The wheat and its consequences of sowing it in monoculture

Wheat was one of the main crops that modified the fertility of the soils in the ecological units Dry Evergreen Forest and Páramo. This crop in addition to being associated with planting on steep or steep slopes (which were not planted by the indigenous previously for being more fragile land), constant plowing (approximately three plows per crop cycle: preparation of the land, plow for control of weeds and plow to cover the seeds), lack of replacement of extracted nutrients and little incorporation of organic matter (they did not use compost, only the manure of the animals that grazed the stubble), required a lot of animal work force, both for the plowing and threshing as for its commercialization, which was generating that the grazing and trampling of cattle would be added to the erosive process. All this caused the subsequent abandonment of many of these slopes, currently observed the formation of gullies on some slopes for wheat and that the natural vegetation has not been able to recover, presenting low plant cover despite the abandonment which demonstrates the low reversibility of the environmental damage caused. The wheat boom lasted until 1850 because, in addition to the strong environmental degradation that this monoculture implied, it began to decline due to competition for lower prices generated by other countries. This led the Venezuelan Andes to enter a phase of isolation, promoting a migration stage.

source: Sara Ostrowe en Los pros y contras de comer trigo. https://www.saludconsultas.com/los-pros-y-contras-de-comer-trigo/16670

Source:

Monasterio, M. (1980). Poblamiento humano y uso de la tierra en los altos Andes de Venezuela. Capítulo 6. En: Monasterio, M. (Ed). Estudios Ecológicos en los Páramos Andinos. Editorial de la Universidad de Los Andes, Mérida-Venezuela. pp 170-198.

Sarmiento, L. & Smith, J.K. (2009). Degradación de laderas durante el ciclo triguero en los Andes venezolanos y factores que limitan su restauración. Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Ecológicas (ICAE). Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad de los Andes. Mérida, Venezuela. pp. 40.

Perdomo, S., Sarmiento, L., & Smith, J. (2018). Diagnóstico de la agricultura alternativa en el Estado Mérida y áreas adyacentes: limitaciones, fortalezas y perspectivas de los productores. Trabajo Especial de Grado, Licenciatura en Biología. Facultad de Ciencias. Universidad de Los Andes. Mérida-Venezuela. pp 212.