Multi-purpose cereal-legume combinations

For several decades, the development of agriculture in France has, in a number of regions specialising in arable farming and livestock production, been strongly characterised by the simplification of crop rotations, accompanied by increased use of inputs and the standardisation of farming practices. The challenge now is to design more diverse agroecosystems with the aim of managing cultivated plots in an environmentally sound manner, which should lead to improved productivity and system stability in the face of various uncertainties, as well as the provision of a range of ecosystem services. This project explored ways of increasing crop diversity within a plot through cereal-legume mixtures. It demonstrated the range of services that can be expected from such mixtures in both organic and conventional farming, in cereal-based systems and in livestock farming systems. These combinations help to address challenges relating to production, the reduction of inputs, the reduction of the environmental impacts of crops, and stability in the face of biotic and abiotic hazards. The core of the project involved testing various levers of action to help steer the performance of these combinations towards different objectives. The advantages and constraints of adoption at sector level (particularly for collectors) were also highlighted and quantified.