Agroecology in Large Scale Farming - A Research Agenda

• Autores: Tittonell, Pablo; Piñeiro, Gervasio; Garibaldi, Lucas Alejandro; Dogliotti, Santiago; Olff, Han; Jobbagy, Esteban G.
• Año de publicación: 2020
• Idioma: inglés
• Tipo de recurso: artículo
• Materia: Biodiversidad y Conservación; Ecología; Agricultura (General); Sustainability; Intensification; Agriculture; Landscape; Ecosystem Services; South America; Europe; Biodiversidad y Conservación; Ecología; Agricultura (General)
• Institución: Universidad Nacional de Río Negro

Fil: Tittonell, Pablo. Agroecology, Environment and Systems Group, Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias de Bariloche (IFAB),Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria – Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
Fil: Piñeiro, Gervasio. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura. Buenos Aires.
Fil: Garibaldi, Lucas A. Universidad Nacional de Río Negro. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural. Río Negro, Argentina.
Fil: Garibaldi, Lucas A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Recursos Naturales, Agroecología y Desarrollo Rural. Río Negro, Argentina.
Fil: Dogliotti, Santiago. Universidad de la República. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Uruguay.
Fil: Olff, Han. Groningen University. Groningen Institute of Evolutionary Life Sciences. Conservation Ecology Group. Países Bajos.
Fil: Jobbagy, Esteban G. Instituto de Matemática Aplicada San Luis. Grupo de Estudios Ambientales. Universidad Nacional de San Luis. San Luis, Argentina.
Agroecology promises a third way between common global agriculture tradeoffs such as food production and nature conservation, environmental sustainability and ecosystem services. However, most successful examples of mainstreaming agroecology come from smallholder, family agriculture, that represents only about 30% of the world agricultural area. Mainstreaming agroecology among large scale farmers is urgently needed, but it requires addressing specific questions in research, technology and policy development to support sustainable transitions. Here we take stock of the existing knowledge on some key aspects necessary to support agroecological transitions in large scale farming, considering two contrasting starting points: highly subsidized and heavily taxed agricultural contexts, represented here by the examples of Western Europe and temperate South America. We summarize existing knowledge and gaps around service crops, arthropod-mediated functions, landscape and watershed regulation, graze-based livestock, nature-inclusive landscapes, and policy mechanisms to support transitions. We propose a research agenda for agroecology in large scale farming organized in five domains: (i) Breeding for diversity, (ii) Scalable complexity, (iii) Managing cycles beyond fields and farms, (iv) Sharing the cultivated landscape, and (v) Co-innovation with farmers, value chains and policy makers. Agroecology may result in a renewed impetus in large scale farming, to attract the youth, foster clean technological innovation, and to promote a new generation of large-scale farmers that take pride in contributing to feeding the world while serving the planet and its people.
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