1. Presentation

Characterization of the technique

Description of the technique:

Daniel Chicouène	Agrobiotech	daniel.chicouene(at)orange.f	Saint Gilles (35)
Jean Roger-Estrade	AgroParisTech	jean.roger-estrade(at)grignon.inra.fr	Paris (75)
Fanch Jestin	Skol ar C'hleuzioù	secretaire(at)talus-bretagne.org	Pouldouran(22)
Julien Halska	INRA	julien.halska(at)grignon.inra.fr	Epoisses (21)

Spam prevention: To use these addresses, replace (at) with @

Maintain old embankments or, depending on the situation, create new ones. Embankments, like hedges, are elements of bocage landscapes and have variable height and width. When creating, choose the poorest possible soil in nutrients for an unplanted embankment (to limit vegetation and favor threatened frugal species). This sheet concerns embankments without hedges, although hedges on embankments fulfill their objectives better than these two structures separately (richer soil can be used if planting). An embankment without hedge can be mown (outside the breeding periods of ground-nesting birds), or on oligotrophic soil (poor in nutrients), spontaneous flora can be preserved (ferns, heather, etc.). It is advised to leave a grass strip along the embankment to increase the distance of equipment spreading organic or mineral amendments, which are projected onto the embankment and eutrophicate it.

Photo above: collapsed embankment adjacent to a plowed plot.

Example of implementation:

Oligotrophic embankments have existed since the Neolithic in Brittany.

Implementation period On established crop

It even exceeds the scale of rotation, embankments being rather permanent structures.

Spatial scale of implementation Plot

Farm

Territory

Application of the technique to...

All crops: Easily generalizable

All soil types: Easily generalizable

An embankment made of poor soil will better play its role as an edaphic barrier to the spread of weeds which are generally nitrophilous and neutrophilous, even calcicolous.

All climatic contexts: Easily generalizable

Regulation

2. Services provided by the technique

3. Effects on the sustainability of the cropping system

"Environmental" criteria

Effect on air quality: Variable

phytosanitary emissions: DECREASE

GHG emissions: VARIABLE

Effect on water quality: Increasing

pesticides: DECREASE

Effect on fossil resource consumption: Variable

fossil energy consumption: VARIABLE

Other: No effect (neutral)

Air: Embankments limit pesticide drift during spraying and can help regulate bio-aggressors via their role as reservoirs for auxiliaries. Slight increase in CO2 emissions due to possible creation and maintenance. The balance depends on the nature of the surface replaced by the embankment (crop, non-productive surface, etc.).

Water: Embankments limit pesticide drift during spraying and can help regulate bio-aggressors via their role as reservoirs for auxiliaries.

Fossil energy: Creating embankments can be energy-intensive (but only occasionally, especially considering their lifespan) but their maintenance consumes little energy. The balance depends on the nature of the surface replaced by the embankment (crop, non-productive surface, etc.).

Biodiversity: Increase

Possible role as refuge, food source, and ecological corridor. Embankments parallel to the slope do not accumulate nutrients and thus remain more oligotrophic. They are therefore more interesting for biodiversity.

"Agronomic" criteria

Productivity: No knowledge on impact

The effect depends on the height of the embankment. Its shadow can reduce yield at the plot edge. It also has a very slight windbreak effect which favors the crop (yield increase) on the side opposite the wind, but slightly disfavors the unprotected side where turbulence occurs (which does not happen with a semi-permeable hedge).

Soil fertility: No effect (neutral)

Water stress: No knowledge on impact

By blocking runoff (which favors water infiltration at the embankment edge), embankments slightly reduce the risk of water stress.

Functional biodiversity: Increasing

Possible role as refuge, food source, and ecological corridor benefiting many organisms, notably auxiliaries and pollinators.

"Economic" criteria

Operating costs: No effect (neutral)

Mechanization costs: No effect (neutral)

Mechanization costs for maintenance are very low, higher in the case of installation which remains very occasional. Creation is estimated at 4 to 5 euros excluding tax per meter with a bulldozer and 30 euros per meter by hand (1.3 m wide embankment, cf. bibliography A l'école des talus).

