"Demonstrates that deterioration of social and ecological conditions has led to changes in forms of production in subtropical area of Northern Sierra in Puebla, including a shift during 1970s from cacique-related traditional cultivation techniques to a two-tiered production system consisting of subsistence farming and contract work for large ranches and coffee plantations. Argues that both techniques are related to process of integrating peasant forms of production into capital accumulation. Methodology includes interviews, quantitative analysis of peasant economies, and geographical evaluation of land use"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 57.