Monocultures

Ok, Children of the Corn was true classic from the days when Stephen King was the King of horror. However its true glory lies in marking an era where the Green Revolution has shown its true face as the unlikely Terminator. High-yield strains were developed and seeded everywhere around the world, supplanting most of the old gene pools and agrarian biodiversity since Neolithic Revolution to kingdom come. Especially so in the third or the second world, the Communist East being very much into the same ‘let’s have mutant, pest-resistant, gigantic, super-sweet corn’ wave. In fact, we could argue that much of the Eastern ‘collectivization’ was a more or less a camouflaged fertility cult celebrating chthonian energies, renewal and miraculous hybrids.

Critically reading Amitav Ghosh's Sea of Poppies, the present paper attempts to explore the impacts of colonization on indigenous subjects, plants and animals. To trace the detrimental effects of colonialism on both environment and people in Sea of Poppies, this study foregrounds the reflection of the obligatory cultivation of poppy under the rule of British colonizers in India. Sea of Poppies is indeed a portrayal of the catastrophic policies enforced in India by British colonizers in the nineteenth century. In his seminal novel Ghosh deals with the changes brought about by the lucrative cultivation of poppy in the exacerbation of the financial status of indigenous subjects. Environmental devastation and the changes in the normal behavior of animals are also dealt with. Focusing on the theoretical frameworks proposed by Graham Huggan and Helen Tiffin, this paper explores the convergence of postcolonialism and ecocriticism in Ghosh's Sea of Poppies to indicate that not only were native people impoverished during colonialism in India, but also the ecosystem was severely damaged.

Contemporary approaches to integrating "self" and the "other"—such as multiculturalism, cultural diversity, race relations, inclusiveness strategies, or identity politics—are flawed from the perspective of traditional thought. At their core, modernist ideologies are inimical to and destructive of all human diversity. The new face of antipathy to pluralism is becoming more deceptive as it grows less focused on respecting diversity and more on promoting ideological uniformity and the erection of a global monoculture. This essay argues that it is from a metaphysical perspective that human diversity can be fully understood and can seek to reconcile the dichotomy of "self" and the "other".

Intercropping, the agricultural practice of cultivating two or more crops in the same space at the same time, is an old and commonly used cropping practice which aims to match efficiently crop demands to the available growth resources and labor. The most common advantage of intercropping is the production of greater yield on a given piece of land by making more efficient use of the available growth resources using a mixture of crops of different rooting ability, canopy structure, height, and nutrient requirements based on the complementary utilization of growth resources by the component crops. Moreover, intercropping improves soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation with the use of legumes, increases soil conservation through greater ground cover than sole cropping, and provides better lodging resistance for crops susceptible to lodging than when grown in monoculture. Intercrops often reduce pest incidence and improve forage quality by increasing crude protein yield of forage. Intercropping provides insurance against crop failure or against unstable market prices for a given commodity, especially in areas subject to extreme weather conditions such as frost, drought, and flood. Thus, it offers greater financial stability than sole cropping, which makes the system particularly suitable for labor-intensive small farms. Besides, intercropping allows lower inputs through reduced fertilizer and pesticide requirements, thus minimizing environmental impacts of agriculture. However, intercropping has some disadvantages such as the selection of the appropriate crop species and the appropriate sowing densities, including extra work in preparing and planting the seed mixture and also extra work during crop management practices, including harvest. The selection of an appropriate intercropping system for each case is quite complex as the success of intercropping systems depend much on the interactions between the component species, the available management practices, and the environmental conditions. Plant breeding can contribute determinedly to increase of productivity of intercropping systems by investigating and exploiting the genetic variability to intercrop adaptation. This paper provides an overall view and evaluation of annual intercropping, summarizing its main advantages supported by a number of key examples from the literature which point out its great value in the context of sustainable agriculture.

