Assessing Investment in Precision Farming for Reducing Pesticide Use in French Viticulture

The paper develops a mathematical programming model for assessing the impact of Environmental Policy instruments on French winegrowing farm’s adoption of pesticides-saving technologies. We model choices with regards to investment in precision farming and plant protection practices, in a multi-periodic framework with sequential decision, integrating uncertainty on fungal disease pressure and imperfect information on equipment performance. We focus on recursive models maximizing a Utility function. These models are applied on a representative sample of 534 winegrowers from the French Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN). As expected, both ecotaxes and green subsidies make precision farming equipment more profitable, but the investment rate remains however low and concentrated on basic systems. One explanation is grower’s financial constraint in a context of market crisis and farm indebtedness. Shortcomings and further development of the models are discussed.Discrete Stochastic Programming, Precision Farming, Viticulture, Pesticides, Environmental Policy, Crop Production/Industries, Farm Management,

Economic Instruments to Combat Eutrophication: A Survey

Eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems is a functional process triggered by excessive nutrient inputs into water courses. It causes disruption to ecosystems, with impacts on associated goods and services, which consequently might not be provided in a sustainable way. These impacts have served to politicize the issue in recent years. In this chapter, we present the main lessons learned from an international literature review on the economic aspects of eutrophication, first with the purpose of managing the problem in France and second in the context of a European research project. This study aims to help public decision-making in the reduction of this water pollution. By analyzing past experiences and the results of recent modeling work, it allows to avoid a number of pitfalls and focus on efficient solutions

Chapter Economic Instruments to Combat Eutrophication: A Survey

Eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems is a functional process triggered by excessive nutrient inputs into water courses. It causes disruption to ecosystems, with impacts on associated goods and services, which consequently might not be provided in a sustainable way. These impacts have served to politicize the issue in recent years. In this chapter, we present the main lessons learned from an international literature review on the economic aspects of eutrophication, first with the purpose of managing the problem in France and second in the context of a European research project. This study aims to help public decision-making in the reduction of this water pollution. By analyzing past experiences and the results of recent modeling work, it allows to avoid a number of pitfalls and focus on efficient solutions

Observations complémentaires sur les fonctionnements hydrologiques et hydrosédimentaires de la Vallée Obscure (commune de Peyrolles)

Rapport techniqueCe rapport présente les résultats des suivis limnigraphiques et pluviographiques, campagnes de jaugeages en étiage, traçages dans les sédiments en arrière des tancats, étude des transports solides, relevés cartographiques... sur les bassins versants du Rouquet et de la Vallée Obscure. Les recherches ont été coordonnées avec les investigations menées parallèlement dans le cadre d'un projet européen INTERREG IIIB : TERRISC (Récupération des paysages de terrasses et prévention des risques naturels). Le dispositif d'observation mis en place vient en outre d'être intégré à un Observatoire de Recherche et Expérimental (ORE) du CNRS, l'Observatoire Hydro-météorologique Méditerranéen Cévennes-Vivarais (OHM-CV), preuve de l'intérêt des travaux réalisés sous l'égide du SMAGE des Gardons

Using critical source areas for targeting cost-effective best management practices to mitigate phosphorus and sediment transfer at the watershed scale

The impact of implementing different best management practices (BMPs) at the small watershed scale were examined for the Petzenkirchen catchment in Austria and Lake Vico in Italy, in terms of data needs, hydrological processes, tools and models involved. Identification of critical source areas for targeting soil and phosphorus losses turned out to be crucial for correct allocation of BMPs. Comparison of environmental effectiveness and costs, both calculated using various modelling approaches, enabled us to compare different levels of introducing BMPs ecologically and economically. Within each catchment, small areas of land tended to be the source of disproportionately large amounts of pollution . Therefore, confining mitigation to these areas costs less than targeting wider areas. This suggests that a policy for environmental programmes should be focussed on hydrological units and critical source areas within these units instead of introducing universal controls - the ‘watering can’ principle - as practised today

Evaluation intégrée des mesures agro-environnementales territorialisées à enjeu "qualité des eaux" sur la période 2007 à 2011 : le projet MAEVEAU

