Appropriate technology in rural Mexico: Antecedents and consequences of an indigenous peasant innovation

This paper describes some of the social, ecological, and economic conditions that led to the development of the seed plow in the Valley of Temascalcingo. It briefly examines the history of the plow, documents the socioeconomic changes its use has engendered, and concludes with an exploration of the theoretical and pragmatic implications of this case of modernization.