Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Agroecología: Principios para la conversión y el rediseño de sistemas agrícolas

2015; Ediciones de la Universidad de Murcia; Volume: 10; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

1989-4686

Clara I. Nicholls, Miguel A. Altieri, Luis L. Vázquez,

Sustainable Agricultural Systems Analysis

Modern agroecosystems require systemic change, but new redesigned farming systems will not emerge from simply implementing a set of practices (rotations, composting, cover cropping, etc.), but rather from the application of already well defined agroecological principles. These principles can be applied by way of various practices and strategies, and each will have different effects on productivity, stability and resiliency within the farm system. By breaking the monoculture nature of farming systems, agroecological diversification mimic natural ecological processes leading to optimal recycling of nutrients and organic matter turnover, soil biological activation, closed energy flows, water and soil conservation and balanced pest-natural enemy populations, all key processes in maintaining the agroecosystem’s health, productivity and its self-sustaining capacity. By enhancing functional biodiversity, a major goal of the conversion process is achieved: strengthening the weak ecological functions in the agro-ecosystem, allowing farmers to gradually eliminate inputs altogether by relying instead on ecological processes and interactions.