Veronica Calles

Coca is a plant with a long and complex history. Considered the mother of all plants, it has many traditional uses among indigenous people of the Andes. It wasn't until cocaine was isolated from the leaves in the mid 1800s that it developed its current reputation as a narcotic -- and when used traditionally, it is not considered a vice. It still has an important place in Andean society.

To grow coca, the soil is inverted, turning the rich topsoil under, and forming hard terraces with the clay subsoil. The coca is planted into these terraces, and produces harvestable leaves for about 30 years. Then the land is abandoned: this process leaves the soil unfertile, even for forrage grasses.

Veronica Calles, an agronomy student at the College, planted an abandoned coca field with a mix of ground covers, crops and local tree species to see whether the land could be recovered for use -- and found that leguminous cover crops and local tree species adapted successfully -- and the crops, well, not so much.

The project was supported by a USDA-funded collaboration with South Dakota State University, Sisseton Wapheton College and Nebraska Indian Community College, directed by Dr. Diane Rickerl, one of the College's ambassadors.

Her graduation project was well received, and Veronica last Thursday became the latest graduate at the College. Congratulations, Veronica!