Soil Research and Soil Mapping History

Abstract

In Pre-Hispanic time, the native ethnic groups living at the Mexican territory already had significant soil knowledge that included classification of soils and a developed system of soil management. Until now, the folk knowledge may provide valuable information for soil research. The scientific research of soils started in Mexico in late nineteenth century. At the initial stage, soil studies were strongly influenced by the French School of agronomy. In the twentieth century, the soil research was aimed at soil irrigation and soil quality improvement; the development of soil science was supported by the Rockefeller Foundation and other USA institutions. The evolution of national soil research in Mexico is associated with the National School of Agriculture (ENA) founded as early as in 1953, later succeeded by the Autonomous University of Chapingo and Postgraduate College. Soil mapping in the country is actively performed by several institutions, the most important of which is the National Institute for Statistics and Geography (INEGI) that produced the maps of the scale 1:250,000 for the whole country.