Ernst Götsch’s own writings and research on syntropic farming — books, scientific articles, manuals, case studies, theses and dissertations. Links go to the original sources.
- Writings by Ernst Götsch3
- Books4
- Scientific articles14
- Manuals and case studies4
- Theses and dissertations13
Writings by Ernst Götsch
The texts in which Ernst himself set out the method.
- 2019
Perennials – Part I (full text)
Ernst Götsch
Ernst’s memories of his family’s food habits in north-eastern Switzerland, and through them the values and practices of rural communities just before the so-called modernisation of agriculture.
- 1995
Homem e Natureza: cultura na agricultura
Ernst Götsch
Founding essay on agriculture, natural succession and human culture (in Portuguese).
- 1994
Break-through in Agriculture
Ernst Götsch
Ernst’s first written account, from his own farm, of the shift from input-based farming to process-based farming.
Books
- 2022–2025
Vida em Sintropia: agricultura sintrópica de Ernst Götsch explicada
Dayana Andrade and Felipe Pasini
A complete account, philosophical and practical, of Ernst Götsch’s thinking, published in four countries.
- 2023
Bienvenue en syntropie ! Un jardin d’abondance, des principes au terrain
Anaëlle Théry
Syntropic farming adapted to France’s temperate climate, from principles to practice. New edition 2026.
- 2022
Agricultura Sintrópica segundo Ernst Götsch
José Fernando dos Santos Rebello and Daniela Ghiringhello Sakamoto
CEPEAS reference manual on the foundations and practice of the method (in Portuguese).
- 2016
Agroflorestando o mundo: de facão a trator
Nelson Eduardo Corrêa Neto, Namastê Maranhão Messerschmidt, Walter Steenbock and Priscila Facina Monnerat
The experience of the Cooperafloresta families in the Ribeira Valley with successional agroforests, managed from machete to tractor (in Portuguese).
Scientific articles
- 2026
Food forests in fire-prone landscapes: insights from interviews and site assessments in Portugal
Leegwater, S.E. & Neidermeier, A.N.
Compares syntropic and non-syntropic food forests in Portugal for microclimate, moisture and fire fuel.
- 2026
Crop functional diversity alters soil fertility within two years of low-input successional agroforestry
dos Santos, D. et al.
In low-input successional agroforests, plant functional diversity raises soil organic carbon and mineral nitrogen.
- 2026
Enhancement of stable carbon pools and slaking resistance in a temperate organic syntropic alley-cropping system on sandy loam
Büks, F., Toups, J. & Beule, L.
In a syntropic system in Brandenburg, the tree rows stabilise organic matter and make the soil more resistant to slaking.
- 2025
Trees shape the soil microbiome of a temperate agrosilvopastoral and syntropic agroforestry system
Vaupel, A., Küsters, M., Toups, J., Herwig, N., Bösel, B. & Beule, L.
At Alt Madlitz (Germany), in a syntropic system with 35 tree and shrub species, the tree rows favour beneficial soil microbes and reduce potential pathogens.
- 2025
Syntropic farming systems for reconciling productivity, ecosystem functions, and restoration
Jacobi, J., Andres, C., Assaad, F. et al.
A review of 67 studies: gains in biodiversity, biomass, plant health and product diversity.
- 2025
Competitive yields in organic and agroforestry cacao cropping systems: results from 15 years of a long-term systems comparison trial in Bolivia
Rüegg, J., Saj, S., Schneidewind, U., Milz, J., Schneider, M. & Armengot, L.
Fifteen years of a trial in Bolivia: the successional system, with no external inputs, reaches far higher total output than monoculture.
- 2025
Using ecosystem services estimation to design sustainable agroforestry systems: insights from Northern Italy
Alali, S., Vaglia, V., Bocchi, S. et al.
In Piedmont, farmers and researchers choose a successional system for its ecological, cultural and educational value.
- 2025
Princípios filosóficos da agricultura sintrópica para a compreensão da vida
Luna, A.J. & Marton, S.
The philosophical foundations of Ernst’s thinking, read through Spinoza, Morin, Maturana and Capra (in Portuguese).
- 2020
Syntropy and innovation in agriculture
Andrade, D., Pasini, F. & Scarano, F.R.
Syntropic farming as innovation: principles, results and its place in the sustainability debate.
- 2020
Adapting syntropic permaculture for renaturation of a former quarry area in the temperate zone
von Cossel, M., Ludwig, H., Cichocki, J. et al.
A syntropic system used to restore a former quarry in south-west Germany.
- 2016
Cocoa and total system yields of organic and conventional agroforestry vs. monoculture systems in a long-term field trial in Bolivia
Schneider, M., Andres, C., Trujillo, G. et al.
First results of FiBL’s long-term trial, which includes a successional agroforestry system.
- 2014
Implantação e manejo de agroecossistema segundo os métodos da agricultura sintrópica de Ernst Götsch
Andrade, D. & Pasini, F.
