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Species mixtures are a key lever for the agroecological transition, mitigating environmental impacts while sustaining yields (Bedoussac et al., 2015). However, farmers encounter diverse lock-ins, including technical and economic challenges, particularly regarding equipment for growing and sorting species mixtures (Bellon Maurel & Huyghe, 2017). To overcome these lock-ins and develop species mixtures, some farmers repurpose, adapt, design or combine machinery to adapt them to their practices and specific situations (Salembier et al., 2020; Guenin, 2006). This study aims to explore farmers' machinery management strategies to grow and sort species mixtures.
The method implemented builds on the tracking on farm innovation approach (Salembier et al., 2021). We surveyed 14 farmers growing species mixtures and adapting their machinery. Relying on concepts from system agronomy, we analysed the data collected on each farm to shed light on: (i) how farmers manage mixtures, from an equipment perspective, (ii) the technical characteristics of their machineries to implement mixtures, including adaptations, repurposes, tinkering, and (iii) their machinery management logic to implement mixtures.
Three main results emerge from our analyses:
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We characterized the species mixtures through their spatial arrangement and seeding depth which appeared as two characteristics that interfere with the equipment. Therefore, six types of species mixtures were distinguished and defined with dimensions linked to the equipment used. For example, the first type corresponds to species sown in the same row, at the same depth and the second type to species sown in alternate rows at different depths. This equipment-based approach enriches the literature (e.g. Gardarin et al., 2022; Verret et al., 2020), which generally characterizes mixtures, among others, by their sowing date, duration of coexistence of species on the field, and intended outcome (cash vs. service) without taking into account the machinery used.
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We identified a diversity of machinery repurposed, adapted, and tinkered for sowing, harvesting and sorting with a majority of identified innovations concerning the sowing. For example, a farmer, using a seed drill with two distribution heads, partitions the hopper to sow a mixture of wheat and faba bean at two different depths.
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Based on a cross-analysis, we identified different management logic of agricultural machinery to grow and sort species mixtures: (i) minimizing costs in mechanization by repurposing the existing farm equipment, (ii) sowing mixtures based on species characteristics and physiology (e.g. seeding depth and alternating row patterns) by adapting equipment, and (iii) the choice of mixtures and equipment is influenced by the available resources in the local area (e.g. agricultural services, sorting platforms and cooperatives).
This study provides a new approach to species mixtures, by considering the role of equipment. This original perspective brings results that could support the design of species mixture strategies that integrate equipment design in a variety of situations.
References:
Bedoussac, L., Journet, E.-P., Hauggaard-Nielsen, H., Naudin, C., Corre-Hellou, G., Jensen, E. S., Prieur, L., & Justes, E. (2015). Ecological principles underlying the increase of productivity achieved by cereal-grain legume intercrops in organic farming. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 35(3), 911‑935. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-014-0277-7
Bellon Maurel, V., & Huyghe, C. (2017). Putting agricultural equipment and digital technologies at the cutting edge of agroecology. OCL, 24(3), D307. https://doi.org/10.1051/ocl/2017028
Gardarin, A., Celette, F., Naudin, C., Piva, G., Valantin-Morison, M., Vrignon-Brenas, S., Verret, V., & Médiène, S. (2022). Intercropping with service crops provides multiple services in temperate arable systems : A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 42(3), 39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-022-00771-x
Guenin, A.-M. (2006). Machinisme et bricolages. Inra.
Salembier, Chloé, Blanche Segrestin, Nicolas Sinoir, Joseph Templier, Benoît Weil, et Jean-Marc Meynard. « Design of Equipment for Agroecology: Coupled Innovation Processes Led by Farmer-Designers ». Agricultural Systems 183 (août 2020): 102856. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2020.102856.
Salembier, Chloé, Blanche Segrestin, Benoît Weil, Marie-Hélène Jeuffroy, Stéphane Cadoux, Claire Cros, Elise Favrelière, et al. « A Theoretical Framework for Tracking Farmers’ Innovations to Support Farming System Design ». Agronomy for Sustainable Development 41, no 5 (octobre 2021): 61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13593-021-00713-z.
Verret, V., Pelzer, E., Bedoussac, L., & Jeuffroy, M.-H. (2020). Tracking on-farm innovative practices to support crop mixture design : The case of annual mixtures including a legume crop. European Journal of Agronomy, 115, 126018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eja.2020.126018
| Keywords | intercrop ; equipment ; tracking innovation ; tinkering ; adaptability |
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