RESTRUCTURING THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN THE TOTA LAKE BASIN (COLOMBIA): PROS AND CONS TO ACHIEVE THE CHANGE

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Background. Moorlands are strategic ecosystems that provide regulation and provision of water, and that face serious effects due to agricultural activities. Productive reconversion (PR) is a mixed environmental, and economic strategy for managing change in agricultural systems towards sustainable agroecological models. Objective. To investigate the factors that favor and prevent the implementation of PR. Methodology. The paper analyzed 26 variables of the productive (14), socioeconomic (6) and environmental (6) dimensions of 172 producers of long onion and potato growers in the Tota lake basin, Tota-Bijagual-Mamapacha moorland, Colombia. Results. It was found that 44% of the variables are identified in favor and the remaining 56% against the PR, highlighting the advances in training, social organization, environmental awareness and disposition of the producers for the PR, but being forced to continue the activity due to the economic profitability. Implication. The economic profitability is against sustainability, it is related to the implementation of harmful practices such as the indiscriminate, inefficient, unplanned use of agro-inputs for fertilization and pest and disease management, with highly toxic pesticides, composting without maturity, which affect both human and ecosystem health. Conclusion. The main challenges are from the productive dimension, in which strategies are consolidated aimed at promoting: a) the adequate selection of quality seed, b) better soil management, c) the management of pests and diseases based on phytosanitary plans that integrate monitoring traps, preventive actions, and restrict the use of agro-inputs of chemical synthesis and d) promote the efficient use of water resources based on the strengthening of participatory agroclimatic monitoring networks.

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