Diversity of protein-crop management in western France

ISI Document Delivery No.: HN5FPTimes Cited: 0Cited Reference Count: 42Carof, Matthieu Godinot, Olivier Ridier, AudeFrench region, Brittany; French region, Pays de la LoireThis work was funded by two French regions, Brittany and Pays de la Loire, in the project SECURIPROT.0Springer franceParis1773-0155In the European Union (EU), local production of protein crops (faba bean, field pea, lupins) is of primary interest to help farmers depend less on purchased feed, provide agronomic benefits to cropping systems, and increase the EU's protein self-sufficiency. Nonetheless, farmers rarely grow protein crops, which currently represent less than 1% of the EU's arable land. We assumed that exploration of farmers' practices will bring focus on (i) their motivations for growing protein crops, so that extension programs can be improved based on these motivations, and (ii) the diversity of their crop management so that promising ones can be disseminated. In western France, a two-step survey was conducted among farmers who grew protein crops. The first step was an online survey of 127 farmers that aimed to characterize their farming systems. The second step was a face-to-face survey (69 volunteers from the 127 farmers) that aimed to collect precise data on management of protein crops. The main motivations of surveyed farmers for growing protein crops were related to (i) replacing imported soybean with farm-grown protein crops and (ii) pre-crop values of protein crops (i.e., benefits of protein crops for subsequent crops). Based on conventional farmers' answers, we estimated a pre-crop value of 118 Euroha(-1), which notably contributes to gross profit at the crop-rotation scale. Moreover, in our study, yields of protein crops did not differ significantly between conventional and organic systems. This offers an interesting opportunity for conventional systems to integrate organic practices, such as complex intercropping, to reduce variable costs (costs of seeds, pesticides, regulators, and chemical fertilizers) and increase gross profits. This study shows for the first time that, in western France, pre-crop values of protein crops and their suitability for low-input systems are undervalued and could be emphasized more strongly to encourage their adoption

SEGAE: a serious game project for agroecology learning

International audienceThe main challenge of European agriculture is to provide food in sufficient quantity and quality while reducing its pressure on the environment. Agroecology seems a very relevant option to meet this challenge. The agroecological transition requires farmers, farm advisors and other agricultural professionals to have a holistic understanding of farming systems and agricultural practices, but most courses on agricultural science remain organized by discipline. There is thus an urgent need to develop more multidisciplinary and innovative approaches for agroecology teaching. This article presents a European project whose purpose is to develop an online serious game on agroecology. The main characteristics of the game are presented, as well as its intended uses. This serious game, as well as the other pedagogical resources produced during the project, is hoped to provide some useful material for a more multidisciplinary and experiential learning of agroecology in European Universities

Proposition de nouveaux indicateurs d’efficience d’utilisation de l’azote à l’échelle du système de production agricole et du territoire

