The timber sector: diversifying agricultural activity

Against a backdrop of steadily rising fossil fuel costs and growing interest in alternative energy sources in agriculture, maintaining a competitive horticultural sector in the Alpes-Maritimes region depends on reducing the energy costs associated with heating greenhouses. Building on the region’s forested landscape and the strong commitment of forest-rich local authorities to developing the wood energy sector, the project led by ASTREDHOR, COFOR 06, the CRPF and the FDCUMA, and overseen by the Alpes-Maritimes Chamber of Agriculture, has made it possible (i) to raise awareness amongst farmers in forested areas about the production of wood chips (ii), to inform and support horticulturalists in analysing their energy costs (iii), and to set up a pilot scheme for heating greenhouses using wood energy at the Chamber of Agriculture’s experimental station, which is a member of the ASTREDHOR National Technical Institute for Horticulture. However, the cost of investment, the small size of horticultural holdings in the Alpes-Maritimes, and the lack of organisation within the wood chip supply chain currently prevent the wider adoption of this energy source for greenhouse heating.