ABSTRACT
Accelerated population growth during the second half of the 20th century drove the demand for a greater food increase. At the same time, it was accompanied by
Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Email: hlaborde@criba.edu.ar * Corresponding author: ebreveda@criba.edu.ar
agricultural practices that determined soil impoverishment and growth of agricultural crops in more marginal zones. At these areas, soils have low fertility or are either contaminated or salinized. In addition, advancement of agriculture towards areas with lower precipitation has determined employment of technological tools such as irrigation and fertilization. In some cases, because of their mismanagement, they are causing land degradation and even total loss of the edaphic resource.
