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 Printable version |
Assessment of cropping systems with low herbicide inputs: Technical feasibility and economic profitability at the farm level |
Cahiers Agricultures. Volume 20, Number 6, 468-79, Novembre-Décembre 2011, Études originales
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 Résumé
Article gratuit
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Author(s) : Aimé Landry Dongmo, Nicolas Munier-Jolain |
Summary : The diversification of crop rotations is a key component of integrated weed management (IWM), but this measure can be difficult to apply for economic reasons. This paper presents an
ex ante assessment at the farm level of both technical feasibility and profitability of an IWM-based farming system with economically optimized crop rotation established in accordance with IWM requirements. A farm model was used to simulate labour organization at the farm level, taking into account the between-year variability of climatic conditions. The case study presented is based on a real farm growing grain crops in Burgundy, eastern France. The economic profitability of the optimized IWM-based system, estimated with various price contexts, can reach that of the current simplified system. Low yields are compensated for by reduced input costs. However, during years with unfavourable climatic conditions (1 out of 5 years), the farmer would have either to find solutions to increase working capacities and avoid labour bottlenecks (temporary additional workers, improvement of the working capacity of tools, increase in working flexibility), or to adapt crop management for overcoming the lack of working days availability at specific periods. The method used in this study could be applied for a range of contrastive situations, soils, climates and farm structures, in order to identify those situations most favourable to a shift toward integrated pest and weed management in arable lands. |
Keywords : crop rotation, diversification, farms, integrated protection, modelling, economy and rural development, vegetal productions |
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