Resumen. Las plantaciones del "mezcal azul" Agave tequilana Weber crecen en aproximadamente 43 000 hectáreas de tierras sin riego, con 153 .6 millones de plantas propiedad de 2500 agricultores en Jalisco. La industria del tequila emplea en la misma entidad a aproximadamente 23 202 personas y produce anualmente alrededor de 70 millones de litros que exporta en casi un 90% a granel a los Estados Unidos y el restante a más de 40 países. El sistema agrícola tradicional ha sido poco estudiado y en los últimos 10 años está cambiando hacia un patrón de monocultivo con uso excesivo de fertilizantes y plaguicidas, cuyas consecuencias no han sido evaluadas. Para algunos agricultores las ventajas son la reducción de 1 a 2 años del ciclo del cultivo; pero la mayoría reconoce el aumento de los costos de producción y los ambientales. Los pequeños productores pierden en la comercialización del agave por una sobreoferta del cultivo y por su incipiente organización social. Palabras clave: Agroindustria, Agave tequilana, competitividad agrícola, producción, tequila. Abstract. In Jalisco, the "mezcal azul" Agave tequilana Weber grciws in 43 000 hectares of non-irrigated farmland representing 153.6 mi Ilion plants belonging to 2 500 owners. The industry of tequila employs 23 202 persons in Jalisco and produces 70 million liters per year, exporting 90% in bulk to the United States and the remainder to more than 40 countries. The traditional cultivation system has barely been studied and has been changing in the lastdecade, especially to a monoculture with an excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, but the consequences of their use have not been evaluated. Sorne producers consideras an advantage the decrease by one to two years in the crop period, but the majority acknowledge productivity and environmental costs. Small growers are losing the agave market dueto surplus agave production and their incipient social organization. INTRODUCCIÓN El sector agroindustrial del agave merece atención por la importancia económica que tiene para Jalisco por la produc-ción y comercialización del tequila y por los ingresos corres-pondientes en impuestos y exportaciones para el país, sin contar los efectos indirectos que tiene en otras industrias. El objeto de estudio requiere de un análisis dada la situación por la que atraviesa el cultivo del agave, sin una planifica-ción concertada, con la pérdida de germopiasma y una sobreoferta de materia prima, todo esto con consecuencias económicas y sociales. En este diagnóstico se aborda el recurso vegetal y sus sistemas de producción a grandes rasgos, sus regiones de cultivo y su competitividad en un sistema agroindustrial con atractivas expectativas de creci-miento, pero sin acciones deliberadas para fomentar un desarrollo estable. El enfoque que se utiliza es el de sistemas, donde se define al sistema agroindustrial como un conjunto de estruc-turas vinculadas entre si por ciertas reglas , no como una secuencia lineal de una entrada y salida de insumos y productos en la cadena de producción y comercialización (Ramos, 1987), donde sus elementos interactúan en un entorno de competitividad. El caso del tequila es, por su específica regionalidad y la falta de usos diversificados de su materia prima, aún mas interdependiente en sus relacio-nes agroindustriales. El material para el desarrollo de este análisis son la revisión de estudios al respecto, las experiencias profesio-nales y de investigación sobre la agroindustria en general y los testimonios personales de agricultores, asociaciones civiles, inversionistas agrícolas e industriales de 1984 a 1995. Para la investigación de los índices agroclimáticos y la zonificación preliminar se revisó la agroclimatología del estado de Jalisco (Villalpando y García, 1993). LOS CULTIVARES DE AGAVE PARA LA PRODUCCIÓN DE TEQUILA El agave tequilero es conocido por sus productores como mezcal, ellos se autonombran mezcaleros y a sus plantacio-nes las llaman mezcaleras. El término maguey se utiliza sólo para los agaves productores de aguamiel y pulque que no son muy frecuentes en la región. El mezcal azul tequilero, Agave tequilana Weber (Gentry, 1982) es una planta multianual que requiere en promedio de 7 a 1 O años como ciclo agrícola. La cosecha total de una plantación se realiza en un periodo de 3 a 4 años después de inhibir la floración ("desquiote"). La madurez óptima para la industria se alcanza de 6 a 12 meses posteriores al corte de la inflorescencia; aunque Boletín de la Sociedad Botánica de México 57: 15-25, 1995

En el artículo se hace un recorrido histórico acerca del proceso de dominación y domesticación de la naturaleza, que sirvió a los propósitos de la agroindustria cañicultora instalada en el Valle del Cauca y que extendió sus dominios al valle geográfi co del río Cauca (Colombia). La lectura crítica la asume el autor desde la ecología política, y desde ese campo se le propone llamar al agroecosistema de la caña de azúcar como Enclave Artifi cial Desnaturalizante (EAD). Con estas categorías se expone un ejercicio refl exivo y crítico, con el que se confrontan el discurso con el que se valida a diario la plantación de caña de azúcar y la propia lógica que está detrás del monocultivo de dicha gramínea. Se trata de un artículo de reflexión, anclado en las disquisiciones propias de la ecología política, en la búsqueda de encontrar consensos y provocar discusiones no solo alrededor de la nueva categoría nominativa para el cultivo de la caña de azúcar, sino sobre la sostenibilidad, alejada, por supuesto, de toda lógica de plantación, por los efectos conflictos socioambientales que de tiempo atrás viene provocando dicho cultivo y sus prácticas industrializadas.

