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Analysis of transition forms towards more ecologically-oriented farming: the case of organic farming and integrated crop protection

Abstract

Interdisciplinary approaches developed concerning the conversion to organic farming show that the types of conversion trajectories can be differentiated on the basis of the progression of crop protection changes within a larger framework where relationships to other “objects” are transformed – the soil, products, rotations, work organisation, marketing, social networks and knowledge acquisition. In the case of integrated plant production, the extent of changes depends on the degree of recomposition of agronomic practices. This transition implies major knowledge acquisition that relies on the support and contribution of advisors and on the group dynamics that develop within a group of farmers. Transitions towards integrated crop protection are, by their nature, more reversible and therefore more fragile than the conversion to organic farming. This is due to the fact that they are not stabilised by a certification or by the market, and analysis shows that their sustainability is linked in part to their integration within a group dynamics

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