The farming family that improved their crops while conserving forests

The story of Hilario Delgado and Mercedes Tarrillo is similar to that of many Peruvian families dedicated to agriculture. In search of a better future, they left Cajamarca and moved to Moyobamba, San Martín, specifically to the hamlet of Limón, where around 60 families engage in agricultural work that goes hand in hand with forest conservation and crop improvement. What’s the secret? A set of practices that fall under the term agroforestry, which the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law has been working on through the AgroFor project.

In the case of the Delgado Tarrillo family, they work sustainably on eight hectares for the production of coffee, oranges, mandarins, avocados, and guaba, as well as forest species, with the Indian rosewood being the most notable. Mercedes is confident that their plot, “El Encanto,” will “charm” even more once the production of the trees they are planting increases. However, for that to happen, agroforestry plays a very important role in preventing damage to the forests.

Considering that agriculture is the main activity in San Martín and land use change is one of the main reasons for the deforestation of over 3 million hectares of forest in the last 20 years, it is important for the state to propose alternatives to stop this trend. This, clearly, must go hand in hand with improvements for farmers like Hilario and Mercedes, who are often stigmatized for the activities they undertake to survive.

A concrete alternative has been the work done by this farming family alongside specialists from the International Center for Agroforestry Research (ICRAF), which has resulted in better harvests. Undoubtedly, the challenge is to train as many families as possible to improve their coffee and other crop production, and at the same time, assist the state’s efforts to conserve the soil in this area rich in vegetation and biodiversity.

If this continues, in the future, Hilario Delgado and Mercedes Tarrillo may be able to access a Use Transfer Agreement for Agroforestry Systems (CUSAF) contract, thereby formalizing their forest production practices. It is worth noting that the SPDA, ICRAF, GGI, and the regional governments of San Martín, Amazonas, and Loreto are working on the enabling conditions to implement CUSAFs, which would be an opportunity for thousands of farming families in the Amazonian territory.