The author takes a historical tour of the process of domination and domestication of nature, which served the purposes of the sugar cane agro-industry installed in the Valle del Cauca and extended its domains to the geographical Valley of the Cauca River (Colombia). A critical reading is assumed by the author from a political ecology point of view and from that field proposes to call the agroecosystem of sugarcane an Artificial Denaturing Enclave (EAD). With this category, a reflexive and critical exercise is presented through which the discourse used daily to validate the planting of sugarcane and the logic behind the monoculture of said grass are confronted. It is an article of reflection, anchored in the disquisitions of Political Ecology, in the search to find consensus and provoke discussions not only around the new nominative category for the cultivation of sugarcane, but on sustainability, removed, of course, from any logic of planting, due to the effects and socio-environmental conflicts that have been provoked by this crop and its industrialized practices.

A turning point in the Uruguayan economy came in 1987 with the creation of its Forestry Law, aimed at promoting the expansion of monoculture alien tree plantations. With the forestry came the foreign-owned pulp mills, and in 2007 the first load of cellulose was produced in Uruguay near the small interior city of Fray Bentos. Along with nearly one million hectares of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified planted forest, the arrival of the pulp mill and eucalyptus trees brought with them the promise of more jobs for the country's interior, where rates of unemployment are highest, and an industry relying on the ''best technology available'' to ensure the most sustainable practices. With these developments, Uruguay officially entered the ''green economy.'' Yet, while the government and industry work to ensure that the environmental benefits of trees are recognized and contamination levels minimized, very little has been said on how small farmers working the land in the country's rural areas have been affected by the changing industry. Loss of productive land and traditional livelihoods, drying water wells, social isolation, and the destruction of longstanding communities are just some of the underexplored consequences of the plantation economy. Taking into account these impacts, this article will examine the ways that the growing pulp/plantation industry is changing the socio-cultural relationships of ranchers and farmers with the land on which they live and work and suggests that assessments of industry's environmental impacts need to consider residents' accounts of change along with the quantitative data to build a complete picture.

In Jalisco, the "mezcal azul" Agave tequilana Weber grciws in 43 000 hectares of non-irrigated farmland representing 153.6 mi Ilion plants belonging to 2 500 owners. The industry of tequila employs 23 202 persons in Jalisco and produces 70 million liters per year, exporting 90% in bulk to the United States and the remainder to more than 40 countries. The traditional cultivation system has barely been studied and has been changing in the last decade, especially to a monoculture with an excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides, but the consequences of their use have not been evaluated. Some producers consider as an advantage the decrease by one to two years in the crop period, but the majority acknowledge productivity and environmental costs. Small growers are losing the agave market due to surplus agave production and their incipient social organization.

Efforts to improve the properties of podzolic can be done by application soil amendment for example cow dung and biochar. Application of soil amendment can be combined with cropping patterns to increase growth and yield of plant. This research aims to study the growth rate and yield of soybean and sweet corn by application of soil amendment and cropping patterns on podzolic soil. This research was conducted in Teurebeh Village, Kota Jantho, Regency of Aceh Besar, and in Plant Physiology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Syiah Kuala University from June 2016 to January 2017. This research used a Randomized Block Design with 3 replications and two factors, i.e. soil amendment (NPK 400kg ha-1, biochar 10-ton ha-1, cow dung 10-ton ha-1, biochar 10-ton ha-1 + NPK 400kg ha-1, cow dung 10-ton ha-1 + NPK 400kg ha-1) and cropping pattern (soybean monoculture, sweet corn monoculture, intercropping (soybeans-sweet corn). The results showed that the soil amendment had not significantly affect...

