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

Fonctionnement de peuplements en semis direct associant du blé tendre d'hiver (Triticum aestivum L.) à différentes plantes de couverture en climat tempéré

Innovative crop management systems have to be proposed to achieve objectives of modern agriculture such as productivity, respect of the environment, and profitability. No-till crop management systems with a living cover crop are of primary interest since they can reach these objectives. If these crop management systems really present some advantages in tropical climate, they are almost unexplored in temperate climate. This work proposes to increase scientific knowledge about these particular crop management systems in order to facilitate their conception and evaluation in temperate climate.The study was based on field experiments carried out during three cash crop growing seasons in Grignon (Yvelines, France) since 2002. Treatments involved a winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crop grown (i) on its own on a conventional-till soil, (ii) on its own on a no-till soil, and (iii) on a no-till soil with six different living cover crops. By associating an analytic approach to a systemic one, global aim of this work was to comprehend, according to the cover crop species, (i) the effects of the different no-till/living cover crop management systems on cash crop yield while underlying sensitivity periods to stresses for this crop, (ii) competition or facilitation for light and nitrogen between intercropped species, and (iii) short-term changes in soil structure as well as hydraulic properties.This study showed that living cover crops may reduce, sometimes importantly, wheat grain yield, depending mainly on the cover crop species, their management practices, and the climatic conditions; wheat sensitivity periods to stresses depended also on these three factors. Furthermore, the study highlighted that competition for light between intercropped species was the most detrimental process to wheat grain yield. On a short-term basis, soil structure little changed from a no-till soil without a living cover crop to a no-till soil with a living cover crop. Nevertheless, the study showed that hydraulic properties may change according to the absence or the presence of a living cover crop on a no-till soil without revealing important variations of these soil hydraulic properties from one living cover crop species to another.The work increased scientific and technical knowledge on the functioning of no-till/living cover crop management systems in temperate climate. It showed feasibility as well as risks of these crop management systems; it allowed us to identify new research axis to increase knowledge and to provide some references in order to reduce these risks.Des systèmes de culture innovants doivent être proposés pour répondre aux nouveaux objectifs de l'agriculture qui devront allier productivité, respect de l'environnement et rentabilité économique. Les systèmes de culture en semis direct sous couvert végétal (SCV) avec cultures associées permettraient d'atteindre ces objectifs. Si ces systèmes ont en effet montré des intérêts en climat tropical, ils sont presque inexistants en climat tempéré.Cette thèse se propose d'accroître les connaissances scientifiques sur ces systèmes particuliers pour faciliter leur conception et leur évaluation en climat tempéré. Le travail repose sur un dispositif expérimental mis en place à Grignon (Yvelines, France) en 2002 pour trois campagnes culturales. Du blé tendre d'hiver (Triticum aestivum L.) est semé (i) dans un sol labouré, (ii) directement dans les résidus de la culture précédente et, (iii) directement dans six plantes de couverture différentes. En combinant sur ce dispositif une double approche, systémique et analytique, les objectifs de la thèse sont de comprendre, selon l'espèce de couverture, (i) l'impact des différents SCV avec cultures associées sur le rendement de la culture de vente en mettant en évidence les phases de sensibilité aux stress de cette culture, (ii) les relations de compétition et/ou de facilitation pour l'azote et la lumière entre les espèces associées et, (iii) l'évolution, à court terme, de la structure du sol et de ses propriétés hydriques.Ce travail montre que la présence d'une plante de couverture peut réduire, parfois fortement, le rendement de la culture de vente, différemment selon l'espèce de couverture, sa conduite technique et les conditions climatiques ; les phases d'élaboration du rendement qui sont perturbées dans ces situations culturales dépendent aussi de ces trois facteurs. De plus, l'étude met en évidence que la compétition pour le rayonnement lumineux entre les espèces associées est le processus le plus défavorable au rendement du blé.A court terme, il n'apparaît pas de différences marquées entre la structure d'un sol non travaillé sans plante de couverture et celle d'un sol non travaillé avec une plante de couverture. Toutefois, l'étude révèle que les propriétés hydriques peuvent être modifiées selon l'absence ou la présence d'une plante de couverture sur un sol non travaillé sans démontrer de variations importantes de ces propriétés selon l'espèce de couverture.La thèse fournit des informations scientifiques et techniques sur le fonctionnement, en climat tempéré, de peuplements associant sur un sol non travaillé, une culture de vente à différentes plantes de couverture. Elle montre la faisabilité mais aussi les risques des SCV avec cultures associées ; elle permet d'identifier des axes de recherche pour compléter les connaissances et fournir des références pour réduire ces risques

