Biodiversity and management of agricultural waste in a farm of the Perico municipality, Matanzas.

Objective: To characterize the biodiversity and management of waste from the agricultural activity in La Palma farm, of the Perico municipality, Matanzas province, Cuba. Materials and Methods: In order to obtain information, a diagnosis was conducted in a farmer's farm through the combination of several tools, such as exploratory tours and informal interviews, formal surveys and semi-structured dialogs, with observations, measurements or both. The number of individuals of each species, which were characterized according to their purpose in the system, was quantified. Results: In the farm three subsystems stand out (temporary crops, permanent crops and animals). In the subsystem of permanent crops the natural pastures Dichanthium caricosum (L.) A. Camus, Dichanthium annulatum (Forssk.) Stapf and Paspalum notatum Alain ex Flügé are developed. Meanwhile, among the trees, Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Witt stands out with 2 386 individuals. This species can generate 5 t DM/year of non-edible woody biomass and, in turn, an estimate of 1,5 t of biochar. Conclusions: The functionality of this agroecosystem, represented by diversification and agriculture-animal husbandry integration, was proven. Biochar is a management alternative of waste from the agricultural activity in the farm, which can be enriched with cattle waste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]