The canarian agriculture had marked for centuries a biodiversity richness remained in a national anonymity. Being one of the varieties the very rich ssp. andigena, the oldest and most traditional on the canarian tables. The crop is situated in the midlands, away from the export crops situated below 300 metres over the sea level. The midland crops are associated in the Canary Islands to local market agriculture, mainly on drylands, without irrigation. As well, it's the sort of agriculture which supported the weight of farmer's traditional culture, with low capitalization and high work contribution in a direct exploitation system.

The midlands own marked differences depending on physical environment, what leads to no uniformity between the midlands localized at windward or at leeward on the five western islands. Otherwise, special features have been kept in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura (sandings, ditches, watering holes, nateros, jable, etc).

The potato was near to what has been the Mediterranean triology (cereals, vine and olive), where the olive is changed for the potato as main character in the humid midlands. Meanwhile, fruit trees (vine, almond, fig, etc.), are localized in the leeward midlands or in the not much disturbed volcanic landscapes, either at garden borders and poorer soils in the windward midlands.

Not to be left behind is the fellowship of potato and wineyard, since when the wine reaches its harvest time, the potato took the main character and the land in between the wineyards. This will for sure be used by the wine: the organic manure, the soil's pitting, so the rainwater can infiltrate better, etc.

The midland had to stand the worst economic and social deal. There weren't any importance, not being in a strategic profitable zone for a product valued for quantity rather than for quality and differentiation. This was because the class with power turned aside public and private resources to export crops (larger area estates) favouring economy policies of the islands to that sector. The farmer in this crop zones developed an agriculture of a tremendous effort and an important recognition. His personal effort and economic incapacity impeded him to run the risk of undertaking any new experience because its failure would lead him to hunger. The lack of official supports (subsidies) for the little farmer and the inexistence of experimental farms and real agriculture techniques, are causing an ordinary and traditionalist farmer without distances between past and future. His empiric world with some knowledge from verbal tradition are the source of day-to-day labour. All this traditional situation suffers a hard impact in the last years, above all, breaking external isolation, roads, audio-visual media, etc.

Nowadays, with new technologies, phytosanitaries, etc., incongruously has carried to worry in several crops since pest's menace is constant, the courage is low. It is taken seriously the recovery of ancient varieties or practices on the crop, as alternating cereals and legumes with potatoes, adding manure at least once a year. The midland has a very important role with the potato, of course without neglecting the other accompanying crops like the vine. It has also been an important element on the environment, kept until now. We hope the CoO, for which so much has struggled the Asociación de Papas Antiguas de Canarias wiil be the beginning for a guarantee for environment respect and hope for the farmer.

The task of the farmer's wife, really conservative, hard-working like nobody and important part in conservation of crops we can still enjoy and we mustn't forget.
The crops in the enriched midland zones, agriculture landscapes which beautify the heights from 400 to 700 metres over the sea level. Always thanks to the farmer's effort, and above all, the unnoticed task of storing, selection and care of seeds, done by yhe farmer's wife.

Vocabulario de canarismos:

- Sandings : crop systems where the soil is covered permanently by a layer of volcanic sand, to keep soil's moisture. Lanzarote and Fuerteventura . .
- Gavias: Piece of land for planting, bordered by a ridge (little soil hump). Irrigated by swamping with rainwater from the ‘alcogida' (parts of the mountain slopes, ravines, etc. , conditioned to pick up rainwater). Lanzarote and Fuerteventura .
- Bebederos: Very small ‘gavia', built in the river bed of a ravine, by a shortcut. Each one uses to have a peak of twelve furrows . Lanzarote y Fuerteventura.
- Nateros: Little gardens made in land enriched by the slime dragged along by rainwater. Generally they take shape near the river bed of ravines or little ravines. Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Tenerife, La Palma .
- Jable: Beach sand (Tf.), volcanic sand (L.P., Hi.), white beach sand (Lz., Fv.)
- Alley: Orchard ( three potato alleys are three potato orchards ).
- Zahorra: whitish Volcanic sand, finer than the ‘picón'. Tenerife (south)
- Picón: Black or red volcanic sand. Fv., Tf., GC., Lz.



Source:

• Wladimiero Rguez. Brito (Dpto. de Geografía de la ULL ) Phytoma Edit., cuadernos, las enfermedades de la papa y su control, pag 33-38, 1992)
• Diccionario de canarismos, (A. Lorenzo et otros), Fco. Lemus: