milpa

noun2

1. •
   A small field, especially in Mexico or Central America, that is cleared from the jungle, cropped for a few seasons, and then abandoned for a fresh clearing.

   • These three plants are often grown together in a single field called a milpa, the beans creeping up the corn stalks while the squash plants catch along the lower leaves of the corn plants. — 1993
2. •
   A cyclical crop-growing system used throughout Mesoamerica.

   • Milpa is based on seed crops, particularly the uniquely productive combination of maize, beans and squash, and in the past its techniques were normally those of swidden cultivation. — 2007