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Economy The main financial activity is farming for sustenance rather than for income. The preferred crop is corn and 92% of the farming area is seasonal.  Corn return is less than 100 kgs. per hectare (the domestic average is 800 kgs.)  The requirements of an average family are 614 kgs. per year, 27% above their production. Ethnic tourism is growing as the communities begin to offer services to visitors. Family orchards and low-scale chicken farms are starting to be implemented and tourism is quickly becoming an important source of income.. The economically active Tarahumara population is 38%. 22% earn less than 2 daily minimum salaries. 10% earn the minimum salary. 42% of the Tarahumara Indians have no income. Find out how much your money is worth in Mexican Pesos..  Click here!   Go to The Full Universal Currency Converter at www.xe.com/ucc/full.shtml. Links Ethnic Tourism in the Sierra Tarahumara   Very detailed thesis by Amy Elizabeth Anderson on the importance of Ethnic Tourism by indigenous people. The Copper Guide   traditional lifestyle as compared to the modern system of communal land ownership or ejido.   Tarahumara Crafts   Photos of handcrafted drums, baskets and bowls. Chihuahua Economy  Mexico for Kids Site by the Presidency of the Republic of Mexico. Drought in Sierra Tarahumara   November 2000 article on the effect of the Drought and Crop Failure in the Sierra Tarahumara.