Diversification in space and time of the agroecosystems is a key part of the design of agroecological cultural systems. In perennial crops, this diversification is mainly spatial. This leads to numerous interactions, and the design process of those systems in workshops implies to explore several solutions. This means it is difficult – if not impossible – to gather all the expertise needed in the design process. Project AgroEcoPérennes produced a prototype of IT tool able to handle systemic knowledge, usable in design workshop, to overcome the lack of expertise on a topic. This tool, named SYGNAL, relies on a knowledge ontology formalised during the project that makes it possible to account for the diversity of interactions (“processus”) between the biophysical elements of the system (“agents”). Works remain to be done on the tool ergonomics and its support for a large diffusion.

Agriculture today faces opposing challenges: reducing its environmental impacts while feeding a growing population and adapting to climate change. Diversification of cropping systems has been proposed as a solution to address these issues and promote sustainable and resilient agricultural systems. While alternatives have been proposed by research and development, changing the agricultural systems remains a huge challenge. Engaging local actors when considering those changes is important for their successful implementation. While co-designing with stakeholders is gaining interest in the scientific community, approaches that consider varying local contexts remain uncommon. In this study, our aim was to co-design, during workshops with local stakeholders, diversification options in five case studies located in the Mediterranean countries of Algeria, France, Greece, and Spain. Prior to the co-design process, we conducted a SWOT/PESTLE analysis in each case study to analyze the local context of current and potential agricultural systems. Our hypothesis was that co-designed systems would differ between case studies, according to their environmental, social and political contexts leading to fine-tuned locally ad hoc systems. Options for intercropping and diversifying rotations were considered for both cereal-based systems and vine systems. Additionally, these options included adapted management practices for cereal-based systems and more innovative diversification, such as photovoltaic panels or agroforestry, for vine systems. While some of these options could serve as adaptations to climate change, they may not be sufficient to address future climate conditions. Interestingly, we did not observe significant differences among the system options designed for the various case studies, even though the local contexts were very different. Indeed, options only partially addressed the issues identified by stakeholders: primarily, economic and environmental threats. This study points to the advantage of participatory research in diverse contexts along with cross-case analyses, and to the need to consider the future of these Mediterranean regions, where crop diversification is limited by water deficit. To foster the transition next steps should consider assessing experimentally these systems with farmers to stimulate learning, while considering market possibilities.

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Les systèmes diversifiés sont associés à plus de résilience et de durabilité, mais sont aujourd’hui mal connus. L’objectif de l’étude est de repérer et de caractériser les systèmes diversifiés alternatifs au modèle dominant en oléiculture et en viticulture, en mobilisant la méthode de la traque aux innovations. Après avoir défini le système dominant (bibliographie, conseillers locaux), les systèmes diversifiés sont identifiés en interrogeant 28 viticulteurs et 18 oléiculteurs les mettant en œuvre. Nous distinguons trois types de diversification : (1) avec des animaux sur des îlots, (2) avec des espèces pérennes essentiellement dans le rang ou sur le rang et (3) avec des espèces annuelles sur l’inter-rang. Certaines associations ne sont possibles qu’en système irrigué (maraîchage). La diversification est principalement mise en œuvre à partir d’une plantation existante. Pour les agriculteurs, les systèmes innovants répondent à des objectifs environnementaux, agronomiques et/ou économiques. Les agriculteurs sont majoritairement satisfaits de leurs systèmes innovants, mais mentionnent des inconvénients spécifiques (ex. : difficulté à la récolte en oléiculture) qui pourraient faire l’objet d’un travail de conception dédié pour adapter les systèmes existants. Un quart des viticulteurs interrogés ont bénéficié d’un accompagnement technique dans la mise en place de leur(s) système(s) innovant(s). Aucun oléiculteur n’a mentionné un tel accompagnement. Tous les agriculteurs ont exprimé ce besoin pour améliorer leurs systèmes et être rassurés dans leurs pratiques. La mise en place d’un réseau d’échange entre agriculteurs serait une première solution. Il est également important de créer des références sur les associations mises en œuvre au sein des parcelles, et de développer les aides financières à la diversification.

Diversified systems are associated with greater resilience and sustainability, but are currently poorly understood. The aim of the study is to identify and characterise diversified systems as alternatives to the dominant model in olive and wine growing, using the innovation-tracking method. After defining the dominant system (bibliography, local advisers), the diversified systems were identified by interviewing 28 winegrowers and 18 olive growers using them. We distinguish three types of diversification: (1) with animals on sub-plots, (2) with perennial species mainly in the row or on the row, and (3) with annual species on the inter-row. Some associations are only possible in irrigated systems (market gardening). Diversification is mainly based on an existing plantation. For farmers, innovative systems meet environmental, agronomic and/or economic objectives. The majority of farmers were satisfied with their innovative systems, but mentioned specific disadvantages (e.g., harvesting difficulties in olive growing) that could be the subject of dedicated design work to adapt existing systems. A quarter of the winegrowers surveyed had received technical support in setting up their innovative system(s). No olive grower mentioned such support. All the farmers expressed this need to improve their systems and be reassured in their practices. Setting up an exchange network between farmers would be a first solution. It is also important to build references on the associations implemented in the plots, and to develop financial aid for diversification.

