In Bearn, maize is well adapted to the pedoclimatic context, with no loss of yield potential when grown as a monocrop. But, regulatory pressure and price volatility risks, as well as increasing attacks from bio-aggressors, threaten maize
monocropping. It is essential to experiment with alternative cropping systems combining respect for the environment, efficient management of bio-aggressors, productivity and profitability.
Solution
As an alternative to maize monocropping, a 2-years rotation has been implemented (Figure 1). It consists of a sequence of 4 crops in 2 years: maize, cover crop (oats & mustard), soybean and oats as an energy catch crop (ECC).
Description
Thanks to the introduction of legumes and cover crops, which
enable crop diversification whilst qualifying for coupled aids, this innovative system has proved to enhance agronomic, environmental and economic performances. On a 3 years average basis, the 2-years rotation has proven to release 32% less GHG than maize monocropping. This is mainly due to a significant decrease of operating costs enabled by lower nitrogen inputs (-40%) thanks to the soybeans. It also brings economic satisfaction as soybean is well adapted in this region and a biogas plant gives additional added value to the energy catch crop. Even with higher mechanisation costs due to the ECC, the net margin with aid remains higher than that of the reference monocropping (+ 37€/hectare on average over 3 years, although similar margin per hour worked).
In order to use the comment function, you must register with the third-party provider "Disqus".
When you activate this function, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the third-party provider. We would like to point out that data is transmitted to the third-party provider after activation, and the latter may set cookies that can also be used for analysis and marketing purposes. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.
Disqus
In order to use the comment function, you must register with the third-party provider "Disqus".
When you activate this function, your browser establishes a direct connection with the servers of the third-party provider. We would like to point out that data is transmitted to the third-party provider after activation, and the latter may set cookies that can also be used for analysis and marketing purposes. For more information, please refer to our privacy policy.
Activate