Agroecosystemic Resilience Index (AgRI): a method to assess agrobiodiversity

Agricultural production systems, subjects of study in agroecology, are non-equilibrium open systems permanently influenced by the action of natural or anthropogenic disturbances or “ripple effects.” Faced with this situation, agroecosystems tend to maintain a state of functional equilibrium in time and space, through an emergent property known as resilience . This concept is related to the dissipative capacity of agroecosystems to interact with the disturbance in such a way as to allow it to preserve its functionality and basic structure, through attenuation of the effect that disturbs the system. The literature reports diverse methods with a variable number of indicators or criteria for the evaluation or analysis of resilience. Many of these present conceptual deficiencies considering that the components of the system have similar characteristics and linear responses, that is, they do not show changes due to the action or nature of the disturbance. In this sense, there is a need to propose a generic method to analyze and evaluate agroecosystemic resilience, through a complex and comprehensive approach that takes into consideration the interaction of physical, biotic, socioeconomic or symbolic components of the system. These interactions are differential (weighted), to facilitate decision-making by the community, farmers, or administrators, regarding adaptations, adjustments or modifications that allow the agroecosystem to maintain its productivity and permanence.