Evaluación económica de la incorporación de cultivos de servicios a rotaciones agrícolas frecuentes del centro de la provincia de Santa Fe.

The inclusion of service crops in agricultural rotations has many advantages in terms of resource conservation and sustainability of production systems. Although in Argentina it is a practice in constant increase, in the province of Santa Fe, its implementation is in an exploratory stage. To promote its implementation, the objective of this work is to evaluate, in economic terms, the incorporation of service crops to frequent agricultural rotations in the centre of Santa Fe province. Tree agricultural rotations were compared, with a duration of four years each and different degrees of intensification: two frequent in the area under study and one improvement proposal including Vicia sp. as a service crop and rapeseed (Brassica sp.) for commercial purposes. This comparison was made in economic terms, using the present value method (or updated cash flow) and the cost-benefit ratio of each of the rotations. Sequences were also compared in environmental terms, considering nitrogen and phosphorus balance and carbon sequestration. The results show that, although there are costs associated with the implementation, maintenance and drying of service crop to the rotation, the profitability of the sustainable intensive sequence exceeds the Fequent rotations analysed. In addition, in terms of carbon capture, it is the best performer. The proposed rotation contributes to generating an economic gain with a positive environmental impact, meeting the need for sustainable production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]