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

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

Comprendre les pratiques des agriculteurs du Grand ouest produisant des protéagineux à graines pour diffuser et améliorer leurs itinéraires techniques

Intervention et présentation orale à la session 4 du colloque "Des légumineuses pour l'élevage : quels défis & quels enjeux pour le Grand Ouest ?

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

International audienc

SYNERGY: A model to assess the economic and environmental impacts of increasing regional protein self-sufficiency

The European Union (EU) relies on imports to feed livestock. In particular, protein self-sufficiency in EU for feed is not reached. Most of imported protein rich feed consist of soybean meals, which raises questions in terms of deforestation, consumer expectations for GMO-free products and security of supply. In this context, the 2014 CAP aims at improving protein self-sufficiency in EU for feed by developing production of protein-rich crops, such as legumes. Nevertheless, the development of legumes still faces economic and environmental challenges (Watson et al., 2017), such as lower annual gross margins per hectare than those of major crops and regulatory constraints which prohibit the spreading of animal manure on most legumes.The purpose of this paper is to implement an appropriate stylized framework to assess the impacts of increased protein self-sufficiency through legume development at the regional level. Both economic and environmental impacts have to be studied. Mathematical programming models offer a prospective analysis, which permits to assess agricultural practices even though they have not been introduced at large scale yet. Among mathematical programming, bio-economic models permits to assess both economic and environmental impacts. In the case of legume production, several bio-economic models have been conducted, at the field scale and at the farm scale (Schläfke et al., 2014). Such models are relevant because decision-making processes take place at the farm scale and because they help appraising farm’s sustainability. However, they fail to give indicators at higher scales, while this may be useful to policy makers. Hybrid models (Britz et al., 2012) address this issue by aggregating results from the farm to the region. These models usually take into account the diversity of farms but they badly represent the heterogeneity of soil and climate conditions. In the case of legume production, conditions such as soil pH and water deficit have to be taken into account because they limit the possibilities of implanting legumes. Besides, one of the levers to increase the production of legumes has been very little studied: the complementarity of farms. On the one hand, livestock farms could export animal manure to crop farms, which are deficient in nitrogen for crop fertilization. On the other hand, crop farms could produce legumes and trade it in order to feed animals of livestock farms. Our hypothesis is that increasing protein self-sufficiency through legume exchanges between farms can have positive economic and environmental impacts.MATERIAL AND METHODS The bio-economic model SYNERGY proposed here is in direct line with these considerations. First, it is a hybrid model implemented at farm scale and then, aggregated at the regional level. Second, it takes into account various types of farm (crop farm, dairy farm, hog farm) as well as the heterogeneity of soil and climatic conditions. Third, the complementarity of farms is highlighted by accounting for exchanges of legumes and animal manure between farms. SYNERGY optimizes the sum of each farm’s expected income at the regional level. It is composed of five modules: four modules describe farm activities (i.e., the cropping module, the fertilization module, the livestock module and the feeding module). Thanks to farm activities, farmers produce commodities (i) to self-supply needs for their management systems (e.g., a livestock farmer can use crops grown on its farm to feed his animals) and, (ii) to sell them on markets. Depending on the commodity, commodities can be exchanged on either local markets (i.e., to other farms of the region), on worldwide market or on both markets. The fifth module permits to assess environmental impacts through nitrogen-related indicators: SyNE (System Nitrogen Efficiency) and SyNB (System N Balance) based on (Godinot et al., 2014) have been integrated. SYNERGY is implemented on a stylized area inspired from a small