The MACA (Lepidium peruvianum Chacón) is the only species within the Andean roots and tuberoses that has a unique center of domestication, diversification and production, that is in the plateau of Junín or Plateau of Bombon, located in the high mountains range of the central zone of Peru. There is no evidence of “maca culture” practiced outside this Andean region.

It is a tuberous root, domesticated by the Pumpush de Junín, a pre-Incan culture, who lived in the creeks of the Chinchaycocha Lake. The remains found in the caves of Pachamachay, the newly annexed district of San Blas, Ondores, and the Province of Junín. The maca was their main food source.

Geology (a great secret revealed)

The secret of the Maca is in the ground where it grows and is developed.

Vasquez Espinoza, mentions that "the Maca leaves the soil sterile where it grows leaving very little force." Historian Maria Rostorowsky shares the same opinion, that corroborates the opinion of the farmers who plant it nowadays, they say that the Maca impoverishes the ground that is why they sow it in virgin soil or in the ground which have not been cultivated for several years.

The geography of the plateau of Junín mainly consist of hills and sedimentary rocks which belong to GROUP PUCARA that are calcareous rocks formed by the calcite and the dolomite, in addition to other minerals like: iron, zinc, magnesum, etc.

Winds and rains dissolve and transport mineral particles from these rocks to other places, Individual particles are absorbed by the plants in their first year, deriving minerals from the soil. For that reason, farmers rotate the virgin soil an average of 4 to 5 years, when the soil has absorbed minerals of the environment and has grown ichu or pasture. This explains why pesticides and fertilizers are not used by Sol Raiz Organics farmers in Junín.