The improvement of nitrogen efficiency in agriculture is a promising option to fulfil the needs of the growing population while reducing its environmental impacts. Identification of the solutions most adapted for reaching this goal requires the use of indicators to evaluate efficiency. However, the existing indicator, called Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE), has several biases and shortcomings. The goal of this thesis is to develop new indicators that solve these biases and allow for the estimation of nitrogen efficiency for a variety of farming systems at multiple scales.An efficiency indicator called System Nitrogen Efficiency (SyNE) was developed to solve the main biases of NUE. In particular, it takes into account soil nitrogen changes and considers nitrogen losses from input production. SyNE is particularly useful when used in combination with an environmental risk indicator, System Nitrogen Balance (SyNB).As animals have lower nitrogen efficiency than plants, Relative Nitrogen Efficiency (RNE) expresses efficiency relative to the attainable efficiency of crops and animal products. It thus allows comparing the efficiency of practices regardless of the nature of production.The use of SyNE, SyNB and RNE at the scale of member states of the European Union illustrates the suitability of these indicators at the territory scale. The joint use of all three indicators provides comprehensive understanding of the use of nitrogen in each country and illustrates the interests of proposed improvements at this integrative scale. This thesis provides an analysis of the main advantages and limitations of these indicators. It also identifies some priorities to turn these indicators into readily usable tools.L’amélioration de l’efficience de l’azote en agriculture est une piste prometteuse pour répondre aux besoins d’une population croissante en réduisant ses impacts environnementaux. L’identification des solutions adaptées à l’atteinte de cet objectif requiert l’utilisation d’indicateurs. Cependant, l’indicateur existant, Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE), présente différents biais et insuffisances limitant sa pertinence. L’objectif de la thèse consiste à développer de nouveaux indicateurs résolvant ces biais pour quantifier l’efficience d’utilisation de l’azote de différents systèmes de production, à différentes échelles.Un indicateur d’efficience, System Nitrogen Efficiency (SyNE), est proposé pour résoudre les biais de NUE. Ce nouvel indicateur intègre entre autres les variations d’azote du sol et les émissions liées à la fabrication des intrants. Il est particulièrement pertinent lorsqu’il est couplé avec l’indicateur de pression azotée System Nitrogen Balance (SyNB).L’efficience d’utilisation de l’azote étant plus faible pour les productions animales que végétales, l’indicateur Relative Nitrogen Efficiency (RNE) exprime l’efficience en fonction de l’efficience atteignable selon la nature des productions. Cet indicateur permet de comparer l’efficience des pratiques quelle que soit la production.L’application de SyNE, SyNB et de RNE aux 27 Etats membres de l’Union européenne démontre l’adaptation de ces indicateurs à l’échelle territoriale. L’analyse conjointe des trois indicateurs permet d’obtenir une meilleure compréhension de la gestion de l’azote à cette échelle large.La thèse fournit enfin une analyse des intérêts et limites des indicateurs d’efficience proposés et identifie les axes de travail prioritaires pour en faire des outils opérationnels

A free online tool to calculate three nitrogen-related indicators for farming systems

A free online tool to calculate three nitrogen-related indicators for farming system

Survey data from 38 integrated crop-livestock farming systems in Western France

This paper presents data collected from 38 integrated crop-livestock farming systems in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany, France, during face-to-face surveys. Surveys were conducted using a quantitative questionnaire to collect information about farm management practices that affect nitrogen (N) inputs, N outputs, and internal N flows. The data were used to develop new indicators of N efficiency (SyNE, System N Efficiency) and of N balance (SyNB, System N Balance), as described in “SyNE: An improved indicator to assess nitrogen efficiency of farming systems” [1]. Also, the data were used to test an online tool developed to calculate these indicators, as described in “A free online tool to calculate three nitrogen-related indicators for farming systems” [2]. The data are provided with this article

On the use of 31P NMR for the quantification of hydrosoluble phosphorus-containing compounds in coral host tissues and cultured zooxanthellae

31P Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was assessed to investigate the phosphorus-containing compounds present in the tissues of the scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata as well as of cultured zooxanthellae (CZ). Results showed that phosphorus-containing compounds observed in CZ were mainly phosphate and phosphate esters. Phosphate accounted for 19 ± 2% of the total phosphorus compounds observed in CZ maintained under low P-levels (0.02 μM). Adding 5 mM of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (KH2PO4) to the CZ culture medium led to a 3.1-fold increase in intracellular phosphate, while adding 5 mM of dissolved organic phosphorus led to a reduction in the concentration of phosphorus compounds, including a 2.5-fold intracellular phosphate decrease. In sharp contrast to zooxanthellae, the host mainly contained phosphonates, and to a lesser extent, phosphate esters and phosphate. Two-months of host starvation decreased the phosphate content by 2.4 fold, while bleaching of fed corals did not modify this content. Based on 31P NMR analyses, this study highlights the importance of phosphonates in the composition of coral host tissues, and illustrates the impact of phosphorus availability on the phosphorus composition of host tissues and CZ, both through feeding of the host and inorganic phosphorus enrichment of the CZ.This research was supported by the government of the Principality of Monaco. Financial support to C.G. was provided by the École Normale Supérieure and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco.peer-reviewe