The MAEVEAU project has developed an approach for an integrated assessment of effectiveness of regionalized Agro-Environmental Measures (MAET) intended to preserve water quality in relation to pesticides. This approach investigates the concept of efficiency through a triple analysis: the impact (net effects), the environmental cost-effectiveness and the role of organizational factors in the contracting process. The impact is assessed by a quasi-experimental approach by counterfactuals and examines adaptation of the matching method to the regionalized MAET. Cost-effectiveness analysis is based on integrated modeling spatially distributed coupling the agro-hydrological SWAT model, pesticides pressure indicators and a bio-economic model optimizing gross margin. The effectiveness of organizational factors focuses on transaction costs, the role of collective action and preferences for alternative contracts.La recherche conduite dans le projet MAEVEAU a développé une démarche d'évaluation intégrée de l'efficacité des Mesures Agro-Environnementales Territorialisées (MAET) à enjeu préservation de la qualité de l'eau vis-à-vis des pesticides sur la période 2007 à 2011. La question scientifique traite le concept d'efficacité de la politique en s'appuyant sur une triangulation des approches: une évaluation de l'impact (c'est-à-dire des effets propres de la politique), une évaluation coût-efficacité environnementale et une évaluation du rôle des facteurs organisationnels dans le processus d'adhésion. L'impact est évalué par une approche quasi-expérimentale par contrefactuel et questionne l'adaptation de la méthode du matching à la territorialisation des MAET. L'analyse coût-efficacité s'appuie sur une modélisation intégrée spatialisée couplant modèle agro-hydrologique, indicateurs pesticides spatialisés et optimisation économique des marges brutes. L'efficacité des facteurs organisationnels s'est intéressée aux coûts de transaction, au rôle de l'action collective et aux préférences pour des contrats alternatifs

Understanding Stakeholder Synergies Through System Dynamics: Integrating Multi-Sectoral Stakeholder Narratives Into Quantitative Environmental Models

To reach the global aspiration of 17 ambitious SDGs, local realities must be integrated. Often, models are developed based on quantitative statistical data sources from databases on environmental indicators or economics to assess how a given SDG can be achieved. This process however removes the local realities from the equation. How can you best include stakeholders in this mathematical modelling processes distanced from their local realities, though, and ensure higher probability of future compliance with top-down global decisions that may have local consequences once implemented? When researching stakeholder involvement and their ability to form public policy, their opinions often get reported as a single assessment, like counting the fish in the ocean once and stating that as a permanent result. Too seldom do stakeholders get invited back and given the opportunity to validate results and allow researchers to adjust their models based on on-the-ground validation or change requests. We tested the full integration of stakeholders in the modelling process of environmental topics in six different case areas across Europe, with each area holding six sectoral and one inter-sectoral workshops. In these workshops, the scope of the issues relevant to the stakeholders was driven by first the sectoral priorities of the given sector, followed by a merging of issues. In this process, we were able to identify what the commonalities between different sectors were and where synergies lay in terms of governance paths. These results were then returned to the stakeholders in a mixed session where they were able to come with feedback and advice on the results researchers presented, so that the models reflected more closely the perceptions of the regional actors. We present these methods and reflect on the challenges and opportunities of using this deep-integration method to integrate qualitative data from stakeholder inclusion in a quantitative modelThe authors would like to acknowledge funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement N° 773782Peer reviewe

Understanding Stakeholder Synergies Through System Dynamics: Integrating Multi-Sectoral Stakeholder Narratives Into Quantitative Environmental Models

To reach the global aspiration of 17 ambitious SDGs, local realities must be integrated. Often, models are developed based on quantitative statistical data sources from databases on environmental indicators or economics to assess how a given SDG can be achieved. This process however removes the local realities from the equation. How can you best include stakeholders in this mathematical modelling processes distanced from their local realities, though, and ensure higher probability of future compliance with top-down global decisions that may have local consequences once implemented? When researching stakeholder involvement and their ability to form public policy, their opinions often get reported as a single assessment, like counting the fish in the ocean once and stating that as a permanent result. Too seldom do stakeholders get invited back and given the opportunity to validate results and allow researchers to adjust their models based on on-the-ground validation or change requests. We tested the full integration of stakeholders in the modelling process of environmental topics in six different case areas across Europe, with each area holding six sectoral and one inter-sectoral workshops. In these workshops, the scope of the issues relevant to the stakeholders was driven by first the sectoral priorities of the given sector, followed by a merging of issues. In this process, we were able to identify what the commonalities between different sectors were and where synergies lay in terms of governance paths. These results were then returned to the stakeholders in a mixed session where they were able to come with feedback and advice on the results researchers presented, so that the models reflected more closely the perceptions of the regional actors. We present these methods and reflect on the challenges and opportunities of using this deep-integration method to integrate qualitative data from stakeholder inclusion in a quantitative modelThe authors would like to acknowledge funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under Grant Agreement N° 773782Peer reviewe