Margin: No effect (neutral)

Other economic criteria: Variable

Fuel consumption: variable

Creating embankments can be energy-intensive (but only occasionally, especially considering their lifespan), but their maintenance consumes little energy. The balance depends on the nature of the surface replaced by the embankment (crop, non-productive surface, etc.).

Productive surface: variable

A new embankment may replace productive surface, which may cause production losses (however, in the case of planted embankments, one can benefit from various products: wood, fruits, etc., see sheet on hedges). Currently, there are more embankment destructions than constructions.

"Social" criteria

Working time: Increasing

Creation remains occasional (15 to 25 meters per hour depending on conditions, 1 to 2 meters per hour by hand, cf. bibliography A l'école des talus). Maintenance requires relatively little time (one to two mowings per year).

Effect on farmer health: Increasing

Landscape quality and image of agriculture: Increase

Embankments are structuring elements of appreciated landscapes. Their presence helps give a good image of agricultural activities. They constitute aesthetic elements of landscapes and have cultural and heritage value (especially in certain regions like Brittany).

Observation time: No effect (neutral)

4. Favored or disadvantaged organisms

Favored Bioagressors

Organism	Impact of the technique	Type	Details

Disadvantaged bioagressors

Organism	Impact of the technique	Type	Details
Tomato moth		pest, predator or parasite
stem weevil		pest, predator or parasite
terminal bud weevil		pest, predator or parasite
beet leafhopper		pest, predator or parasite
wheat leafhopper		pest, predator or parasite
corn leafhopper		pest, predator or parasite
wheat flower gall midge		pest, predator or parasite
pea gall midge		pest, predator or parasite
cockchafer		pest, predator or parasite
slug		pest, predator or parasite
pollen beetle		pest, predator or parasite
black cutworm		pest, predator or parasite
autumn aphid		pest, predator or parasite
black bean aphid		pest, predator or parasite
pea aphid		pest, predator or parasite
green and pink potato aphid		pest, predator or parasite
potato aphids		pest, predator or parasite
crucifer aphids		pest, predator or parasite
aphids vectors of severe yellows		pest, predator or parasite
aphids vectors of moderate yellows		pest, predator or parasite
European corn borer		pest, predator or parasite
house centipedes		pest, predator or parasite
click beetle		pest, predator or parasite
thrips of flax and cereals		pest, predator or parasite
pea thrips		pest, predator or parasite
pea moth		pest, predator or parasite

Favored auxiliaries

Organism	Impact of the technique	Type	Details
Spiders	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors
Predatory and granivorous ground beetles	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors
Fungi (auxiliary)	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors
Green lacewings and antlions	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors
Ladybirds	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors
Carnivorous mammals	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors	small mammals
Predatory or granivorous bugs	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors	including mirids
Rove beetles	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors
Predatory hoverflies	LOW	Natural enemies of bioagressors

Disadvantaged auxiliaries

Organism	Impact of the technique	Type	Details

Favored climatic and physiological accidents

Organism	Impact of the technique	Details

Disadvantaged climatic and physiological accidents

Organism	Impact of the technique	Details

5. To learn more

Association Skol ar C'hleuzioù A l'école des talus
-Association Skol ar C'hleuzioù A l'école des talus

Website, 2011

very comprehensive website on the preservation and creation (price indications) of embankments in Brittany

Auxiliaries in arable crops
-Hasler M. ; Keller L. ; Meyer A.

Roman agricultural extension service. UFA Review 1/99, 8401 Winterthur, 1st edition, Technical brochure, 1999

link to the brochure

Soil erosion of cultivated soils in France: manifestation, costs, remedies
-Bussière M.

Picardie Jules Verne University, University works, 1996

Engineering thesis, university webpage concerning erosion

The role of bocage in the dissemination between plots of weeds
-Chicouène D.

Ingénieries n°38, June 2004, pp47-59, Press article, 2004

link to the article

6. Keywords

Bioagressor control method: Cultural control

Mode of action: Action on the initial stock

Type of strategy regarding pesticide use: Redesign

Annexes

Favorise les auxiliaires

Défavorise les bioagresseurs suivants

Maintaining or Creating Embankments

Contents