Biodiversity-based cropping systems: A long-term perspective is necessary

International audienc

SyNE: An improved indicator to assess nitrogen efficiency of farming systems

Reactive nitrogen (N) flows (all forms of N except N-2) are greatly increasing worldwide. This is mainly due to the ever larger use of inorganic N fertilizers used to sustain the growing food production. N flows have major impacts on water, air and soil quality as well as on biodiversity and human health. Reconciling the objectives of feeding the world and preserving the environment is a great challenge for agriculture. One of the main ways to increase food production while reducing its detrimental effects is to increase the efficiency of N use. N use efficiency (NUE) is a commonly used indicator to estimate efficiency of N use at the farm scale, It is defined as the ratio of farm N outputs to N inputs. However, it has some inconsistencies and biases, which raises questions about its reliability for assessing N efficiency of farming systems, As a consequence, we propose a new indicator, called system nitrogen efficiency (SyNE), which is based on NUE and improves upon it in several ways. First, life cycle inventory references are used to estimate N emissions linked to the production of inputs outside the farm. Second, net N flows are calculated by subtracting inputs and outputs of the same product in the farming system. Third, manure is not considered an end product, unlike crop and animal products. Finally, the annual change in N in soil organic matter is estimated. SyNE therefore expresses the efficiency of a farming system in transforming N inputs into desired agricultural products. It takes into account all sources of N, including the annual change in soil N stock as well as N losses occurring during the production and transport of inputs. To test the relevance of this new indicator, 38 mixed farms were surveyed in Brittany, France, and their NUE and SyNE were calculated and compared. Sensitivity analysis was performed to estimate the contribution of each variable to both indicators. We demonstrate SyNE is a useful indicator for comparing the N efficiency of different farming systems. We discuss its use in combination with system N balance (SyNB), a N loss indicator at the system scale. The combination of both indicators gives a more reliable estimate of the productive efficiency and potential environmental impacts of N in various farming systems

De l’animal au territoire, regards sur l’efficience de l’azote dans les systèmes bovins laitiers

International audienceImproving the use of nitrogen at all stages of its use is a priority, especially in livestock systems where it remains relatively low. There are many nitrogen use efficiency indicators based on various calculations depending on the context and the scales considered. The literature is full of examples of win-win practices improving its use and reducing its losses to the environment. But few studies present an integrative view of these gains at supra scales. This article first recalls the main strategies for increasing nitrogen use efficiency at the animal, farm and territory levels. The analysis of the integration of gains at global levels shows that improving efficiency at a given scale does not systematically generate an efficiency gain at larger scales or for the whole system. Moreover, the search for high efficiency does not always allow a reduction in nitrogen losses, some of the most efficient systems are also those that generate the highest impacts, a consequence of the high levels of N used. Efficiency indicators remain useful tools for improving nitrogen use in agricultural systems, but should be consistently associated with nitrogen loss indicators to better consider the consequences of agricultural systems on the environment.Améliorer la valorisation de l’azote à toutes les étapes de son utilisation est une priorité, notamment en élevage où elle demeure relativement faible. Les indicateurs d’efficience azotée sont nombreux et basés sur des méthodes de calculs diverses selon le contexte et les échelles considérées. La littérature illustre un certain nombre de pratiques vertueuses, le plus souvent applicables à l’échelle de l’animal ou du troupeau, qui en améliorent la valorisation. Mais peu d’études présentent une vision intégrative de ces gains aux niveaux d’organisation supérieurs comme l’exploitation ou le territoire. Cet article rappelle tout d’abord les principales stratégies qui permettent d’augmenter l’efficience d’utilisation de l’azote à l’échelle de l’animal, de l’exploitation et du territoire. L’analyse de ces gains à différentes échelles met en évidence qu’une amélioration de l’efficience à un niveau donné n’induit pas systématiquement un gain d’efficience à l’étage supérieur ou pour l’ensemble du système. Par ailleurs, la recherche d’une efficience élevée ne garantit pas systématiquement une réduction des pertes azotées vers l’environnement : certains systèmes d’élevage les plus efficients sont aussi ceux qui génèrent le plus d’impacts du fait des quantités importantes d’azote utilisées. Les indicateurs d’efficience s’avèrent des outils utiles pour améliorer l’utilisation de l’azote dans les systèmes agricoles, mais ces ratios ne disent rien des quantités mises en jeu tant au numérateur qu’au dénominateur. Ils devraient donc être systématiquement associés à des indicateurs de pertes azotées pour une meilleure prise en compte des conséquences des systèmes agricoles sur les milieux naturels