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Large-scale arable farms and peri-urban areas of the French Vexin |
Cahiers Agricultures. Volume 5, Number 2, 77-82, Mars-Avril 1996, Dossier
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 Résumé
 Summary
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Author(s) : Alain Capillon, Geneviève David, Département AGER : Agronomie-Environnement, Institut national agronomique Paris-Grignon, 16, rue Claude-Bernard, 75231 Paris cedex 05.. |
Summary : The Vexin region lies on the fringe of a densely-populated and expanding area close to the Paris suburbs. Based on surveys of farms of over 20 ha, the local agriculture was assessed and a farm typology drawn up. The predominating crops were wheat, sugar beet and forage pea. Livestock was of considerably less importance. Analysing the diversity of farming systems showed the differences to be due to production logic. Agro-tourism developed along two lines: on smaller farms, products were sold in situ or on urban markets, and on larger farms, investment was put into creating facilities of interest to tourists. Be this as it may, despite the greater development potential, only 14% of the farms surveyed opted for this. Farmland fulfils three functions: food production, leisure for town-dwellers, and recycling of urban waste (most of the sludge produced on sewage treatment plants is used on farms). The compatibility between the three are discussed. Sludge spreading must be planned on the regional level. It should take into account both regional objectives for tourism and industry’s increasing demand for better quality food products. Reducing the risk of not obtaining the desired quality must therefore be sought. Beyond the products themselves, greater attention is being paid to production processes. Hence, according to case in hand, using urban sludge may prove difficult. To maintain all three functions, lasting regional solutions must be found.
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