Syntropic agriculture
Syntropy in agriculture: an agroforestry approach to sustainability
The syntropic agriculture It can be defined as a model in which agricultural processes resemble natural processes, both with respect to their function and dynamics. Contrary to what happens in the entropy, the syntropy It is the step from something simpler to more complex, that is, it encompasses a series of completely conscious actions whose purpose is to enhance the restructuring, balance and metabolic acceleration of a specific system.
Ultimately, the agroforestry It is a form of multiple cultivation in which the aim is to satisfy a series of basic conditions that are the existence of several species, at least two, that interact biologically; generally at least one of the components is a woody perennial; and, finally, at least two of the components are managed in a way that achieves the objectives of the farmer who manages the farm.
Agroforestry strategies: from diversification to environmental optimization
The different components are distributed in different strata at a spatial and temporal level. Forms of agroforestry production can be applied both in fragile ecosystems and in those that are more stable and on a scale from a small farm for subsistence purposes only, to large areas whose objective is to market the products obtained.
The objectives, therefore, are to achieve a diversification of production, increase the level of organic matter in the soil, fix nitrogen atmospheric, recycle nutrients, optimize to the maximum the production of the system and modify, in part, the microclimate where the crops are established.
Ernst Götsch: a visionary of syntropic agriculture in Brazil
This system was developed by Ernst Götsch, who from Switzerland, moved to Brazil in 1982, after teaching sustainable agriculture methods to Nicaraguan refugees in Costa Rica, during the Nicaraguan civil war, where he dedicated himself to advising the owner of an unproductive area that was located located in Bahía and where he bought the farm that he proposed to recover, through reforestation and implementation of cocoa cultivation.
Over the years he has trained different farmers, who are spreading their knowledge about syntropic management. Although at first this method was only applied on small farms, at some point Ernst switched to large-scale agriculture, with success.
