The sustainable management of agro-ecological systems go through the planning of their use. To reach this objective, the natural resources as well as the social, cultural and economical conditions of the inhabitants of the study area need to be evaluated. Remote sensing and geoprocessing techniques, which permit the evaluation of the natural resources and organize georeferenced data bases, were applied to characterize the physical environment and to plan the use of the El Pantanoso Farm, Cerro Largo Department, Uruguay. Topographic, planialtimetric, soil and present land use data were used to generate the following information plans or levels: basic map, numerical model of the terrain, slope, soils, land capabilities map, present land use, environmental zoning and land use conflicts. The data obtained show that at the Pantanoso farm, Planosols (Albaqualfs, Natraqualfs), Argisols (Paleudults, Rodudalfs), Chernosols (Argiudolls), Vertisols (Paluderts), Gleysols (Haplaquolls) , Organosols (Histosols) and Lithosols (Hapludolls), predominate and that these soils present ample variation of classes of land capabilities, which facilitates their agroecological zoning. If we consider that cattle-raising at the upland soil and cultivation of rice at lowlands, constitutes adequate land use, than the rice fields found along the drainage systems, where the natural gallery vegetation should have been maintained, constitute the main conflict related to the agroecological zoning of the farm. Remote sensing and geoprocessing techniques were efficient tools on the planning of the Pantanoso Farm.
environmental resources; planning the use; conflits of use