region of western France where livestock farms are dominant. Three scenarios are simulated: the baseline scenario (B), which should reproduce the observed data; the scenario (SC1) where local exchanges between farms are made possible; the scenario (SC2) where, in addition to these local exchanges, a GMO-free certification is implemented for animal commodities for produced from legume-based rations instead of soybean-based rations. SYNERGY generates three types of outputs: (i) an assessment of protein self-sufficiency in animal feed, (ii) an economic assessment by calculating incomes and, (iii) an environmental assessment by calculating the nitrogen-related indicators SyNE and SyNB. All these assessments are done at the farm scale, and at the regional level through a scaling process.RESULTS AND DISCUSSION SYNERGY model currently incorporates limited and highly constrained technical alternatives (i.e., soybean-based ration vs legume-based). Thus, the first results can only be interpreted in relation to the trends they present. When local exchanges between farms are possible (scenario SC1), protein self-sufficiency rises at the regional level, as do incomes. However, this greater self-sufficiency is not associated with an increase in the legumes area, but only with local exchanges of cereals. Thus, protein self-sufficiency is not only linked with protein rich materials but must be seen in a more comprehensive way by taking into account all sources of proteins. When a GMO-free certification is added(scenario SC2), the legumes area increases significantly and exchanges of legumes between crop farm and livestock farms happen. Protein self-sufficiency is improved thanks to a substitution of soybean-based rations for legume-based rations. However, the self-sufficiency is not strengthened compared to scenario SC2. One of the reason is that the legume-based ration for pig is less effective than the soybean-based ration. Concerning the environmental assessment, in both SC1 and SC2 scenarios, SyNE indicator decreases and SyNB indicator increases in all types of farms. Thus, farms become less efficient in N and N losses become higher than in the baseline scenario (B). CONCLUSION The purpose of this paper was to implement an appropriate stylized framework to assess the impacts of increased protein self-sufficiency through legume development at the regional level. The results show that protein self-sufficiency can initially be strengthened at the regional level, thanks to local exchanges of cereals. It can also be enhanced to the same extent by the development and exchanges of legumes, when a market for differentiated feeds such as GMO-free animal products, exists. Thus, SYNERGY model highlights that the complementarity between livestock farms and crop farms is a relevant lever for improving regional protein self-sufficiency

SYNERGY: a bio economic model assessing the economic and environmental impacts of increased regional protein self-sufficiency

The European Union (EU) relies on imports to meet the protein requirements of livestock. The Common Agricultural Policy aims at improving EU protein self-sufficiency by developing the production of protein-rich crops such as legumes. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impacts of increased protein self-sufficiency through legume development at the regional level. To do so, the SYNERGY bio-economic model is set up. This model accounts for (i) different scales, (ii) different types of farm, (iii) different pedological and climatic conditions and (iv) possible exchanges of organic fertilizers and crops between farms. It analyzes both economic and environmental impacts, in terms of revenues and use of nitrogen. The main assumption is that the complementarity between specialized crop farms and livestock farms can increase protein self-sufficiency while having positive economic and environmental impacts at the regional level. The results show that protein self-sufficiency can be slightly enhanced thanks to exchanges between farms, as long as locally purchased crops are at least 10% cheaper than world purchased ones. This price differential can represent the saving in terms of transport and transaction costs. When local exchanges are possible and a GMO-free certification is set up, legume-based rations are dominant in livestock farms, and the protein self-sufficiency is even more enhanced. In both situations, the economic consequences are positive as incomes increase at the regional level. However, the impacts in term of nitrogen management are more reserved