Las representaciones respecto a los pueblos indígenas Tagaeri-Taromenane, como pueblos en ‘aislamiento voluntario’ median las relaciones sociales y permiten la fijación y la objetificación de sus identidades. Al imponer fronteras y crear mapas dentro del Parque Nacional Yasuní (PNY), el Estado ecuatoriano ha hecho uso de un poderoso instrumento de poder-saber para desplazar, invisibilizar e inclusive desaparecer por completo a estos pueblos. Por un lado, la monocultura espacio-temporal hegemónica fundamentada en concepciones racistas ha sustentado la expansión de las fronteras petroleras hacia territorios considerados como “vacíos”.  Por otro lado, en el marco de la defensa territorial, los mismos espacios son reivindicados como de posesión ancestral por diversos pueblos. En este artículo queremos cuestionar la vigencia del racismo impregnado en el modelo de desarrollo extractivista desenvuelto en Ecuador, al mismo tiempo que proponemos el reconocimiento de las diferentes formas de ser y habitar en el Sur global.

Efforts to improve the properties of podzolic can be done by application soil amendment for example cow dung and biochar. Application of soil amendment can be combined with cropping patterns to increase growth and yield of plant. This research aims to study the growth rate and yield of soybean and sweet corn by application of soil amendment and cropping patterns on podzolic soil. This research was conducted in Teurebeh Village, Kota Jantho, Regency of Aceh Besar, and in Plant Physiology Laboratory, Faculty of Agriculture, Syiah Kuala 3 replications and two factors, i.e. soil amendment (NPK 400kg ha-1 , biochar 10-ton ha-1 , cow dung 10-ton ha-1 , biochar 10-ton ha-1 + NPK 400kg ha-1 , cow dung 10-ton ha-1 + NPK 400kg ha-1) and cropping pattern (soybean monoculture, sweet corn monoculture, intercropping (soybeans-sweet corn). The results showed that the soil amendment had not significantly affected on all parameters. In general, the cropping pattern had significantly affected on all parameters of observation where monoculture increase changes in plant height and yield of soybeans and sweet corn than intercropping. The highest level of sugar content was found in intercropping with NPK, while the highest LER value was shown in Biochar + NPK that was 1.45.

Há séculos que as obras de hidráulica agrícola são apresentadas como a solução para todos os problemas do interior de Portugal. As Leis das Sesmarias já revelavam que a autossuficiência alimentar era um objetivo a alcançar, fixando as pessoas à terra e obrigando ao seu cultivo, assim combatendo o despovoamento. A obra de Severim de Faria (1655) é um dos primeiros exemplos de um diagnóstico das dificuldades da agricultura, sobretudo a alentejana, que, por falta de gente e de capitais era deficitária na produção de trigo. A solução encontrava-se na distribuição das terras por colonos e na abertura de poços para irrigação. Outros autores como o Conde de Linhares, Mouzinho da Silveira, Oliveira Martins, e até estrangeiros como Léon Poinsard, apresentaram propostas para resolver a questão agrária que incluíam a irrigação dos campos para o aumento da produção. Já no início do século XX Ezequiel de Campos, Salazar e Rafael Duque descreveram a irrigação agrícola como uma necessidade. Estas propostas foram colocadas em prática com os Planos de Fomento do Estado Novo, cujos objetivos incluíam a intensificação cultural, a concentração e promoção económica e cultural das populações, a eletrificação do país e o seu desenvolvimento industrial.
Em Avis, no Alto Alentejo, houve um projeto de uma barragem durante o governo de Fontes Pereira de Melo, por iniciativa do então presidente da câmara Dr. Joaquim de Figueiredo. A obra foi iniciada em 1888, mas foi suspensa em 1892, perante a resistência dos grandes proprietários fundiários e a mudança do governo. Foi apenas em 1952 que a atual Barragem do Maranhão começou a ser construída, sendo inaugurada em 1958, no mesmo ano da de Montargil e seguida da de Santa Clara, em Odemira, em 1973. A construção desta barragem foi uma das maiores obras de engenharia da sua época. Fixou a população rural, atrasando por alguns anos a inevitável emigração, criou emprego e aumentou os salários; viabilizou a instalação de indústrias devido à produção de energia elétrica e permitiu a introdução de culturas de regadio, como o tomate. Ocupa cerca de 2.000ha e irriga mais de 15.000ha de terra nos concelhos de Avis, Ponte de Sor, Mora, Coruche, Salvaterra de Magos e Benavente, ao longo de 124km.
Após quase seis décadas a viabilizar a irrigação descrita, nos últimos anos esta albufeira deixou de o conseguir fazer, desde que os proprietários de Avis começaram a vender ou a arrendar as suas terras a empresas de capital de risco maioritariamente espanholas que introduziram o olival superintensivo em vastas áreas do concelho, desrespeitando as distâncias estabelecidas pelo PDM em relação à linha de água e às habitações, e até mesmo o património silvícola protegido, como foi o caso do arranque não autorizado de mil azinheiras, posteriormente condenado em tribunal. Estas novas culturas são regadas em permanência, esvaziando a albufeira, especialmente nos períodos de seca, que se tornam cada vez mais comuns. Além de esgotarem a água, estes olivais poluem o ambiente com químicos, tanto pelo ar como contaminando as terras. Usam mão de obra estrangeira, precária e ilegal, em nada contribuindo para a economia local.

