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Chinampa (Nahuatl languages: chināmitl [tʃiˈnaːmitɬ]) is a technique used in Mesoamerican agriculture which relies on small, rectangular areas of fertile arable land to grow crops on the shallow lake beds in the Valley of Mexico. The word chinampa has Nahuatl origins, chinampa meaning “in the fence of reeds”.
Scale models of chinampas used by the Aztecs in the lakes surrounding Tenochititlan on display at the museum of the Templo Mayor. A chinampa is a floating garden armada in a lake from the Xochimilco region, once Chinampan, of Mexico. This floating garden, still in use, can have an area of up to 10 meters by 200 meters.
The Aztecs built causeways and chinampas in Tenochtitlan due to its location in the Mexico City basin. The agricultural innovation of the chinampa was a completely unique structure that used small squares of fertile ground that floated on the water as one of the first historical examples of irrigation techniques as well. [11]
These chinampas eventually became the main producer with crops such as corn, beans, chili peppers, squash and more. The city of Xochimilco was founded in 919. Over time, it grew and began to dominate other areas on the south side of the lakes such as Mixquic , Tláhuac , Culhuacan and even parts of what is now the State of Morelos .
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Some of the dolls from Santana Barrera's chinampa Dolls seen from the lake. About an hour long canal ride from an embarcadero lies Isla de las Muñecas, or the Island of the Dolls. It is the best-known chinampa, or floating garden, in Xochimilco. It belonged to a man named Don Julián Santana Barrera, a native of the La Asunción neighborhood.
Chinampas were extremely fertile pieces of land, and yielded, on average, seven crops annually. Based on current chinampa yields, it has been estimated that one hectare (2.5 acres) of chinampa would feed 20 individuals and 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) of chinampas could feed 180,000.
Carias attributes confusion around the Mesoamerican agriculture technique — even among Mexicans — to a lack of information and systemic preservation of the country’s native knowledge.