Handbook for designing & managing Agroforestry mixing fruits & vegetables

This 40-pages handbook intends to point out the main decisive aspects to have in mind when creating and designing a diversified agroforestry system : which marketing channels, which competencies, which working capacity and organization... Farmers experiences and feedbacks provide an additional value to this practical guide

Vertical project : designing fruit agroforestry systems for a renewed horticulture

Although it's addressing multiple issues for modern farming, agroforestry mixing fruit trees and annual crops (mainly vegetables) has not been so well documented under temperate climate. One expected amenity of agroforestry is to increase biodiversity and natural pest regulation within the plot. While fruit trees are among the crops that rely most on plant protection products, we made the hypothesis that introduction of annual crops in the perennial system can lead to effective biocontrol and to input reduction, while developing other synergies between crops (shadow beneficial effects, water limitation, ….) or social amenities. On two locations (Durette/TAB) in southern France, with different characteristics (crop rotation, marketing, surface...), the partners of a 6-years funded project called Vertical, designed in 2012 and 2013 innovative cropping systems addressing those specific constraints, in order to optimize their global performance. These systems have been implemented in 2013 and 2014. Sustainability indicators have been discussed and selected to (i) monitor and (ii) to assess these systems. An ex ante assessment tool has been developed under a participatory approach, to stimulate the co-design of new performant plots. This tool will shortly be adapted to ex-post assessment, so that advisors but also farmers dealing with fruit agroforestry systems can identify their main bottlenecks and assets. A link to the national bottom-up network of fruit agroforestry systems (called Smart) will be achieved this way

Vertical project : designing fruit agroforestry systems for a renewed horticulture

Although it's addressing multiple issues for modern farming, agroforestry mixing fruit trees and annual crops (mainly vegetables) has not been so well documented under temperate climate. One expected amenity of agroforestry is to increase biodiversity and natural pest regulation within the plot. While fruit trees are among the crops that rely most on plant protection products, we made the hypothesis that introduction of annual crops in the perennial system can lead to effective biocontrol and to input reduction, while developing other synergies between crops (shadow beneficial effects, water limitation, ….) or social amenities. On two locations (Durette/TAB) in southern France, with different characteristics (crop rotation, marketing, surface...), the partners of a 6-years funded project called Vertical, designed in 2012 and 2013 innovative cropping systems addressing those specific constraints, in order to optimize their global performance. These systems have been implemented in 2013 and 2014. Sustainability indicators have been discussed and selected to (i) monitor and (ii) to assess these systems. An ex ante assessment tool has been developed under a participatory approach, to stimulate the co-design of new performant plots. This tool will shortly be adapted to ex-post assessment, so that advisors but also farmers dealing with fruit agroforestry systems can identify their main bottlenecks and assets. A link to the national bottom-up network of fruit agroforestry systems (called Smart) will be achieved this way

References for organic farming systems: proposal for an innovative analytical frame

The RefAB project, associating about twenty people from research, training and development produced methodological framework of production of references at the level of the agricultural systems, built for organic farming but relevant to any type of agriculture. It is thus proposed to analyze the agricultural systems (in their economic, social and environmental performances) via five fundamental principles and properties in organic farming: resilience, autonomy, diversity, equity and ecology (referring to IFOAM principles). Various criteria, evaluated by indicators, make it possible to characterize the organic agricultural systems. If certain indicators are classically used in production of references, others are more innovative. The potential of the approach relies in the global approach that is proposed at the level of the farm

Shared Research Questions On Soil Quality In Organic Farming Systems

"In 2018, a participatory national workshop was organized by ITAB (Organic Food and Farming Technical Institute) and INRA (National Institute for Agricultural Research) in order to highlight issues on soils in Organic Farming (OF) systems. The objectives were: i) to identify the key research questions to be addressed on soils in OF, ii) to make it possible to facilitate network and project building from interactions between academics and stakeholders.Over 150 participants from academic and professional origins attended the workshop which was designed according to The Town Hall Meeting (THM) methodology.High level discussions among participants and panel experts ended up with a list of 20 research questions which confirmed the important lack of knowledge on that topic and the needs for research on the following issues: soils functioning with a focus on biogeochemical cycling and biological interactions; long term effects of agricultural practices, more or less specific to OF; soils protection; tools for soils diagnosis and management.

