ABSTRACT
The relevant physical environment for contemporary Andean farmers includes those characteristics of Andean climate, soils, and organisms which can affect average crop yields and their variance. This chapter examines the productivity of some of the basic crop-growing strategies of the Andes and in the process define strategically relevant environments, using an adjoint methodology. The amount of water required by a crop can be estimated by calculating the potential evapotranspiration, which is a function of temperature, insolation, wind speed, and humidity. The equatorial Andes are subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, and to fairly severe climatic fluctuations. Agricultural censuses and sampling procedures produce data on yields which are of relatively little use to the study of yield-environment relationships, because the regional units of reporting are too large and include widely varying environments. Land use maps provide information on the empirical relation of crops and crop zones with environmental parameters, of course without revealing the underlying processes responsible for these patterns.
