Use and management of the sheep agroforestry module, in the municipalities of Sibinal and Tacaná, San Marcos

Abstract

The research team coordinated by the Research Institute of the University Center of San Marcos carried out the study using a mixed research methodology with field observations, interviews and direct comments with producers from the municipalities of Tacaná (5 villages) and Sibinal (5 villages), using as an electronic tool a data collection form by cell phone "in real time", with emptying in an electronic matrix designed for this purpose. The alternative hypothesis was scientifically validated when knowing that a little more than sixty-five percent of the people interviewed in the sample have had and used the sheep agroforestry module with good results for more than ten (10) years. According to the problem statement, the agroforestry module is designed according to an engineering plan that includes the integral use of the animal product (sheep) within the productive subsystem and is positive for the ecological environment. By adopting this spatial arrangement, it allows for confinement, the protection of livestock against predators, thermal insulation from the climate, facilitation of comprehensive management of livestock in: health, feeding, productive and reproductive control; allowing the harvest of manure and liquid fertilizer for its transformation into organic fertilizers; adjusting to the ecological environment by regulating the depredation of agroforestry resources by uncontrolled grazing, protecting water sources and with proper planning of the use of excrement, fertilizing vegetables in the farm system such as vegetables, forage plants, herbaceous, woody and others species for family use.