An Invitation to Disappear is a filmic expedition into the heart of a lush dystopian landscape symptomatic of the current global derangement of ecological thinking. Borrowing its title from the Tambora volcano on Sumbawa Indonesia, the film is set in an oil palm plantation at an unmarked location, a nowhere/anywhere in Indonesia or Malaysia-where almost 90 percent of the world's palm oil is now produced. The film stages a disturbing confrontation with the conflicting promises of two global monocultures: rave culture and industrial agriculture. Field Philosophy is an extended essay recounting a collaboration between a philosopher and artist as they traversed multiple historical and contemporary sites of environmental catastrophe. In English and French.

This is a volume of articles on economic sectors related to trade, shipping and merchant banking as well as on the position of the Ottoman western Anatolian economy within the global markets in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Further articles examine the growth of the light industrial sector along with the financing and building of urban infrastructure of the port-city of Izmir and its hinterland, in western Anatolia and the Aegean islands. Case studies from other port-cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries Mediterranean economy are also included.

Invasive species are really the perfect organisms that could play any villain part in a stereotypic B or Z monster movie. Eco-horrors or Eco-thrillers sometimes function like a zoological, bacteriologic or botanical disaster taxonomy of planetary proportions. Here we have mostly a 'man-made-nature-strikes-back' introduction into the calamitous dialectics of unnatural history – how otherwise? What was once cute and furry becomes numerous and verminous. What was just a simple legume or passive cultivar becomes a rabid Killer Tomato or insidious GMO seed. As ancient threat buried beneath the permafrost, as imperial ecology renegades, agrobusiness survivalists, hyper-fertile weed mutation or pet shop escapee-the hidden capacity of the invasive species is to become swarmers at some future date, multiply to kingdom come and absorb, flood and drown the rare, the special and the separate in its wake.

This is the presentation for the paper "Persistent food shortages in Venetian Crete: A first hypothesis", presented at the 2nd COMPOT workshop "Explaining famines, defining responsibilities", held in Turku, Finland on 12-15.1.2017. The paper will be available in a few months.

In October 2016 the was a Symposium on the Production and Trade of Raisins organized by the Izmir Mediterranean Academy and held in Izmir, Turkey. My presentation covered the role of the export trade of raisins (sultanas) in the global economy as well as in the economy of the region of Izmir and western Anatolia at large from the 18th to the early 20th centuries.

A partir d’enquetes de terrains realisees depuis 2010 aupres de populations vivant dans la zone frontaliere de Talamanca au Costa Rica, et plus particulierement aupres de femmes indigenes Bribri, nous analysons les constructions des identifications bribri, c’est-a-dire la relation entre le role de la femme, de l’agricultrice et le territoire (bribri, frontalier, national). Anthropologie et geographie politique permettent ici de comprendre les rapports de pouvoirs et les processus de patrimonialisation qui se mettent en place dans une region ou les acteurs ont des representations territoriales et des interets commerciaux et politiques divers.Plus particulierement, il s’agit de s’interesser aux logiques de resistance des organisations de femmes productrices de cacao biologique pour s’opposer a l’expansion des monocultures de bananes. Comment ces organisations resistent et articulent un discours autour de l’importance de proteger la culture traditionnelle de cacao et la protection de l’environnement (PILA) ?

Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), situated in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, India, is home to huge diversity of fauna and flora. Having rich bio-cultural traditions the farmer communities residing in buffer zone of GHNP Conservation Area (GHNPCA) have developed multitude of indigenous on-farm techniques (the methods by which inputs are powered) and technologies (the application of knowledge to the production system) for optimal production. Appreciable diversity of agriculture has been maintained through a variety of crop compositions, cropping patterns and crop rotations. Grassroots Institute undertook the mapping and documentation of in situ agrobiodiversity in 2007-10, followed by promotion of on-farm conservation and organic farming practices. Farmers practice polyculture by growing multiple traditional cultivars of millets, pulses, beans, barley, pea, buckwheat, horse gram, maize, wheat, potato and soybean. About 45 traditional cultivars of 15 different crops are being...

Sea level rise induced-salinization is lowering coastal soils productivity. In order to assess the effects that increased salinity may provoke in terrestrial plants, using as model species: Trifolium pratense, Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea and Vicia sativa, two specific objectives were targeted: i) to determine the sensitivity of the selected plant species to increased salinity (induced by seawater-SW or by NaCl, proposed as a surrogate of SW) and, ii) to assess the influence of salinization in total biomass under different agricultural practices (mono- or polycultures). The four plant species exhibited a higher sensitivity to NaCl than to SW. Festuca arundinacea was the most tolerant species to NaCl (EC50,seed germination and EC50,growth of 18.6 and 10.5 mScm-1, respectively). The other three species presented effective conductivities in the same order of magnitude and, in general, with 95% confidence limits overlapping. Soil moistened with SW caused no significant adverse effects on seed germination and growth of L. perenne. Similar to NaCl, the other three species, in general, presented a similar sensitivity to SW exposure with EC50,seed germination and EC50,growth within the same order of magnitude and with confidence limits overlapping. The agricultural practice (mono-vs polyculture) showed some influence on the biomass of each plant species. When considering total productivity, for aerial and root biomass, it was higher in control comparatively to salinization conditions. Under salinization stress, the practice of polyculture was associated with a higher aerial and root total biomass than monocultures (for instance with combinations with T. pratense and F. arundinacea).Results suggest that the effects of salinity stress on total productivity may be minimized under agricultural practices of polyculture. Thus, this type of cultures should be encouraged in low-lying coastal ecosystems that are predicted to suffer from salinization caused by seawater intrusions.

Les recherches effectuées en forêt d'Orléans dans le cadre du projet PIREN-CNRS «Influence des monocultures de résineux et alternatives possibles» ont permis de mettre en évidence l'intérêt de l'étude de la faune du sol en sylviculture. Parmi les groupes zoologiques étudiés, on peut distinguer différentes sensibilités aux conditions de milieu régnant dans le sol, certains groupes réagissant plutôt à la nature de la litière (lorsqu'elle est leur principal aliment), d'autres au mode d'humification (évolution vers un type d'humus donné), d 'autres encore aux caractéristiques physico-chimiques de l'eau du sol. Les expériences de nutrition effectuées montrent également que, contrairement aux thèses courantes sur l'influence nocive de l'enrésinement, les aiguilles de conifères constituent un meilleur aliment pour certains représentants de la faune que les feuilles de Chêne, du moins en ce qui concerne les feuilles fraîchement tombées. Il convient donc de réviser certaines de nos idées concernant les litières forestières et le déterminisme de leur évolution, à la lumière des résultats acquis en écologie du sol.

En el artículo se hace un recorrido histórico acerca del proceso de dominación y domesticación de la naturaleza, que sirvió a los propósitos de la agroindustria cañicultora instalada en el Valle del Cauca y que extendió sus dominios al valle geográfi co del río Cauca (Colombia). La lectura crítica la asume el autor desde la ecología política, y desde ese campo se le propone llamar al agroecosistema de la caña de azúcar como Enclave Artifi cial Desnaturalizante (EAD). Con estas categorías se expone un ejercicio refl exivo y crítico, con el que se confrontan el discurso con el que se valida a diario la plantación de caña de azúcar y la propia lógica que está detrás del monocultivo de dicha gramínea. Se trata de un artículo de reflexión, anclado en las disquisiciones propias de la ecología política, en la búsqueda de encontrar consensos y provocar discusiones no solo alrededor de la nueva categoría nominativa para el cultivo de la caña de azúcar, sino sobre la sostenibilidad, alejada, ...

El Perú es el segundo país más megadiverso del planeta, concentra el 70% de la biodiversidad global. Asimismo, cuenta con más de 120 especies endémicas de aves, la más alta -y envidiable-del mundo. Estas condiciones sitúan a nuestro territorio como un potencial destino para los birdwatchers (pajareros); en efecto, en algunas regiones, ya se operan viajes especializados para el aviturismo. Sin embargo, a causa de la destrucción sistemática de las áreas naturales, La Libertad está lejos de posicionarse en este nicho de mercado.

