Towards sustainable use of energy in agroecosystems

Abstract

The current productive economic system, through the use of energy subsidies, accelerates
the flow of energy and the circulation of matter in agroecosystems, leading to an increase in
entropy reflected in pollution and loss of cultural biological diversity. The objective was to determine
how different energy sources affect a fruit crop and to propose strategies to improve the
sustainability of agroecosystems. Cultural energy and industrial energy were analyzed in a Top
Red apple plantation, taking into account the activities that took place in the orchard during the
2015-2016 growing season. The total energy input to the agroecosystem was 24624.25 MJ/ha
of which 2% corresponds to cultural biological energy and 98% to industrial energy. Results
reflect a high dependence on energy subsidies. With these bases, the necessary changes can
be made to promote sustainable agroecosystem.