Izamal Fair Celebrates Milpa, Chaya Traditions

Aromas, flavors and homegrown products from Yucatán’s countryside took over Izamal as the Second Fair of the Maya Milpa and Chaya turned a spotlight on the traditional knowledge behind the peninsula’s biocultural heritage.

The gathering, organized Friday by the State Center for Humanistic Training, Research and Outreach (Cecidhy) and the Secretariat of Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation (Secihti), was held as part of the National Days for Science Outreach and the Humanities. It brought together researchers, farmers and community members to share knowledge about crop diversity, traditional plant uses, and the practices that sustain the Maya milpa system of farming, with an eye toward passing that knowledge to younger generations.

Cecidhy director Villevaldo Pech Moo opened the event by underscoring the importance of preserving the milpa as a traditional production system built on crop diversity and the comprehensive use of the land. He linked that effort to the Maya Renaissance initiative championed by Governor Joaquín Díaz Mena, particularly its “Pueblo maya, raíz y razón de ser,” or “Maya people, root and reason for being,” guideline, and to broader measures aimed at strengthening food sovereignty.

Pech Moo also highlighted ongoing work to formally recognize chaya, the leafy green long used in Yucatecan cooking. Officials are developing legal and technical mechanisms to certify the nutritional properties of Cnidoscolus chayamansa, the plant’s scientific name, in pursuit of an official designation of origin.

“It’s a plant that has been eaten since ancient times and is part of knowledge and practices passed down from generation to generation,” Pech Moo said. “That’s why we need to keep studying it, valuing it and preserving the knowledge tied to its use.”

Judith Ortega Canto, the state’s subsecretary of technology and innovation, said the fair creates a space where research and traditional knowledge can meet.

“These spaces allow science to have a dialogue with community knowledge, and let new generations learn the value of the milpa and of plants like chaya, which are part of our identity and our diet,” she said.

The program included a lecture by Abelardo Navarrete Yabur on chaya as a medicinal resource, in which he explained that the plant should be boiled or toasted before eating to reduce natural defense compounds, and detailed its nutritional profile, which includes vitamin C, iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, copper and zinc.

Bernardo Caamal Itzá spoke on the ichkool, the traditional Maya milpa system, describing it as an organizing principle for both labor and land rooted in diversity rather than monoculture.

“The milpa isn’t a monoculture, it’s diversity,” Caamal Itzá said. “If we start to see the diversity that exists in that space, we also find the relationship between the land and the Maya people.”

In the milpa system, corn, beans and squash are grown together, allowing farmers to make use of different elements of the land while sustaining food practices and knowledge passed down across generations.

A cultural program rounded out the fair, including a children’s folk ballet from Tekantó and performances by singers Sandra Canto Basto and José Luis Cruz Ramírez. Producers from Dzitás, Kantunil and Espita, along with the communities of Xoy, in the municipality of Peto, and San José Oriente, in Hoctún, sold crafts and products including varieties of corn, espelón beans, squash and honey, along with soaps, wines, gelatins, horchatas, tortillas, embroidered goods and dishes like empanadas, panuchos and tamales.

Fast Facts

• The Second Fair of the Maya Milpa and Chaya was held in Izamal this week, organized by Cecidhy and Secihti.
• Officials are pursuing an official designation of origin for chaya, scientific name Cnidoscolus chayamansa.
• Producers from Dzitás, Kantunil, Espita, Xoy and San José Oriente displayed crops, crafts and traditional dishes.
• The event was part of the National Days for Science Outreach and the Humanities.

With reporting from La Jornada Maya.