Livestock and forest production

models of productive and environmental integration: Doctoral thesis abstract

Abstract

Silvopastoral systems can become a development tool, being a form of production where livestock and forestry activities are integrated in the same space. Although forestry activity in Uruguay has evolved steadily with foreign investment, integration with livestock activity has been gradual; the productive and economic aspects and the forms of integration have been scarcely studied. The study of the best forms of integration in the same space can improve competitiveness aspects of both areas. Based on the 2011 agricultural census, a grouping is made that results in four livestock groups and three forestry groups. The use of resources and the productive and social structure are contrasted. Livestock farms forest 21% of the area, with different productive strategies. In a second work, a long-term multi-criteria decision model is structured, taking into account the preferences of a sample of livestock producers. This results in three production and environmental models with results based on the goals to prioritize. When livestock production is prioritized, the best returns from this activity are obtained with the worst results in the environmental goal of carbon balance. The environmental criterion must be considered at higher hierarchical levels in order to achieve positive balance values. This also allows quantifying distances to obtain integrated and sustainable production models. Proposed models and their results can contribute to the quantification of the productive and environmental conflicts and to understanding the advantages and disadvantages of the different integration models, in long term. The future comprehensive development of both activities depends on the knowledge generated about improving the competitiveness of integrated productions. Therefore, this study attempts a contribution that allows identifying and evaluating the different integration models.