https://www.soilassociation.org/agroforestry/ Agroforestry can boost farms’ productivity and profits. It is farming in 3D, getting two or more crops from the same land. By growing upwards as well as at ground level productivity is increased, making the best use of light, nutrients and moisture. Agr'eau is a farmer-centered grassroots effort to develop a resource-efficient, eco-friendly, climate-smart agriculture across the Adour-Garonne basin (south-west of France). The Agr'eau programme, a network of nearly 300 farms of all types and sizes across the basin, was launched in 2013 to build on existing field experiences. Agr’eau encourages its farmers and research partners to develop and validate highly resilient systems together that complement "basic" agroforestry practices with no-till, cover crop farming practices. The result is a multi-level form of agriculture that maximises the plant cover of the soil, both spatially and temporally. www.agroforesterie.fr/agreau.php

1. Agr’eau: developing a resource-efficient, eco-
friendly, climate-smart agriculture across the
Adour-Garonne basin (South-West France)
Fabien Balaguer, French Agroforestry Association (AFAF)
Agroforestry 2017
22nd
June 2017, Cranfield, UK
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

2. Adour-Garonne basin
The Adour-Garonne basin – Where?
France

3. Farming without trees?
©Arbre et Paysage 32

4. Really?
Farming without trees?
©Arbre et Paysage 32

5. 5
Not enough water?
Too much water?
A matter of (degraded) soils...
©Arbre et Paysage 32

6. Water degrading
the soils…
… And soils
degrading the
water...
©Arbre et Paysage 32

7. • Mean soil loss in EU: 2.46 t/ha annually
• 12.7% of European arable lands have soil loss >5 t/ha annually
• Among all land uses, arable and sparse vegetation
have the highest soil loss rates
• Mean soil loss in EU: 2.46 t/ha annually
• 12.7% of European arable lands have soil loss >5 t/ha annually
• Among all land uses, arable and sparse vegetation
have the highest soil loss rates

8. Adour-Garonne basin
Agr’eau – a farmer-centered initiative
France
Aim: collaborative development of
farming practices that allow for…
• Sustainable soil & water
management (landscape
approach)
• Intensification & optimization
of farming systems
 Producing more, with less...
while protecting the environment
The long-term
development
programme
launched in
2013

9. Founding partners
IAD : Sustainable agriculture Institute
A.O.C Sols: local soil conservation association
Arbre et Paysage 32: local farmer
association
Associated partners
Programme manager
French Agroforestry
Association
Water Agency: 50% of
programme budget
Sponsors
Agr’eau – A multi-partner, local initiative
The institutions

10. Road
maintenance
officers
*more than 300 farms (still increasing)
Bee-keepers
Farmers*
Ag. extension
workers
River
conservationists
ForestersResearchers
The people
Agr’eau – A multi-partner, local initiative

11. Building on 20+ years of field
and research experience...
©Christian Dupraz

12. A landscape approach to agroforestry
©D. Dellas – A&P 32

13. The keystone of the Agr’eau initiative:
The pilot-farms
Expected: 125 pilot-farms by 2018

14. Farmers, the motor of innovation!
Agr’eau
Other farmers
Farmers
from
pilot-farms
Knowledge
input
Sharing of program
outcomes (results,
advice, etc.)
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

15. Conversation agriculture…
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie©Pierre Honoré
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

16. AGROforestry as a mean to reach
sustainable farming
©Agroof ©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

17. ©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

18. BEFORE:
- 1 crop a year
- Soil left bare part of the year
- Low biomass production
Vicious circle
AFTER:
- Up to 3 crops a year
- Soil permanently covered with plants
- High biomass production
Virtuous circle
!
Crop succession (1 year)
©D. Dellas – A&P32

19. No-till + direct seeding into living mulch
= healthy, fertile, filtering soils
7t of biomass/ha
©Jack Delozzo

20. ©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

21. On a 1-yr period, 15 yr old trees + wheat
(without intermediate cover crops)
Walnuts
Wheat
Unused
020406080100
%incidentlight
January April July OctoberWinter
Summer
(INRA, Hi-sAFe)
Capturing sunlight in agroforestry
Complementarity
Slide courtesy of C. Dupraz – INRA

22. Exported
carbon
(t/ha/yr)
Carbon
restituted to soil
(t/ha/an)
2
2
4
4
6
6
0
"Modern" agriculure
(1 crop a year)
7 tC/ha/yr
Intermediate cover crops
(2-3 crops a year)
12.5 tC/ha/yr Intermediate cover crops
+ agroforestry
16.5 tC/ha/yr
Food production
Soil restitution (fertility)
Biofuels
(fuelwood, anaerobic
digestion…)
Storage in biomass
(timber)
de construction…)
Carbon, fertility... and climate
France could capture twice as much carbon!

23. (Re)shaping farming landsapes
Protecting crops from wind and pesticide drift
Hosting pest predators, increasing
biodiversity
Creating a microclimate
Closing the fertility loop

24. Living soil
=
Autoregulation
• Water
• Chemical pollutions
• Temperature
• Pathogens
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

25. Maize on ploughed soil Direct seeded maize
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

26. Improving the water
balance

27. ©D. Dellas – A&P32

28. © M.Archambeaud

29. Protecting spaces, not species…
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

30. From desert to forest:
finding the right balance…
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

31. The thorn (Rubus spp.) is the mother
of the oak
To plant … or not to plant
(Assisted Natural Regeneration)
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie
©D. Dellas – A&P32

32. Tree growth without planting cost
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

33. A diversified and productive landscape
Foresters
880 m3
of fuelwood for an area of
800 ha
River conservationists
460 m3
/yr of fuelwood for each 55 km
of river
Highway engineers
125 m3
/yr of fuelwood
75 t of grass for each 25 km of road
Farmers
30 m3
of fuelwood/yr/farm
(100 ha, of which 20ha are agroforestry
+ 5km of hedges)
©D. Dellas – A&P32

34. The multi-purpose biomass as a socio-
economic leverage
Development of new jobs and market channels
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

35. More innovations on the way…
© P. Van Lerberghe – IDF@CNPF

36. Natural resources
Inputs
Outputs
Natural resources
Inputs
Outputs
©Association Française d’Agroforesterie

38. agroforesterie.fr/agreau.php
fabien.balaguer@agroforesterie.fr