Avances En El Conocimiento Sobre Sistemas Silvopastoriles En Uruguay

Silvopastoral systems (SSP) constitute a type of agroforestry system that integrates the forestry, forage and animal components in a balanced way, and allows income to be diversified and the environment and ecosystem to be preserved. They differ from conventional forest plantations because they integrate the tree component into livestock production at low densities, improving the services provided by pasture. The SSPs timidly began to settle in Uruguay together with the forestry expansion of the 1990s, regaining momentum in 2005 and consolidating as of 2011. The greatest limitations for the diffusion and adoption of the SSPs identified initially are being overcome, giving rise to the creation of teaching, research and extension platforms. The generation of knowledge in planned situations to exploit the synergies between the different components begins to consolidate and the first results allow Uruguay to be placed at a prominent point in the subject. The creation of strategic inter-institutional networks to design long-term experiments will allow a better understanding of the biotic and abiotic interactions of SSPs and their positioning as sustainable livestock systems.