THE AGROECOLOGY AS ALTERNATIVE TO PREVENTION AND DESERTIFI CATION FIGHT IN THE REGION OF MURCIA: THE COMARCA OF NORTWEST

Abstract

Before the risk of desertifi cation that suffers the Region of Murcia, this paper proposes the productive restructuring towards the agroecology as a viable alternative of sustainable management of the water and the soil in a context of semiarid climate. The area of investigation is the Comarca of the Northwest where there exists already an important growth of farms inscribed in ecological agriculture. The agroecology practices realized support the fertility of the soils optimizing the management of the water and of the organic matter. In the scarce precipitations and, often intense that take place, there is more important the water that retains the soil that the water that it falls down. The organic matter, base of the fertilization in ecological agriculture, has the capacity to optimize the infi ltration and the retention of the water, improving the structural stability of the soil and braking the erosive processes. This together with to an a suitable vegetable covering and a void contribution of toxic residues does that the handling of the water turns out to be sustainable in saving and absence of contamination and, consequently, the process of degradation of vital resources soil and water.