Use of indicators as a tool to measure Sustainability in Agroecosystems of Arid Areas, San Juan, Argentina

CARMONA JULIETA; GRECO SILVINA; TAPIA, RAÚL.; MARIANA MARTINELLI

REVISTA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS AGRARIAS DE LA UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE CUYO

UNIV NACIONAL CUYO

Lugar: Mendoza; Año: 2019

0370-4661

The main objective of this study is to determine the state of sustainability of threeagroecosystems of arid areas, as well as to identify the critical aspects which limit it, through theuse of economic, ecologic and sociocultural indicators. Three agroecosystems (AE) of the 25 demayo Department, San Juan were selected, whose main economic activity is goat production, andto a lesser extent orchard production, both as subsistence economic activities. To determine thestate of sustainability, indicators were selected and subsequently standardized and weightedaccording to their relative importance with respect to sustainability. The results indicate thatneither of the AE reaches sustainability simultaneously in their three dimensions. The economicdimension index was different in the three AE, reflecting the critical state of the resources, whilethe sociocultural dimension was only affected in AE3. The employed methodology is easy to use,allowed detecting the state of sustainability of the three AE, and identifying the critical variablesthat jeopardize the permanence of AE in time.