Two years of a system planted on degraded land in southern Bahia, with no external inputs (in Portuguese).
- 2009
Agro-successional restoration as a strategy to facilitate tropical forest recovery
Vieira, D.L.M., Holl, K.D. & Peneireiro, F.M.
Successional agroforestry as a path to tropical forest restoration, drawing on Brazilian experience.
- 1994
Indigenous knowledge in a “modern” sustainable agroforestry system: a case study from eastern Brazil
Schulz, B., Becker, B. & Götsch, E.
The first scientific paper on Ernst’s farm, co-authored by Ernst himself.
Manuals and case studies
- 2024
Dynamic cocoa agroforestry: 25 years of experience in Alto Beni, Bolivia
Rüegg, J., Yana, W., Yana, A., Choque, B., Campos, C. & Milz, J.
Twenty-five years of dynamic cocoa agroforestry in Bolivia.
- 2021
Practice 41 — Syntropic agriculture
Pasini, F.S., Andrade, D.V. & Scarano, F.R.
Practice description in FAO’s technical manual on soil carbon: principles, soil effects and where it is applied.
- 2021
Case study 23 — Syntropic agriculture in a Mediterranean context
La Loma Viva
Case study at La Loma Viva, Gualchos (Granada, Spain): two years of syntropic farming in a Mediterranean climate.
- 2019
Large-scale syntropic farming: results and challenges
Rebello, J.F.S. & Sakamoto, D.G.
Grain trials with grass strips and tree lines on Brazil’s Central Plateau, without agrochemicals.
Theses and dissertations
- 2025
Agricultura agroflorestal sucessional como estratégia de mitigação das mudanças climáticas: um estudo de caso em cultivos de café no Distrito Federal
Sofia Martins Carvalho
Coffee in a successional system stores about 79% more soil carbon than in monoculture (in Portuguese).
- 2024
Microclima e propriedades físicas do solo em um sistema agroflorestal sintrópico
Sabrina Mendes Pereira
Microclimate and soil physics in a syntropic system, compared with the adjacent forest (in Portuguese).
- 2024
Ecological and economic investigation of the establishment success of a diverse agroforestry system
Sina Manuela Weisbrodt
The first three years of a syntropic system at Madlitz, eastern Germany: survival, vitality and costs.
- 2024
Sustainable Farming in Bonaire: an empirical study to design an economically viable business model for a syntropic agricultural system
J. Veenvliet
A business model for a commercial syntropic farm in the Caribbean.
- 2022
Manejo agroflorestal sintrópico para a produção orgânica de milho consorciado com os capins Mombaça e Marandu
Matheus Saad Machado
Maize intercropped with Mombaça grass under syntropic management gave the highest yield (in Portuguese).
- 2019
Agricultura, meio ambiente e sociedade: um estudo sobre a adotabilidade da agricultura sintrópica
Dayana Velozo Pastor Andrade
Why syntropic farming is or is not adopted: environmental, social and economic factors. Supervised by Fabio Rubio Scarano (in Portuguese).
- 2019
Syntropic agriculture and affective labour: the “becoming” of environmental subjects. Case studies from the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado, Brazil
A. Fassò
An ethnography of three syntropic farmers in Bahia and the Federal District.
- 2018
Intersecção termodinâmica-ecologia e discussão das bases científicas da agricultura sintrópica
André Vinícius Freire Baleeiro
The thermodynamic and ecological foundations of syntropic farming, with a hypothesis to test them (in Portuguese).
- 2018
Agricultura sintrópica: produzindo alimentos na floresta, das raízes do aipim ao dossel das castanheiras
Josué Vicente Gregio
Visits to projects in Bahia, Rio Grande do Sul and the Federal District, plus a system planted by the author (in Portuguese).
- 2017
A agricultura sintrópica de Ernst Götsch: história, fundamentos e seu nicho no universo da agricultura sustentável
Felipe dos Santos Pasini
The history of the method, its foundations and its place among sustainable agricultures. Supervised by Fabio Rubio Scarano (in Portuguese).
- 2013
Sistemas agroflorestais para agricultura familiar: análise econômica
Maurício Rigon Hoffmann Moura
An economic analysis of ten agroforestry systems in Brazil: well-managed succession lowers costs and raises profitability (in Portuguese).
- 2002
Sistemas agroflorestais para recuperação de matas ciliares em Piracicaba, SP
Patricia Pereira Vaz da Silva
Agroforestry versus tree-only planting to restore riparian forest: with legumes playing the pioneer role, native trees grew more and cost less; species ranked by Götsch’s succession theory (in Portuguese).
- 1999
Sistemas agroflorestais dirigidos pela sucessão natural: um estudo de caso
Fabiana Mongeli Peneireiro
A classic case study of Ernst’s farm, comparing the agroforestry system with natural fallow (in Portuguese).