Capinota

Capinota is a sma toun in the Bolivie Depairtment o Cochabamba an caipital o the Capinota Province.

Location
Capinota is situatit at an altitude o 2.380 m whare the rivers Río Arque an Río Rocha meet tae acome the Río Caine an the Río Grande dounstream. It is locatit 66 kilometres sooth o the department caipital Cochabamba on the northren river bank o Río Arque.

Climate
The climate is semi-arid wi a yearly rainfaw average o 500 mm an a temperatur average o 18 °C. The dry saison lasts frae Mey tae September an haes lawer temperaturs but nae frost. The rainy saison lasts frae December tae Februar an is wairmer.

Population
Capinota's population haes risen frae 3,955 (census 1992) tae 4,801 (census 2001) an is estimatit tae be 5,242 bi 2006. The annual population growthe is 1.77%. The population is mainly o Quechua origin.

Industry an trade
Near Capinota thare is Coboce Mill, a cement industry, the anerlie major industrial activity in the Capinota vicinity

Agricultur
Acause o the absence o frost, conditions for agricultur are favourable aw year roond. Crops which are mainly cultivatit are potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, corn an alfalfa. Thare are horticultural activities an aw, sic as vinyairds an fruit trees, lik peaches an aiples.

The average field size is anerlie 0.35 ha, rangin frae 600 tae 6000 m². Land is awned privately as well as rentit on a share-croppin basis. The land is prepared an ploughed manually an wi oxen, tractors are rarely uised.

Lameo
Farmers in Capinota, as in some ither valleys o the Cochabamba Depairtment, practise the technique o lameo (or: mey'kas), an indigenous method o sile conservation, tae enrich an conserve thair siles. Thay mak uise o the minerals an organic sediments o Río Arque which are freed bi rains in the upper pairt o the river basin. Thir materials are trappit bi alterin the course o the river in the Capinota basin tae fluid some o the fields alang the river bed.

Tae alter the course o the river, bocatomas are made, man-made openins or inlets, which hae tae be rebuilt efter each floodin bi the river, which is done ivery 1–3 years. Thir bocatomas are 30 cm heich an captur an average layer o sediment o 10 cm in ivery field. Biggin thir 'dykes' aroond the fieds is mainly done in December at the beginnin o the rainy saison. Atween the ooter dykes an inside the fields, sma canals 35 cm deep an 80 cm wide are biggit tae distribute the watter equally. At the lawer end o the field furrows drain the excess watter, sae that the land inside the ooter dykes is covered bi 12 tae 15 cm o watter.

Lameo irrigation an sedimentation at Capinota kiver 228 ha an mair nor 200 fermers participate in it. It enables the fermers tae practise an intensive an mercat orientit agricultur whaur mainly potatoes an Dutch tomatoes are grown. In fields locatit faur awa frae the river, the sile is enriched bi mixin the river sediments wi the existin sile, eikin chicken manure.

Frae studies o geomorphology an sedimentation in the Valle Alto region it can be estimatit that the technique o lameo goes back as far as 1500 BC.

References

Freemit airtins
Province Capinota hamepage

Sources
Lameo, an indigenous method o soil conservation 
Estimatin spatial patterns o soil erosion and deposition in the Andean region 
Appropriate designs an appropriatin irrigation seestems 

Category:Populatit places in Cochabamba Depairtment