Maximiliano Pérez

Bio: Maximiliano Pérez is an academic researcher from International Trademark Association. The author has contributed to research in topics: Crop & Horticulture. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 11 publications receiving 23 citations.

Servicios de regulación y prácticas de manejo: aportes para una horticultura de base agroecológica

Abstract: Perez, M., Marasas, M.E. (2013). Regulating services and management practices: contributions to horticulture with agroecological bases. Ecosistemas 22(1):36-43. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2013.22-1.07 The importance of agroecological management practices has been widely discussed in the literature. The relationship between these practices and the regulating services in agroecosystems is an essential contribution to the development of sustainable production systems. This paper analyzes the relationship between agroecological management practices in horticulture and different regulating services to farm scale. It aims to establish a framework that facilitate technicians, researchers and policy makers, advancing technological alternatives that promote agroecological transition processes. Knowledge of the interactions between practices and services is necessary for decision making concerning the agro-ecosystems management and biodiversity conservation, particularly in agricultural systems.

Inducción de supresividad a fitopatógenos del suelo. una estrategia para la transición agroecológica en horticultura

Abstract: Suppressiveness of soil-borne disease, as been tried unsuccessfully from a reductionist approach, which seeks to control soil biologically - based diseases with specific strains of antagonistic microorganisms. For this study we selected two genetics lines of tomato: a variety called UCO PLATA and a hybrid, ELPIDA. To stimulate and evaluate the suppressive effect two types of treatments were carried out: 1) Biostimulated (Pbio) substrat prepared with earthworm humus and forest litter intent to amplify beneficial soil functional groups; 2) Conventional (Pcon) under the standard technique used. The influence of biostimulation seems to accompany the crop to harvest, but varies according to the treatment performed on the ground. The differences between the microbiological parameters taken as suppressiveness indicators show no major differences considering the hybrid and variety, therefore we can not conclude on the possible influence of plant genetics on suppressive effect.

El rol de las “quintas’ familiares del Parque Pereyra Iraola (Bs.As., Argentina) en el mantenimiento de la agrobiodiversidad

Abstract: Del Rio, J. P., J. A. Maidana, A. Molteni, M. Perez, M. L. Pochettino, L. Souilla, G. Tito & E. Turco. 2007. The rol of homegardens of Parque Pereyra Iraola (Bs.As., Argentina) in agrobiodiversity conservation. Kurtziana 33 (1). Volumen especial de Etnobotanica: 217-226. The study zone is situated in the periphery of La Plata, capital of the province of Buenos Aires. An important horicultural belt is located in its outskirts which production provides of vegetables for the big cities’ consumption. In the last years several small horticulture producers have had difficulties in finding KURTZIANA 218 Tomo 33 (1). Volumen especial de Etnobotanica: 217-226. 2007 competitive answers to those demands and consequently some of them have decided to turn their production systems into one that does not involve the use of agrotoxics focused in the use of techniques based on ecological principles. In order to do that, they have restored cultivars adapted to the local agroecological conditions that represent a genetic material suitable for the pretended production. The purpose of this contribution is to record those cultivars and the traditional knowledge referred to them. Through ethnobotanical methodology the botanical materials and associated information in 40 domestic units of Parque Pereyra Iraola were registered. Through participative techniques, their cultivation and conservation were promoted. Four typical cultivars of Cucurbita maxima var. zapallito, Foeniculum vulgare, Beta vulgaris var. cycla and Dianthus barbatus have been recorded. Their features as well as the value assigned to them in the diversification of the periurban horticulture are discussed.

Análisis de la biodiversidad funcional en un establecimiento ganadero pampeano

Abstract: La biodiversidad ha disminuido rapidamente en areas rurales y periurbanas durante los ultimos anos como resultado de la intensificacion agropecuaria y los cambios asociados a los metodos de produccion, provocando la perdida de los servicios ecosistemicos de regulacion y soporte. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar la regulacion ecologica o natural de las adversidades bioticas en un establecimiento pampeano de cria bovina con manejo de base agroecologico. Nuestra hipotesis fue que en sitios de alta biodiversidad existe una regulacion ecologica de las plagas y enfermedades de la produccion primaria, de tal manera que no hay impedimentos para lograr una productividad de carne acorde a la zona sin la aplicacion de agroquimicos. El estudio se llevo a cabo en el campo experimental ganadero de cria bovina del Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronomicas del INTA, ubicado en Hurlingham (Buenos Aires) establecimiento representativo de los sistemas productivos ganaderos de cria ubicados en el periurbano de Buenos Aires y. al igual que ellos, con restricciones a la aplicacion de agroquimicos. Se utilizo el indice de potencial de regulacion biotica (IPRB), el que estima indirectamente el potencial de un sistema productivo para la regulacion de adversidades bioticas. El IPRB se construyo a partir de veinte indicadores referidos a la vegetacion cultivada y espontanea, y a estrategias de manejo que inciden sobre la presencia de adversidades biologicas. El valor de IRPB obtenido para el sistema fue elevado (de 0.89 y 0.88 durante el primer y segundo ano, respectivamente). A modo de conclusion, hemos demostrado que este sistema, altamente diverso y con un manejo de base agroecologica, sostuvo niveles adecuados de produccion de carne, inclusive sin la aplicacion de agroquimicos.