There is a crucial need for tools to help researchers, technicians and farmers designing sustainable agroecosystems based on agroecology Indeed, such agroecosystems are inherently complex and their design requires to integrate various data and unstabilised scientific knowledge. In this paper, we consider the issue of selecting service plant species according to their potential to provide ecosystem services. To tackle that issue, we adopt an approach based both on a formalized representation of domain knowledge, which enables reasoning, and on the exploitation of available data, collected independently of the targeted application. More specifically, we rely on the one hand on recent scientific results in agronomy linking functional traits (i.e., measurable characteristics of plant species) to ecosystem services, and on the other hand on data about functional traits collected by the research community in ecology. The architecture of our system is inspired by the ontology-based data access paradigm, which allows to combine data and knowledge in a principled way. We provide a methodology to acquire scientific knowledge in the form of diagrams linked to data sources, as well as a formalization in a logical rule-based language. Importantly, our rules are independent from specific diagrams and data, to ensure genericity and facilitate the evolution of the system. We detail the construction of a knowledge base devoted to vine grassing, i.e., installing herbaceous service plants in vineyards, and present an evaluation of the system’s results on this use case. We finally discuss the lessons learned and further challenges to be met.

'Service plants' include spontaneous vegetation or sown species of cover crops associated with perennial crops in the rows or inter-rows with a high potential to provide ecosystem functions and services. In vineyards, service plants target specific services depending on the management strategy implemented by the winegrower, including the plant species, the surface covered, the plant growth control and destruction date. Understanding the management strategies linked to their associated target services at the regional scale is necessary to better help winegrowers, advisers and policy makers regarding an adapted use of service plants. To do this, we conducted a survey in 2016 among 334 winegrowers in Languedoc-Roussillon region in France, enquiring about their service plant management practices during the season 2014-2015. Given the diversity of the strategies of service plant management, we proposed a typology analyzing their spatial and temporal dimensions. Further, we present a Coverage Index (CI), which combines both temporal and spatial dimensions of the service plant management strategies. We conducted a multiple components analysis and clustering to create a vineyard typology and applied linear models to find correlations between the CI and specific vineyard characteristics. Three quarters of interviewed winegrowers sowed or maintained service plants in their vineyards; 41 % used a winter service plant strategy; 8.4 % a semi-permanent and 27.3 % a permanent service plant strategy. The preferred surface coverage strategy was full surface during grapevine dormancy and its reduction to half of the inter-rows after grapevine budburst. However, the diversity of surface coverage strategies during the grapevine vegetative period was remarkable. Lower water resources and specific soil characteristics were not linked to the service plant management strategies. Higher CI was associated with vineyards presenting quality labels (PDO and Organic), independent wine-making and lower target yields, showing that the added value of producing high quality wine plays an important role when implementing service plants in vineyards. Overall, our study showed: i) the popularity of spontaneous service plant strategies; ii) the spatial and temporal diversity of service plant management strategies and iii) the utility of the CI to study the implementation of service plants and to understand the motivations and constraints of their use.

Spontaneous cover cropping is a common practice in Mediterranean vineyards because it is often seen as less competitive and easier to manage than sown covercrops. However, the services provided by the spontaneous flora highly depend on the species, these latter being influenced by the soil management practices. This study analyzes the specific and functional composition of the vineyard flora as influenced by three soil management strategies. To do so, weed cover was sampled at 5 dates during two years after the settlement of the experiment in a vineyard in the South of France. The three soil management treatments were: a control treatment (C) corresponding to a spontaneous cover regularly mowed, a spontaneous cover with organic amendment application each year (OF) and a green manure (Vicia faba) sown in autumn and incorporated at budburst (GM). 122 different species corresponding to 27 families, were identified (25 to 41 different species per treatment at a date), with only five species in more than 50% of the quadrats, while a majority of species, 85 out of 122 were present in less than 10%. The functional approach allows characterizing spontaneous vegetation according to species trait values and the ecosystem services they may provide: for example, the species being uncompetitive for vineyards while improving soil fertility are Crepis foetida and Lactuca serriola. On the contrary, species such as Geranium rotundifolium are more competitive and less interesting for soil fertility. This study contributes to a first identification of the soil management practices that can drive the trajectories of the spontaneous flora towards the best composition, hereby contributing to design more sustainable grapevine systems.

