Descripción del proyecto
THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN, PARTICULARLY THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA, IS CHARACTERIZED BY A HIGH DEPENDENCE ON AGRICULTURAL IMPORTS, ESPECIALLY FOR CEREALS AND LEGUMES, THIS DEPENDENCE IS LIKELY TO GROW IN THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE, AS A RESULT OF GLOBAL CHANGES, I,E, ONGOING DEMOGRAPHIC EXPANSION, CHANGES IN EATING HABITS, AND CHANGING CLIMATE AS LATATI ET AL, (2017) HAVE ALREADY SHOWN FOR NORTHERN AFRICA, DURING THE PAST 30 YEARS AND IN RESPONSE TO POLICIES TARGETING INTENSIFICATION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, FARM HOUSEHOLDS HAVE FOLLOWED TRAJECTORIES THAT HAVE GENERALLY INCREASED INCOMES AND MARKET ORIENTATION OF AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, THE ECONOMIC PRESSURE, HOWEVER, ENCOURAGED SPECIALIZATION, RESULTING PARTIALLY IN MONOCULTURES, THIS LEAD TO ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATIONS, E,G, LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY, THAT THREATEN THE PROVISION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES (ES), BUT THE EFFICIENCY OF INPUTS AND LABOR REMAINED HIGHLY VARIABLE, CITIZENS IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES INCREASINGLY DEMAND MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY AGRICULTURE AND HEALTHIER FOOD PRODUCTION, A TREND THAT COULD FURTHER INCREASE (E,G, ORGANIC, LOCAL PRODUCTS, ETC,), MOREOVER, THERE IS A STRONG NEED TO DEVELOP A MODERN AND SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE IN THE SOUTHERN MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES AS A KEYSTONE FOR THE STABILIZATION OF RURAL POPULATIONS, BY OFFERING THEM REAL ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES AND BETTER SOCIAL CONDITIONS, BIODIVERSIFY IT WILL GO BEYOND THE PROOF OF CONCEPT OF AGROECOLOGY PROVING MORE RESILIENCE FOR AGROECOSYSEMS: IT WILL QUANTIFY IN SITU, IN A RANGE OF PEDOCLIMATIC AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, THE WAY IN WHICH HSD EFFECTIVELY INCREASES MULTIPLE ECOSYSTEM SERVICES AND REDUCES THE NEED FOR EXTERNAL INPUTS (FERTILIZERS, PESTICIDES AND FOSSIL ENERGY), BIODIVERSIFY WILL THEREFORE VERIFY THAT SOLUTIONS BASED ON HSD INCREASE THE EFFICIENCY OF NATURAL ABIOTIC RESOURCES (LIGHT, CO2, NUTRIENTS), WATER MAINTAINING OR INCREASING YIELD (CROPS AND FORAGES), AND PROVIDING HIGH LEVELS OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES WHILE PROTECTING THE INTEGRITY OF ECOSYSTEMS AND FARMERS' HEALTH, BY ELIMINATING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE THE USE OF PESTICIDES, MEDITERRANEO\SISTEMAS DE CULTIVO\DIVERSIFICACION\CULTIVOS ASOCIADOS\AGROFORESTAL\ROTACIONES\MODELIZACION