A three-year experiment was carried out to study different agro-ecological livestock:crop systems under different soils and climates, without irrigation and using on-farm resources for animal and plant nutrition. Five farms, four in the process of conversion and the fifth with twelve years of establishment were studied. Eight sustainability indicators (reforestation, total species, food products, labour intensity, production of organic fertilisers, yields, energy efficiency and milk production) were defined, which relate to the main productive and environmental problems faced by the livestock sector due to the specialised agricultural model that has prevailed in Cuba over the last few years. These indicators were weighted, represented on a radial graph and evaluated through an analytical description and multivariate analysis.

Biodiversity increased after the establishment of integrated systems. Starting from specialised milk production systems, diversification allowed for between 30 and 40 more products. The integrated systems increased the energy efficiency from 3 to 10 joules produced per joule of input. Labour intensity decreased yearly after a greater initial labour demand required for establishing the system. Production of high quality organic fertiliser (2 to 4 tonnes/ha) was a major resource to cover the crop nutrient requirements. Productivity increased by up to 9.7 tonnes/ha including both animal and crop production. There was some fluctuation between animal and crop production, but the final result was higher system productivity.

The results of the study show that integrated ecological livestock:crop systems can provide sufficient capacity and potential  to sustain intensive production based on available natural resource management alternatives.