Contributions of the final works of agronomic engineering degree of the National University of San Juan, Argentina, to the agroecological knowledge

Abstract

Considering unsustainability of conventional agricultural models and the poor attention to agroecology
in the agronomical engineering degree, in this work we analyze the contribution of the
final degree work of the UNSJ agronomic engineering career to the ecological processes that
must be optimized to design sustainable agroecosystems. We analyze the final degree works
presented since 2010 until now, through a method that combines quantitative and qualitative
approaches. We obtained that 56.4% of the works contribute to ecological processes knowledge.
Those works that do not contribute are mostly studies on hybrid seeds and agrochemicals.
We conclude that there is knowledge about ecological processes that could be enhanced,
while is necessary new research that question the current production model.