ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a synthesis of what has been called traditional agriculture in Mexican anthropology, including some relevant studies. The study of traditional agroecosystems has differences in regard to the scientific studies, problems addressed by researchers, and the approaches of the different disciplines that have been used to do said studies. The idea of modernizing Mexican agriculture has its roots at the end of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The Papaloapan project was one of the best-known great Mexican National Projects inspired by the US Project of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The Papaloapan project focused on modernizing central Veracruz coastal agriculture, introducing sugarcane cultivated commercially for exportation. The strong governmental supports and public policies aimed at modernization of the countryside and the cultivation of products for export are measures Mexico has shared with other countries.
