Editorial

The concerns raised by the world population growth, risks brought to us by climate variability, loss of the genetic resources, and the globalization of agricultural production force us to think about strategies for sustainability and efficiency in the production systems and the preservation and increase of ecosystem services. Many of these technologies required to achieve it represent important alternatives for small producers, who may be vulnerable to the increasing globalization of agricultural production. In this regard, papers contained in this volume present useful technologies for the sustainable intensification of agriculture.

Left over biomass product of agricultural activity could be seen as a problem of organic contamination or, on the contrary, as a great opportunity for exploitation and development of innovations from it. Thus, one of the papers explores the use of natural oils from Mandarin as an alternative to replace the use of fungicides, used to control fungi (Penicillium sp.), which affect the post-harvest quality of citrus fruit and which generate undesirable environmental effects. The authors conclude that the essential oil of Mandarin at concentrations of 50 ppm can replace 100% of the fungicides used on Citrus post-harvest treatment. In a similar line of work, utilization of left over biomass from the harvest of industrial crops, the quality of the compost derived from mixtures of by-products of the processing of the sugarcane (vinasse, pulp bagasse and filter cake) is analyzed. Sugar cane, a crop that is expanding in many countries of the region, generates thousands of tons of solid waste that, after being properly composted, represent an important source of organic fertilizer for the agricultural sector, addition of organic matter and improvement in the quality of the soils. However, composting practices must be carefully implemented to avoid the undesirable production of greenhouse gases such as methane, nitrogen oxides, and carbon dioxide, known to be generated during improper composting processes.

The availability of sources of phosphorus in the world is limited, and P fixation on soil processes make it not easily usable by plants, to such an extent that it has been considered that P could become the limiting factor for the increase of global agricultural production. Therefore, technological alternatives that maximize the use of the soil minerals, including phosphate solubilizing bacteria, are essential sustainable technologies to enhance the growth of crops.

Agriculture is responsible for the massive use of water, environmental degradation and generation of greenhouse gases; scientists must seek strategies to mitigate such effects for the sake of future generations. The study of the carbon footprint of rice in the Department of Huila indicates that this crop generates a carbon footprint of 998.1 ± 365.3 kg CO₂e/ha per cycle or 163.3 ± 55.8 kg CO₂e/t, where nitrogen fertilizers represent 65% of such effect. Although there are many ways to mitigate such effects, the authors creatively indicate that it would require 0.5 ha cacao plantations or coffee plantations with trees to mitigate this effect, highlighting the importance and value of productive systems involving woody species.

The efficient use of water in agriculture has been identified as a pressing need due to climate variability and the projections of climate change altering patterns of precipitation in various regions of the country. Given these prospects, the water requirements of four forage grasses species are discussed: purple grass (Pennisetum purpureum x Pennisetum typhoides), king green grass (Pennisetum purpureum x Pennisetum typhoides), elephant (P. purpureum) and maralfalfa grass (Pennisetum sp.). In this study the K factors for the different grasses were calculated, and recommendations on their use were generated for different scenarios of water availability.

With the purpose of improving the efficiency of production systems, the behavior of daytime feeding of cattle grassing on Brachiaria hybrid Mulato II was studied. This study considered the feeding behavior under different plant densities, and related it to the density of planting and weight gain of animals. The study found no difference in the availability of forage, but found that weight gain was associated with behavior associated with animal load. In this way, technical elements that improve the productivity of the bovine system are discussed that consider not only the availability of fodder, but the behavior of the animals under variable animal load.

A potential to generate new cultivars of Andean crops (Physalis peruviana) with genetic traits that confer tolerance to one of its greatest limitations, Fusarium oxysporum -a pathogen that affects a wide range of cash crops- cytogenetic studies of Physalis peruviana and P. floridana are presented. This knowledge and the identification of accessions displaying differential response to the pathogen are essential pillars for a program of genetic improvement in P. peruviana. The use of technologies, such as disease-resistant materials, is part of the elements required for a sustainable intensification of production systems.

The dynamism of pests and diseases and changes in their patterns of geographical distribution in response to factors of climate variability and increased traffic from travelers around the world are issues of global attention, especially considering the context of a global agricultural production.

Distribution and infestation of Crypticerya multicicatrices on the island of San Andrés is essential information to implement control programs to contain damage caused to both agriculture and landscape in this territory. Another research on this group of insects reported a new record of a soft scale, Phalacrococcus howertoni, for the island of Guadeloupe.