O cultivo do eucalipto, planta originária da Austrália, se inicia no estado de Sergipe, a partir do ano de 2010, quando começou a receber subsidio do Governo do Estado, com a implantação do Projeto de Reflorestamento de Eucalipto. Sua produção está inserida na região do Platô de Neópolis, onde se localiza a área de estudo – Ladeirinhas-Japoatã/SE. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo refletir sobre a produção de eucalipto e seus impactos socioambientais na comunidade de Ladeirinhas, no município de Japoatã, estado de Sergipe. A metodologia pauta-se na leitura e reflexão da bibliografia especializada, observação de campo e aplicação de formulários junto aos agricultores familiares rurais que vivem no entorno das plantações, no levantamento aero fotográfico, e análise de dados. O eucalipto intensifica e fragiliza as condições de desenvolvimento das famílias camponesas as quais encontram na policultura aporte a sua sobrevivência. Alguns camponeses têm colocado suas terras à venda, por falta de incentivo e acesso ao crédito governamental e por não terem condições de concorrer com o agronegócio do eucalipto. Palavras-chave: eucalipto, soberania, mandiocultura. Introdução O cultivo do eucalipto, planta originária da Austrália, se inicia no Brasil, a partir da década de 1960, com o intuito de estimular a prática da utilização da madeira reflorestada. Com aceitação rápida, pelos grandes investidores do setor madeireiro e de celulose, sua alta rentabilidade e utilização pelas grandes empresas fez com que o cultivo ocupasse e continue ocupando grandes extensões de terras, razão pela qual tem gerado intensos debates sobre seus impactos socioambientais. O cultivo em larga escala tem sido alvo de acirradas discussões. De um lado, discute-se os efeitos que toda monocultura gera à biodiversidade e que no caso da eucaliptura tais danos são apresentados como mais intensos em vista das próprias características dessa árvore, e, de outro, considera-se os impactos sociais. Combina-se a monocultura desse cultivo.

A comunidade Ladeirinhas " A " no município de Japoatã/SE se origina do processo de regularização fundiária que ocorreu em 1980. Inicialmente, os camponeses assentados se reproduziam a partir do policultivo alimentício, e pelo cultivo da cana-de-açúcar que passou a ser um elemento geográfico presente na paisagem. Por volta de 2008, as plantações de eucalipto tonaram-se presente na comunidade. Este trabalho tem como objetivo discutir os impactos socioambientais que a monocultura do eucalipto ocasiona nas áreas onde é plantado e/ou onde seus impactos ambientais se espraiam. Para a presente discursão nos embasamos na literatura especifica, assim como na coleta de dados primeiros em lócus e os secundários em órgãos e institutos oficiais. Constata-se que a monocultura do eucalipto impacta o meio ambiente, afeta o desenvolvimento humano das regiões onde é instalado, assim como favorece a reprodução ampliada do capital em um movimento contraditório, desigual e combinado ao conectar o lugar a esfera mundo global do capitalismo, ao tempo em que destrói a identidade camponesa e o seu principal meio de reprodução que é a terra.

RESUMO-Este trabalho foi desenvolvido na Unidade Agroflorestal da Companhia Mineira de Metais (CMM), em Vazante, Estado de Minas Gerais, com o objetivo de estudar a atividade microbiana em diferentes ecossistemas, como sistemas agroflorestais (SAFs), monoculturas, área desmatada e mata natural, utilizando os métodos da respirometria no laboratório e da medida não-instantânea da taxa de evolução de CO 2 no campo. A atividade biológica apresentou valores acumulados das taxas de respiração do solo, aos 20 dias, de 3,56 a 6,03 meq C-CO 2 /100 g de solo no laboratório e de 165,16 a 559,37 mg CO 2 /m-2 .h no campo, na área desmatada e na mata nativa, respectivamente. Em ambos os ensaios, a atividade foi maior na mata nativa e nas pastagens, tanto em monocultivo quanto em SAFs. A atividade microbiana foi maior em SAF com arroz e eucalipto do que em arroz em monocultivo, pelo método no campo. Palavras-chave: Sistemas agroflorestais, monoculturas e respiração do solo.

