Agroecological concepts and alternatives to the problems of contemporary agriculture: Monoculture and chemical fertilization in the context of climate change

Abstract

The modernization of agriculture has transformed natural agrarian systems into other new conventional ones, making it possible to exponentially increase agricultural production. This leads to the destruction of ecological functions, and services, and has negative impacts on human health. This critical situation has given rise to a new model of agriculture called agroecology, which has emerged as a systemic approach that can understand the practices of traditional agricultural systems, as a scientific discipline that defines, classifies, and studies agrosystems from an ecological and socio-economic point of view.  This paper explores the major problems of agriculture, including climate change, monoculture, and chemical fertilization at the local, regional and global scale. Equally, we defined the different concepts that bring together the agroecological approach.  We based on agroecology as a scientific discipline, as a practice by defining the different agroecological practices and their scale of application, as well as the politico-economic aspect of this concept. Further, we have proposed the agroecological alternatives that can remedy the three problems recorded in the first section, based on several recent studies and research that can examine whether agroecological practices have positive results on monoculture, chemical fertilization, and climate changes. However, more advanced studies, using rigorous research design, such as case controls, longitudinal studies, and surveys in regions where agriculture is their main source of income, such as Morocco, are still needed. These investigations are suggested to fill the gap of data on such areas and fields of research.