Agroecology
No tillage, plant cover, rotations, biomass, living soil, agroforestry, dynamic rotational grazing, soil fertility, crop association
Agro-Eco-Logy : Is an agriculture that studies and uses soil (fields), as a house hosting a large number of living beings able to let plants grow on their own.
Principles
- Permanent occupation of land and space by plants and animals.
- Recycle all resources.
- Minimal environmental disturbance.
- Biodiversity and large number of actors.
- Information flow.
- Sharing abundance: Of products and services.
The aim is to copy nature, it grows all by itself!
Economic benefits
- Reduce production costs.
- Increase plant yield.
- Diversify income with, for example, agroforestry.
Environmental benefits
- Climate control.
- Depollution of water, air, soil.
- Fight against soil erosion.
- Healthy environment, plants, animals, people.
- Production of biodiversity.
- Reduction of resource consumption.
Social benefits
- Creation of fertile landscapes and opportunities for agritourism.
- Reduction of working time.
- Networking of farmers.
- Social recognition of our work.
- Better nutrition and health.
Concretely what is Agroecology?
Crops in living soil
- No tillage.
- Soil always covered.
- Maximized biomass production.
- Direct sowing under plant cover
- Cultivation in a permanent cover
Combining crops and livestock
- Fodder autonomy of farms.
- Dynamic rotating grazing / mob grazing.
Promote the water cycle
- Keyline design.
- Hill reservoir.
- Tree plantation.
- Vegetation continuity in dry period.
Include agroforestry in all systems
- Wood energy.
- Climate controller.
- Fodder agroforestry.
- Landscape designer.
- Economically profitable projects.
At home, in town and in schools
- Living soil vegetable gardening.
- Edible landscapes.
- Garden-forest.
- Productive lianas and trees to produce, air-condition, recycle and beautify.
Simply assess the fertility of your soil
- Slake test.
- Spade test.
- Evaluation of spontaneous biomass.
For more information on agroecology
Sources
- White paper from the Centre National d'Agroécologie. 2023.
This page has been written in partnership with the Urbane project and with the financial support of the European Union.