts, cashews, squash, cucumber, quinoa, gourd, cotton, talwi, carob, chirimoya, lúcuma, guayabo, and avocado. Livestock was primarily llama and alpaca herds.

What was the Incas main food source?

Root vegetables were the most important staple foods consumed by the Incas and all of them are native to the Andes. Archaeological findings show that certain root vegetables such as the potato, oca, sweet potato and manioc were domesticated about 8,000 years ago.

What agricultural techniques did the Inca use?

Inca Crops – Vegetables, Grains, Roots and Tubers. Inca farming techniques were quite advanced; the use of terraced fields in the highlands and irrigation systems in desert regions helped with the cultivation of crops throughout the empire.

What was the Inca farming method?

The Inca used the slash and burn technique to cultivate agriculture. This method of agriculture also known as fire-fallow cultivation that involves cutting and burning of plants in a woodland to create a field called a swidden.

Why did the Incas build terraces?

Why did the Incas build Terraces​. Answer. The terraces were built to make the most efficient use of shallow soil and to enable irrigation of crops by allowing runoff to occur through the outlet. The Inca built on these, developing a system of canals, aqueducts, and puquios to direct water through dry land and increase fertility levels and growth.

How did the Inca farm?

The Inca invented terrace farming. They lived in the mountains. Flatlands were rare. So, they simply created flat land by building steps of land for agriculture down the mountainside. This was great for irrigation. Instead of rainwater running down the mountainside, the Inca channeled it through each step.