In order to produce good crops, the Kayapo have carefully planned strategies for managing soil, preserving ground cover , temperature and humidity control, natural pest management, and timing the planting of crops. The process starts by selecting good agricultural land, which depends on the Kapayo farmer's knowledge of the soils, based on their colour, texture,organic matter, drainage, and temperatures. Ground cover indicates surface and subsoil types. Underbush is cleared and some tubers and bananas are planted before the trees are felled and dried to be burned. When they are burned, some two to three months later, the plantings have already developed a healthy root system.
Planting is anything but random.
For example, sweet potatoes are planted in the centre zone, where the soil is frequently aerated by hand and enriched constantly by the addition of ash and organic matter. A second circle is reserved for such nutrient-demanding crops as beans, papaya, melons, pumpkins, yams, cotton and tobacco. It is full of useful medicinal plants, some of which may lure would-be pests away from the more valuable crops. Many of these 'atykma' plants have nectar-producing glands on their foliage. These nectaries attract aggressive ants and termites.