The agro-ecological transition at INRA Olivier Le Gall Nouvelles orientations pour la recherche agronomique Montpellier, Agropolis International, 10Sep13 #nora13.01
The agro-ecological transition at INRA Worldwide, the agri-food systems are not sustainable Socially / Environmentally / Economically The challenge of providing food to 9-Billion humans eating like 12-Billion Consequences for the demand Change the food behavior in the North Do not adopt Northern-like behavior in the South Consequences for the offer Increase production Surface x productivity Decrease post-production losses Do so in a socially / environmentally / economically sustainable manner Spare land / biodiversity / fossil C & energy Produce wealth Current agronomical scientific approaches will not be sufficient Calls for integration of: Technologies / partnerships / disciplines Scales of time / space / organization.02
1 super challenge Scientific agenda for 2010-2020 4 research priorities across disciplines Food security and global changes Improving the economic, social and environmental performances of agriculture Reducing greenhouse gases effects and adapting to climate change Developing healthy and sustainable food systems 2 emerging interdisciplines Promoting sustainable uses of biomass for chemistry, energy and bio-based materials + Predictive approaches in biology Agro-ecology.03
The meta-programs: A new tool of INRA for new challenges To increase our consistency towards grand challenges To foster, and align with, national and international partnerships Six meta-programs already launched 2011 2012 MEM: Microbial Ecosystems Meta-omics ACCAF: Adaptation to Climate Change of Agriculture and Forestry SMaCH: Sustainable Management of Crop Health SELGEN: Genomic Selection DID IT: Diet Impact & Determinants, Interactions and Transitions GISA: Integrated Management of Animal Health Two additional meta-programs soon to be launched 2013 EcoSerV: Ecosystem Services, Agriculture and Forest GloFoodS: Transitions to Global Food Security With CIRAD.04
INRA s scientific priorities for 2010-20 1 grand challenge Food security and global changes Improving the economic, social and environmental performances of agriculture 4 research priorities across disciplines Reducing greenhouse gases effects and adapting to climate change Developing healthy and sustainable food systems Promoting sustainable uses of biomass for chemistry, energy and bio-based materials 2 emerging interdisciplines + Predictive approaches in biology Agro-ecology.05
What does «agro-ecology» actually cover? A term coined in the 1930 s to name a new discipline at the crossroads between agronomy and ecology Two other meanings since the 60 s Agro-ecology as a set of agricultural practices Agro-ecology as a social movement Germany Brazil. United States France.06
What does «agro-ecology» actually mean? A term coined in the 1930 s to designate a new discipline at the crossroads between agronomy and ecology A working group at INRA to evaluate What exactly the term agro-ecology carries in academic words How to ensure the convergence between agronomy and ecology And beyond: biology, earth sciences, numerical sciences, social sciences How the ecological theory applies to human-imprinted environments How can modern scientific revolutions (big data) contribute To value biological and ecological regulations in agricultural systems A promising field To address academic challenges With short-term and long-term applications.07
Agroecology in the scientific literature 2500 publications (1975-2012).08
Keywords of the 125 articles cited >100 times (Enlarged corpus: 33,500 articles at the interface between agronomy and ecology in 2002-2011).09
A systemic view on agro-ecosystems emerges Ecology Adaptation, co-evolution Agronomical Sciences Systematics Evolution sciences Population ecology Community ecology Trophic and mutualistic networks Functional traits Genetics Ecophysiology Crop protection Veterinary sciences Functional ecology Stoechiometry Biochemical cycles Landscape ecology Ecological engineering Modeling Meta-communities Phenotypical and behavioral plasticity Agricultural systems Systems agronomy Agricultural economy Sociology Ecological services Management sciences.010
A set of priorities established Five priorities P1. Biological interactions in agro-ecosystems P2. Landscape agro-ecology P3. Multi-criteria evaluation of agro-ecosystems and ecological services P4. sustainable management of soil and waters multiple functionalities P5. Innovative conception of agricultural systems, and transitions Three additional questions ICS&T applied to agriculture Ecology of food systems Agro-ecology for action.011
How much is INRA actually involved in AE? A certainly difficult-to-answer question Territories: 11 / 17 research centers Academic: 10 / 13 research divisions Thematic: 6 / 8 meta-programs Operational: 21-65 teams for each priority Large communities: 3 Excellence labs Montpellier, Nancy, Grignon INRA s 2 nd largest research unit Dijon (soil biodiversity / weed control / legumes / mycorrhizae) To run farm-scale experiments: 34 experimental units In diverse climatic and agricultural situations To model and evaluate: 7 platforms 6 modeling 1 life-cycle analysis.012
A few examples How to optimize biological control in an agrosystem Involves entomology / community ecology / population genetics / population dynamics / modeling The first events after release are similar to the situation occurring in endangered species (Allee effect).013
A few examples How to optimize biological control in an agrosystem Management of crop resistances to diseases in agricultural landscapes as a response to new constraints on pesticide use Involves plant genetics / plant pathology / population genetics / population dynamics / agronomy / management sciences / sociology / modeling (both actor strategies and disease epidemics) / dissemination Proposes a combination of control strategies Addresses two crop x disease situations to increase genericity Wheat x rust Rapeseed x canker.014
Grassland based dairy System (in plain) Specification low-input innovative foraging systems Choice of Animal genetic Select bulls to increase the robustness of the cows Feeding strategy Increase the proportion of grassland area in the total agricultural area of the farm Decrease the proportion of annual crop in the total agricultural area of the farm Decrease the stocking rate Introduce multispecies swards (mixtures of grasses and legumes) to increase yield Increase the proportion of grazing Increase the nutritional quality of conserved forages Herd management Increase the number of lactation achieved per cows (4 lactations instead of three) Objectives : To enter into the specification «Low input Innovative Foraging Systems» To increase the productivity of this grassland based dairy system Workload - Hardness Semi-natural areas Smell emissions NH3 emissions GHG emissions Veterinary drugs P emissions Animal well-being Nitrate emissions OM content Metal track Quantity quality profitability Erosion Compaction Variable costs Added value Debt Water Phosphorus Direct energy Indirect energy Difficulties High price of cereals and reduction of the availability of straw for the litters Acceptability of grassland based systems / variation of production according to the meteorology).015
To be implemented, agro-ecology has To be knowledge- and technology-intensive Yesterday s solution will not solve tomorrow s problems in a globally changing environment Agro-ecology is not low-tech! Custom-made high tech A strong need for (higher) education To rely on concepts Think generic rather than aggregate specificities A corpus of concepts in construction To be integrative Of innovations Of disciplines Of scales of analysis Of partnerships.016
Agro-ecology Research Symposium Paris, 17th Oct 2013 Under the auspices of the French ministry in charge of agriculture, organized by INRA in connection with Agreenium and Allenvi Aim= to contribute actively to mobilize the communities of research, education and agronomical innovation The symposium will summarize The state of the art of research Ongoing research and education The interactions between innovation, research and development Some particular aims: To qualify scientifically the agro-ecological innovation carried by the actors of the field To identify knowledge-based innovation To discuss how research can provide a frame for the AE transition of agriculture To gather and spread knowledge To propose innovations in the short, mid and long terms To quantify/predict the expected gains of the transition To prepare the insertion in economical (supply and food) chains and territories To identify the lock-ins of the transition To propose principles and evaluation indicators.017