Resource management

The hypothesis of the massive development of organic agricul-ture is renewing the stakes concerning varieties, seeds and seedlings, and calling into question multi-disciplinary and par-ticipatory research on new fronts of science.

Organic agriculture (OA) is limited by the availability of nutrient resources essential for plant growth.

Nutrient management is a central element in the scaling-up of organic agriculture (OA), as nutrient availability is a limiting factor for agricultural production. The expansion of OA must therefore be accompanied by structural changes to improve nutrient management. Manure and organic waste are at the heart of several major levers aimed at optimizing the circularity of these nutrients.

The aim of BEEFORBIO was to identify the diversity of breeding practices in organic and non-organic beekeeping (selection and management of bee genetic resources, diversity of individual practices, collective selection schemes). It particularly focused on selection carried out within beekeeping collectives.

In a context of global population growth, major climate uncertain-ty and declining biodiversity, there is an urgent need to rethink feed resources for animals in ruminant livestock farming. The use of new plant resources may be an alternative. SOURCEN explored the extent to which atypical resources derived from the natural capital of livestock farms could be mobilized in terms of forage supplementation and “health value”, without compromising their sustainability and their role as habitats for biodiversity.

The expansion of organic agriculture (OA) may find itself confronted with a significant lack of nitrogen resources necessary to fertilize crops. This gap could be filled by increasing the area planted with nitrogen (N) fixing crops. However, the development of N-fixing crops crops is only viable if they have outlets on the market.

Whereas the demand for organic products is increasing, the development of organic pig production in Europe is slow compared to other animal and plant sectors. This project explores the hypothesis according to which pig farming could contribute to the development of organic agriculture by bolstering the optimization of processes and closing cycles at different levels of organization, from the animal to the territory. For example, the pig, in its capacity as an omnivore, is capable of recycling co-products that could not be recycled otherwise, and the fertilizing potential of its waste is of interest for soil and crop production. The obstacles to the development of organic pig farming have been well identified. On the other hand, the links between the different levels of organization require further study.