En el artículo se hace un recorrido histórico acerca del proceso de dominación y domesticación de la naturaleza, que sirvió a los propósitos de la agroindustria cañicultora instalada en el Valle del Cauca y que extendió sus dominios al valle geográfi co del río Cauca (Colombia). La lectura crítica la asume el autor desde la ecología política, y desde ese campo se le propone llamar al agroecosistema de la caña de azúcar como Enclave Artifi cial Desnaturalizante (EAD). Con estas categorías se expone un ejercicio refl exivo y crítico, con el que se confrontan el discurso con el que se valida a diario la plantación de caña de azúcar y la propia lógica que está detrás del monocultivo de dicha gramínea. Se trata de un artículo de reflexión, anclado en las disquisiciones propias de la ecología política, en la búsqueda de encontrar consensos y provocar discusiones no solo alrededor de la nueva categoría nominativa para el cultivo de la caña de azúcar, sino sobre la sostenibilidad, alejada, ...

Sea level rise induced-salinization is lowering coastal soils productivity. In order to assess the effects that increased salinity may provoke in terrestrial plants, using as model species: Trifolium pratense, Lolium perenne, Festuca arundinacea and Vicia sativa, two specific objectives were targeted: i) to determine the sensitivity of the selected plant species to increased salinity (induced by seawater-SW or by NaCl, proposed as a surrogate of SW) and, ii) to assess the influence of salinization in total biomass under different agricultural practices (mono-or polycultures). The four plant species exhibited a higher sensitivity to NaCl than to SW. Festuca arundinacea was the most tolerant species to NaCl (EC 50,seed germination and EC 50,growth of 18.6 and 10.5 mScm À1 , respectively). The other three species presented effective conductivities in the same order of magnitude and, in general , with 95% confidence limits overlapping. Soil moistened with SW caused no significant adverse effects on seed germination and growth of L. perenne. Similar to NaCl, the other three species, in general, presented a similar sensitivity to SW exposure with EC 50,seed germination and EC 50,growth within the same order of magnitude and with confidence limits overlapping. The agricultural practice (mono-vs polyculture) showed some influence on the biomass of each plant species. When considering total productivity, for aerial and root biomass, it was higher in control comparatively to salinization conditions. Under salinization stress, the practice of polyculture was associated with a higher aerial and root total biomass than monocultures (for instance with combinations with T. pratense and F. arundinacea).Results suggest that the effects of salinity stress on total productivity may be minimized under agricultural practices of polyculture. Thus, this type of cultures should be encouraged in low-lying coastal ecosystems that are predicted to suffer from salinization caused by seawater intrusions.

Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), situated in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh, India, is home to huge diversity of fauna and flora. Having rich bio-cultural traditions the farmer communities residing in buffer zone of GHNP Conservation Area (GHNPCA) have developed multitude of indigenous on-farm techniques (the methods by which inputs are powered) and technologies (the application of knowledge to the production system) for optimal production. Appreciable diversity of agriculture has been maintained through a variety of crop compositions, cropping patterns and crop rotations. Grassroots Institute undertook the mapping and documentation of in situ agrobiodiversity in 2007-10, followed by promotion of on-farm conservation and organic farming practices. Farmers practice polyculture by growing multiple traditional cultivars of millets, pulses, beans, barley, pea, buckwheat, horse gram, maize, wheat, potato and soybean. About 45 traditional cultivars of 15 different crops are being cultivated by the mountain farmers in 2 gram panchayats covering 20 villages in Tirthan Valley of GHNPCA. Results of the study revealed that these traditional cultivars are far superior in characteristics than their counterpart modern or hybrid varieties. However, the old agronomic practices and poor market rates have ever discouraged the farmers to continue growing the traditional cultivars of these crops, and the farmers were forced to adopt hybrid seeds and monoculture. Abundance and sown area of various cultivars also decreased over past three decades. Grassroots Institute addressed the twofold challenge: one, preservation and re-introduction of traditional cultivars in situ coupled with improvement in agronomic methods of farmers for enhancing the yield; and two, linking the organic produce of the traditional crops with innovative post-harvest techniques and better market opportunities. Challenge ahead lies in engaging large number of farmers in cultivation of genetically-superior traditional cultivars, and in value addition, processing and marketing of organic produce of these crops, so that the livelihood of marginal and poor farmers, which is relatively based on bioresources of national park, can be diversified/diverted and the overall goal of biodiversity conservation is fully achieved.