Spontaneous cover cropping is a common practice in Mediterranean vineyards because it is often seen as less competitive and easier to manage than sown covercrops. However, the services provided by the spontaneous flora highly depend on the species, these latter being influenced by the soil management practices. This study analyzes the specific and functional composition of the vineyard flora as influenced by three soil management strategies. To do so, weed cover was sampled at 5 dates during two years after the settlement of the experiment in a vineyard in the South of France. The three soil management treatments were: a control treatment (C) corresponding to a spontaneous cover regularly mowed, a spontaneous cover with organic amendment application each year (OF) and a green manure (Vicia faba) sown in autumn and incorporated at budburst (GM). 122 different species corresponding to 27 families, were identified (25 to 41 different species per treatment at a date), with only five species in more than 50% of the quadrats, while a majority of species, 85 out of 122 were present in less than 10%. The functional approach allows characterizing spontaneous vegetation according to species trait values and the ecosystem services they may provide: for example, the species being uncompetitive for vineyards while improving soil fertility are Crepis foetida and Lactuca serriola. On the contrary, species such as Geranium rotundifolium are more competitive and less interesting for soil fertility. This study contributes to a first identification of the soil management practices that can drive the trajectories of the spontaneous flora towards the best composition, hereby contributing to design more sustainable grapevine systems.

The development of innovative farming systems to reach new goals of agricultural sustainability needs new methods for efficiency assessment. DEXiPM-Grapevine is a multicriteria assessment tool for overall sustainability of grapevine farming systems adapted from DEXiPM arable crops (Pelzer et al, 2012). DEXiPM-Grapevine was implemented during the European PURE Project 20122015 (Integrated Pest Management (IPM) solutions in agriculture) in order to assess and compare various innovative grapevine systems. This model includes 65 basic attributes describing the cropping system, which are then combined into 97 aggregated attributes, designed to assess the economic, social and environmental performances. This model is based on expert knowledge and agricultural surveys, to define thresholds of classes for each attribute and the weighting of the aggregations. A guide helps users to adjust these parameter specific features due to local context. We tested DEXiPM-Grapevine on innovative grapevine systems, designed with low pesticides use, and experimented at field scale in the French EcoViti Network. We made both ex ante and ex post analyses of experimented systems in order to sort them and to adjust their strategies. Three main strategies of pesticide reduction are explored: (i) IPM, (ii) alternative products, organic and biocontrol approach, (iii) pesticide-free cropping systems based on new grapevine mildew resistant varieties. Seven prototypes are tested on INRA experimental farms in Angers (Loire Valley, center of France), Bordeaux (Atlantic region), and Montpellier (Mediterranean region). The first DEXiPMGrapevine assessments show a high environmental performance of innovative biocontrol strategies, and new resistant varieties. However, IPM strategies have the best overall sustainability with better economic and social assessments. DEXiPM-Grapevine© supports the analysis of performances and helps to identify the strengths/weaknesses of the tested prototypes. This tool can be used for ex ante assessment to guide the designing of cropping systems. It can also enable to re-adjust the prototypes after field experimentations. A third use for farmers' advisors is to help producers to modify their farming systems to enhance the sustainability of their farms.

Initie en 2010, le projet Casdar EcoViti a propose et teste une demarche s’appuyant sur des connaissances expertes pour la conception de systemes viticoles innovants a bas intrants phytosanitaires. L’evaluation des performances et le re-ajustement des prototypes concus se fait au sein d’un reseau de plateformes d’experimentation installees dans les grandes regions viticoles francaises. Une methode et des outils adaptes a la viticulture ont ete produits et formalises. Les premiers resultats d’EcoViti montrent des performances environnementales et economiques satisfaisantes pour encourager l’evolution des systemes viticoles vers une moindre dependance aux intrants.

Combining drastic reduction of inputs and high sensitivity of vine to pathogens implies re-designing viticulture production systems. The newly designed systems then need to be assessed to be sure that they are sustainable and can be implemented by wine growers. A experimental network with 26 vine sites located in Atlantic coast, Mediterranean and in North-East of France, has been set up since 2012. Tested viticulture systems of vine grape production are « Integrated Production », « Organic farming », « Zero fungicide » and « Zero pesticide ». Planting new vine varieties that are resistant to pathogens is under process in Alsace, Bordeaux and Loire vineyards. The methodology framework used to design and to assess the new systems is based on published work. Systems assessment deals with the three dimensions of sustainability: environmental, social and economic and also quality of vine and wine. A set of high set of constraints of the designed viticulture systems is: economical sustainability combining to hard reduction of inputs and high quality of grapes and vines, according to Protected Designation of Origin. Quality and quantity vine plots assessment (i.e. yield, berries quality), diseases assessment (i.e. mildiew, oidium, grey rot), economic assessment (i.e. gross margin) and environmental assessment (i.e. IFT and INDIGO® indicators) on different combinations of soil and climate, allow assessing and ranking the designed viticulture systems. For instance, one organic system is efficient and reliable for quality and quantity of vine, economic and environmental indicators. The only margin for improvement deals with reducing even more cupper used for fungi management. To conclude, the tested designed systems are well assessed under a set of high set of constraints of French vineyards. Drastically monitoring reduction of inputs (i.e. pesticides and energy) is possible for several new designed viticulture systems. In the next years, the extension of the network to more soil and climate combinations, will allow us to propose innovative robust viticulture systems to winegrowers.