Evaluación de la Sustentabilidad en Sistemas de Producción Hortícola Alternativos en la Región Pampeana, Argentina.

Abstract: La produccion del cordon horticola bonaerense sur (Argentina) se desarrolla con un alto uso de insumos quimicos y practicas que repercuten negativamente en la sustentabilidad de los mismos. Sin embargo encontramos casos de de produccion agricola alternativa basadas en una propuesta de manejo con enfoque agroecologico. Se pretende evaluar las practicas de manejo que garantizan el funcionamiento de estos sistemas de produccion alternativa, y como las mismas influyen la sustentabilidad. Estos conocimientos permitiran avanzar en el entendimiento de la transicion agroecologica del sector. El estudio de casos, centrado en el manejo del suelo y la biodiversidad, se realizo mediante indicadores de sustentabilidad a partir de entrevistas y observacion directa a campo. Las practicas analizadas en ambos sistemas arrojaron valores aceptables de sustentabilidad. La interpretacion de estas practicas contribuye a generar elementos para la comprension del proceso de transicion agroecologica local.

The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants

Abstract: Much as Rachel Carson's \"Silent Spring\" was a call to action against the pesticides that were devastating bird populations, Charles S. Elton's classic \"The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants\" sounded an early warning about an environmental catastrophe that has become all too familiar today-the invasion of nonnative species. From kudzu to zebra mussels to Asian long-horned beetles, nonnative species are colonizing new habitats around the world at an alarming rate thanks to accidental and intentional human intervention. One of the leading causes of extinctions of native animals and plants, invasive species also wreak severe economic havoc, causing $79 billion worth of damage in the United States alone. Elton explains the devastating effects that invasive species can have on local ecosystems in clear, concise language and with numerous examples. The first book on invasion biology, and still the most cited, Elton's masterpiece provides an accessible, engaging introduction to one of the most important environmental crises of our time. Charles S. Elton was one of the founders of ecology, who also established and led Oxford University's Bureau of Animal Population. His work has influenced generations of ecologists and zoologists, and his publications remain central to the literature in modern biology. \"History has caught up with Charles Elton's foresight, and \"The Ecology of Invasions\" can now be seen as one of the central scientific books of our century.\"-David Quammen, from the Foreword to \"Killer Algae: The True Tale of a Biological Invasion\

Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals in a Market of Bolivian Immigrants in Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Abstract: This paper presents the results of a research in urban ethnobotany, conducted in a market of Bolivian immigrants in the neighborhood of Liniers, Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires (Argentina). Functional foods and nutraceuticals belonging to 50 species of 18 families, its products, and uses were recorded. Some products are exclusive from the Bolivian community; others are frequent within the community, but they are also available in the general commercial circuit; they are introduced into it, generally, through shops called dieteticas (“health-food stores”), where products associated with the maintenance of health are sold. On this basis, the traditional and nontraditional components of the urban botanical knowledge were evaluated as well as its dynamics in relation to the diffusion of the products. Both the framework and methodological design are innovative for the studies of the urban botanical knowledge and the traditional markets in metropolitan areas.

El control biológico de plagas de artrópodos por conservación: técnicas y estado del arte

Abstract: Paredes, D., Campos, M., Cayuela, L. (2013). Conservation biological control of arthropod pests: techniques and state of art. Ecosistemas22(1):56-61. Doi.: 10.7818/ECOS.2013.22-1.10 Conservation biological control is positioning as an alternative to the use of chemical pesticides to control arthropod pest outbreaks. The use of this strategy is orientated to increasing the abundance and diversity of the community of natural enemies by means of different techniques. However, it is observed that the increase of these parameters has not always a direct impact on the suppression of crop pests. Ecological processes such as intraguild predation, functional redundancy and niche complementarity could explain the failure or success of the practices of conservation biological control. The fact that biodiversity cannot determine the achievement of biological pest control, has triggered a shift towards the determination of functional diversity, which includes the biological traits of the natural enemy community. The ultimate goal is to identify the optimal composition of the community that controls the populations of arthropod pests effectively.

Breve historia de la agroecología en la Argentina: orígenes, evolución y perspectivas futuras

Abstract: Agroecology emerges as a new approach and paradigm of agricultural science that aims to provide strategies and criteria for the design, evaluation and management of sustainable agroecosystems. It appears in different institutions and organizations, as a reaction to the increasingly obvious consequences of environmentally unsustainable and socially exclusive production model derived from the philosophy of the Green Revolution. Because of its multidisciplinary and pluriepistemological character as scientific approach, as a movement and as a series of strategies and techniques, the incorporation and consolidation of agroecology in Argentina, recognizes different goals, actors and stages. Among the institutions may be mentioned non-governmental organizations, state institutions and universities and other agricultural education institutions as well as farmers organizations. These stages are analyzed and the potentials and limitations for future expansion are discussed.