Abstract

ARDISANA, Eduardo; GAINZA, Bárbara; TORRES, Antonio  and  FOSADO, Osvaldo. AGRICULTURE IN SOUTH AMERICA: THE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT AND THE FUTURE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. Revista Chakiñan [online]. 2018, n.5, pp.90-101. ISSN 2550-6722.

Agriculture is a main productive activity in South America, which accounts for a large part of the region production and exports. In this research, agricultural production in South America was contrasted with variables related to the use of land and the application of polluting inputs causing environmental damage, leaving an ecological footprint in the environment. An analysis of agricultural production in this subcontinent and its implications on the ecological footprint left in the region were made based on population data, land use, main agricultural products, fertilizer consumption and herbicides in South America. The documentary research was used to obtain the data of the variables mentioned and the multivariate analysis to form groupings among countries with the variables of population, land use and consumption of fertilizers. It shows that agricultural production in the subcontinent is diverse and complex, resulting from the traditions of each country, and is obtained at the expense of a deep ecological footprint, as a result of the need of the countries of the subcontinent to remain producers and exporters of agricultural items that have an important role in their trade balances. The need to reconcile the feeding of the inhabitants of the Earth and the preservation of the environment as a pending task for social actors linked to agricultural production is discussed.

Keywords : agriculture; ecological footprint; agroecology.

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