Chimanpas were a better form of agriculture than the others mentioned on the previous page. It allowed for the farmers to have a continuous cycle of crops. This was because of the use of seedbeds, the farmers were able to harvest a previous crop and already have a new crop ready to be planted and tended to.
Farmers harvesting a crop of Maize Farmer planting seeds in a seedbed.
(Florentine Codex 1590) (Florentine Codex 1590)
These farms were extremely fertile. Unlike other methods, the farmers were able to use the lake mud dredged up from the bottom, along with vegetation from the bottom, as a method of fertilization. This was the point in time where the fields were allowed to lay in fallow. After about 3 months, the fields was ready to be tended to again.
These chinampas were able to produce about 3,000 kg/ha of food. This amount allowed for the possibility of a large population. The Chinampas provided about 30% of Tenochtitlan's food needs.