Abstract

JACOBO, E; RODRIGUEZ, A; GONZALEZ, J  and  GOLLUSCIO, R. Efectos de la intensificación ganadera sobre la eficiencia en el uso de la energía fósil y la conservación del pastizal en la cuenca baja del río Salado, provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina. Agriscientia [online]. 2016, vol.33, n.1, pp.1-14. ISSN 1668-298X.

The aim of the study was to explore the impact of the current process of intensification in cattle production systems on the environmental sustainability in the Salado basin region. We compared the proportion and condition of grasslands, fossil energy consumption per unit of area and per unit of product and fossil energy use efficiency on13 livestock farms that used different input levels for cattle feeding. Fossil energy consumption per unit of area ranged from 600 to 3600 megajoules (MJ) ha^-1 yr^-1, fossil energy consumption per unit of product from 0.01 to 8.49 MJ.kg^-1 of live weight, and fossil energy use efficiency from 0.92 to 1973 MJ of energy produced per MJ of energy consumed. Fossil energy consumption was lower and fossil energy use efficiency was higher on farms with a large proportion of rangeland in good condition as a consequence of appropriate grazing management with respect to higher feed-input farms. The current process of intensification is causing a decrease in the energy efficiency of meat production systems, which might affect environmental sustainability

Keywords : Flooding Pampas; Farm scale; Sustainability indicators; Agroecology.

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