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Maya Farming
In general, the topsoil in the Yucatan is thin and quickly loses its nutrients when cultivated. On soils like this, the best way to grow a successful crop is to use the slash and burn method. The forest is cleared by burning and maize is planted, along with mixed crops like squash, beans and peppers.
Pre-Classic Maya gathered wild plants for food, but by the Classic period they had farms to grow manioc, squash, maize, beans, chilies, avocado, papaya, guava, watermelon, cantaloupe, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and plum. The traded crops like cotton, tobacco, palm oil, salt, and cacao.
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The
Yucatan peninsula is a limestone plane which has risen out of the Caribbean
over time. It is generally hot and dry, and even the precipitation during
the May - October rainy season is not dependable. There are few rivers,
but the Maya found water in cenotes, sink holes, or collected rain
in underground cisterns. 
It
takes years of experience to learn how to complete this process effectively,
as a miscalculation of date or wind can result in a barren field and ancient
religious rituals still take place today to ensure an abundant crop. After
2 years, the soil is nutritionally depleted and must be left fallow for
15 to 20 years. As a consequence, it takes many acres of land to support
one person in the Yucatan Maize was the most important crop grown by the
Maya, and depended completely on man for cultivation since the hybrid
grain is firmly attached to the cob and sealed in husks so the seeds cannot
germinate on their own.