THE ROLE OF AGROECOLOGY AND INTEGRATED FARMING SYSTEMS IN AGRICULTURAL SUSTAINABILITY

Maintenance of biological diversity and nutrient cycling mechanisms ar e global principles that are common to all agroecosystems and therefor e essential in the design of sustainable agricultural systems. Regiona l or site-specific factors include climate, soils and socio-economic p references and conditions. These regional factors differ greatly among agroecosystems and may assume major importance in some. Research and development on global commonalities has potentially the most universal impact across all agroecosystems. Interdisciplinarity, participation of farmers and a whole farm level approach are fundamental to such res earch and development.