Co-Designing an organic framework: the ”REF’AB” Project in France

To help the development of Organic Food and Farming (OFF) systems, there is the need to consolidate conversions to OF, to support entry into organic farming, and to develop existing organic farms. Therefore a group of extensionists, researchers and educators has being working 2 years long to co-design a framework for OFF, taking into account the need to (i) embrace all forms of OFF, and at the same time to (ii) address the specificities of OFF. This project, called REF’AB (REFerentiel de l’Agriculture Biologique, 2010-2012) aims at designing the organization of set of references produced on shared methodological bases. The approach consisted in identifying key-issues of OFF systems, defining indicators, identifying relevant databases and references to feed the framework, and providing recommendations for governance to optimise the establishment and circulation of references. The outcomes of this project is that first it was not necessarily clear what a framework for OFF should be, and therefore a conference of consensus was used as a methodological tool to share views by multi-stakeholders. Second, we used sustainability assessment as an integrative process of the three levels (technical-economic, environmental, and social) and third, to manage to share a more transversal approach, we proposed a framework with 3 levels of key-proprieties: 1) security and efficiency, 2) durability through the protection of resources, and 3) autonomy and resilience

Dossier : Recherche-expérimentation en AB

Ce dossier présente une vue d'ensemble de la recherche et de l'expérimentation en agriculture biologique en France. Il se divise en trois parties. La première positionne les grandes catégories d'acteurs impliqués dans la recherche-expérimentation en AB, ainsi que les grands acteurs hors recherche. La seconde présente l'outil « Qui fait quoi » de l'ITAB qui permet de recenser les actions de recherche et de contribuer, notamment, à la diffusion des résultats. Un premier bilan sur les grands types d'actions développées est fait. La troisième partie porte sur les résultats des Assises RevAB 2011, organisées par l'ITAB, en mars dernier, sur la problématique de l'approche globale en recherche-expérimentation en AB

Механизм туристской ренты как инструмент стимулирования развития туристского продукта малых городских поселений Беларуси

В сборнике материалов конференции отражены научно-методические и прикладные результаты научных исследований, анализа, оценки, регулирования, картографического и ГИС-обеспечения современных структурных и региональных сдвигов в мировом хозяйстве, социально-экономической модернизации стран и регионов СНГ в условиях глобализации, инновационных факторов социально-экономического развития регионов Беларуси, демографического развития и социально-демографических рисков стран, современных региональных проблем развития туризма, природно-ресурсного потенциала стран и регионов, геоэкологических аспектов стратегии устойчивого развития. Адресуется преподавателям, научным работникам, студентам и аспирантам вузов, сотрудникам органов управления

A methodology to go from stakeholder’s expectations to research questions: implementation on organic food processing

To develop research projects on organic food processing, the French Research Institute of Organic Farming and the French National Institute for Agricultural Research co-organised a participatory meeting to define shared research questions and involve stakeholders (researchers, private companies, representatives of funding agencies and consumers). Based on the Town Hall Meeting method, it enabled attendees to express and discuss their points of view on proposals they made together. This led to twenty-two research questions about bio-compatibility, conservation, sustainability, adaptation to the food system and flexibility, socio-economic or health. It also led to mid-term strategic agenda. Some of these questions are currently used to build multidisciplinary projects in the framework of a French organic processing network

Agor@gri 1 : Les médias sociaux numériques au service de la transition agroécologique

Ce numéro traite de résultats de projets lauréats en 2017 et 2018 de l'appel à projet CASDAR (Compte d'Affectation Spéciale Développement Agricole et Rural), "Innovation et Partenariat" et "Recherche Technologique. Ces projets sont financés par le ministère de l'Agriculture et de la Souveraineté Alimentaire.National audienceThrough the development of an genuine analytical framework and the use of methods from the human and social sciences, Agor@gri highlighted the diversity of uses of digital social media by farmers in agroecological transition. The operational resources produced for the users and designers of these tools specify the conditions for optimizing their effectiveness in supporting changes in practices. In Agor@gri social media are not only considered as digital interfaces but as a multidimensional service (material media, content, communities) in response to technical needs but also emotional and symbolic ones.Grâce à l’élaboration d’un cadre d’analyse original et à la mobilisation de méthodes issues des sciences humaines et sociales, Agor@gri a mis en évidence la diversité des usages des médias sociaux numériques par les agriculteurs en transition agroécologique. Les ressources opérationnelles produites à destination des utilisateurs et concepteurs de ces outils, précisent les conditions pour optimiser leur effectivité dans l’accompagnement des changements de pratiques. Dans Agor@gri les médias sociaux ne sont pas considérés uniquement comme des interfaces numériques mais comme un service multidimensionnel (supports matériels, contenus, communautés) en réponse à des besoins techniques mais également émotionnels et symboliques