Jorge Escudero, Gabriella

Research interests

Promotion of soil fauna and of organic waste recycling for agroecological soil management.

Working area

I work in the Agroecology Disciplinary Group of the Department of Environmental Systems of the Faculty of Agronomy. My passion is earthworms, ecosystem engineers, generators and regenerators of soil and recyclers of organic matter. I am interested in knowing what species of earthworms exist in different environments and geographical points of Uruguay, what characteristics they have and how native earthworms contribute to local soil and plants. Can they act as biological controllers of pests or diseases? Which soil managements favor the development of earthworms? What other groups of soil fauna interact and are relevant? What do we need to know to be able to use these groups as indicators of soil health? In search of answers to these questions, we are running a program to promote and expand knowledge of soil fauna, through which we annually invite a scientist who can tell us about a new group of soil fauna (nematodes, mites, enchytraeids, etc.) with the idea of ​​forming a team with mastery of several groups, capable of identifying species and knowing the biology of each one of them, so that this knowledge may serve as a tool to evaluate the soil health to make more efficient and respectful use of the soil resource.

But earthworms also participate in the recycling of urban organic waste and along this path I became involved in the management of organic waste. I coordinate the Composting Demonstration Unit of the Faculty of Agronomy, where the organic waste generated by our faculty is managed on site, and I also participate in community waste management projects in Montevideo and advise institutional initiatives in Salto and Paysandú.

And these are the two points of agroecological soil management: on the one hand, understanding a little more about what happens with the life inside the soil, how it benefits the soil and the plants, how to take advantage of these benefits and how to enhance them; and on the other hand, how to process and stabilize the organic matter in the waste so that it can serve as an amendment to the surface horizon of the soil, nourishing it and giving it a better structure. This way, the management of a problem (which is the accumulation of waste) can lead to a solution to another problem (soil degradation).