<P> There were other agricultural export commodities during this early period were cochineal, a color - fast red dye made from the bodies of insects growing on nopal cactuses in Mexico; cacao, a tropical product cultivated in the prehispanic era in central Mexico and Central America, in a region now called Mesoamerica; indigo, cultivated in Central America; vanilla, cultivated in tropical regions of Mexico and Central America . Production was in the hands of a wealthy few, while the labor force was poor and indigenous . In regions with no major indigenous populations or exploitable mineral resources, a pastoral ranching economy developed . </P> <P> The environmental impact of economic activity, including the Columbian Exchange have become subjects for research in recent years . The importation of sheep had a large negative impact on the environment, since their grazing grass down to the roots prevented its regeneration, with a devastating impact on the environment . Cattle, sheep, horses, and donkeys imported from Europe and proliferated on haciendas and ranches in regions of sparse human settlement, and contributed to the development of regional economies . Cattle and sheep were used for food as well as leather, tallow, wool, and other products . Mules were vital to transporting goods and people, especially since roads were unpaved and virtually impassable during the rainy season . A few large estate owners derived wealth from economies of scale and made their profits from supplying the local and regional economies, but the majority of the rural population was poor . </P> <P> Most manufactured goods for elite consumers were mainly of European origin, including textiles and books, with porcelains and silk coming from China via the Spanish Philippine trade, known as the Manila Galleon . Profits from the colonial export economies allowed elites to purchase these foreign luxury goods . There was virtually no local manufacturing of consumer goods, with the exception of rough woolen cloth made from locally raised sheep destined for an urban mass market . The cloth was produced in small - scale textile workshops, best documented in Peru and Mexico, called obrajes, which also functioned as jails . Cheap alcohol for the poor was also produced, including pulque, chicha, and rum, but Spanish American elites drank wine imported from Spain . Tobacco was cultivated in various regions of Latin America for local consumption, but in the eighteenth century, the Spanish crown created a monopoly on the cultivation of tobacco and created royal factories to produce cigars and cigarettes . </P> <P> Coca, the Andean plant now processed into cocaine, was cultivated and the leaves were consumed by indigenous particularly in mining areas . Production and distribution of coca became big business, with non-indigenous owners of production sites, speculators, and merchants, but consumers consisted of indigenous male miners and local indigenous women sellers . The Catholic church benefited from coca production, since it was by far the most valuable agricultural product and contributor to the tithe, a ten percent tax on agriculture benefiting the church . </P>

How did the mining industry contribute to the early development of latin america