1.
Agroecological practices supporting
provision of goods and services in
agriculture
Alexander Wezel
ISARA-Lyon, France, Department of
Agroecology and Environment;
Agroecology Europe
Regional Symposium on Agroecology for Sustainable
Agriculture and Food Systems in Europe and Central Asia
Budapest 2016

2.
www.blog-materiel-agricole.fr
Florida, USA
California, USA
NE Vietnam
Cerrados, Brazil
Which practices for which type of agriculture?
SE France

3.
Agroecology
Scientific Discipline Movement
Plot/Field
approach
Agroecosystem
ecology
Environ-
mentalism
Rural
development
Practice
Technique
Ecology of
food system
Social/Political movement
for sustainable
agriculture; Policy
Landscape manage-
ment practices
(Wezel , Bellon et al. 2009, Agronomy for Sustainable Development;
updated in Wezel 2017, forthcoming book: Agroecological practices for Sustainable Agriculture:
Principles, Applications, and Making the Transition)
Practice
Main interpretations of agroecology

4.
Agroecological practices - definition
Agricultural practices aiming to produce significant
amounts of food, which valorise in the best way
ecological processes and ecosystem services in
integrating them as fundamental elements in the
development of the practices, and not simply relying
on ordinary techniques such as chemical fertilizer
and synthetic pesticide application, or technological
solutions such as genetically modified organisms.
(Wezel et al. 2014, Agronomy for Sustainable Development)

5.
Ecosystem services as a basis for agroecological
practices
• nutrient cycling
• biological nitrogen-fixation
• natural regulation of pests
• pollination
• soil conservation
• biodiversity conservation
• carbon sequestration
• water filtration and purification
Services provided by ecosystems for humans:

6.
Management of landscape
elements
Integration of semi-natural landscape
elements at field, farm, and
landscape scales
Tillage
management
Direct seeding into
living cover crops
or mulch,
Reduced tillage
Crop choice, spatial
distribution, and temporal
succession
Agroforestry,
Intercropping and relay
intercropping,
Crop choice and rotations,
Cultivar choice
Crop
fertilisation
Split fertilisation,
Organic
fertilisation,
Biofertilizer
Scale of application of
agroecological practice
Field
scale
Cropping
system
scale
Landscape
scale
Weed, pest, and
disease
management
Natural pesticides,
Biological pest
control,
Allelopathic plants
Crop
irrigation
Drip irrigation
Agroecological cropping practices
(Wezel et al. 2014, Agronomy for Sustainable Development)

7.
Some examples of
agroecological cropping
practices supporting
diversification

8.
Intercropping
Pea and wheat
intercropping in
western France (Photo
G. Corre-Hellou).
Relay intercropping of wheat and undersown clover
in SE France (Photo F. Boissinot).
Relay intercropping of wheat and undersown
lucerne in SE France.

9.
Cultivar mixtures
(Photo B. Rolland)

10.
Diversified crop rotations
Typical crop rotations in conventional cereal farms in SE France
Maize
Wheat
Rapeseed
Wheat
Sunflower
4 to 6 years
3 to 4 years
Irrigated crop
rotation
Non-irrigated
crop rotation
(Wezel et al. 2014, publication for FAO )

11.
Diversified crop rotations
Typical crop rotations in organic cereal farms in SE France.
Lucerne
Maize
Soybean
Wheat
Lucerne
Wheat
Secondary cereal
(barley, rye)
Grass clover
Soybean
Wheat
Maize
3 to 4 years
Irrigated crop
rotation
Non-irrigated crop rotations
12 to 14 years 8 to 10 years
(Wezel et al. 2014, publication for FAO )

12.
Cover crops
Mustard cover crop http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/IPMPROJECT/
2007/strategicplan.html
Mustard helps also to reduce nematode populations (biological pest control)

13.
Direct seeding into cover crops
(Photo J. Peigné)

14.
Agroforestery
Walnut wheat agroforestry
system, SE France
Walnut-lucerne agroforestry
system, central Italy
Grape vine-olive trees-walnut trees
agroforestry system, central Italy

15.
Integration of semi-natural landscape elements at
field, farm or landscape scale
Biological control and pollination, biodiversity conservation,
but also erosion control, drinking water protection

16.
Integration of semi-natural
landscape elements at field
and farm scale
Direct seeding into living
cover crops or mulch
Natural
pesticides
Organic
fertilisation
Drip
irrigation
Potential of agroecological practices for the next decade
Integration in today’s agriculture
Crop choice
and rotations
Intercropping
and relay
intercropping
Agroforestry
Split
fertilisation
Biological
pest control
Allelopathic
plants
Reduced
tillage
Integration of semi-natural
landscape elements at
landscape scale
high
highmediumlow
lowmedium
Biofertilizer
(Wezel et al. 2014)
Cultivar
choiceCultivar
mixture
Potential
Diversification practices

17.
Integration in today’s agriculture
high
highmediumlow
lowmedium
Potential of diversification practices for conventional/industrial
agriculture
Intercropping
and relay
intercropping
• nutrient cycling
• biological nitrogen-fixation
• natural regulation of pests
• pollination
• soil conservation
• biodiversity conservation
• carbon sequestration
• water filtration and purification
Cultivar
mixture
Integration of semi-natural
landscape elements at field
and farm scale
Potential
Crop choice
and rotations

18.
Conclusions
• A broad diversity of agroecological practices exists
• Practices supporting diversification and having good
potential to be more broadly implemented: diversified
crop rotations, cover crops, cultivar mixture,
intercrop.  support/valorise well ecosystem services
• For some practices a high level of systems change
might be necessary (e.g. intercropping, agroforestry,
direct seeding)
• Marketing of more diverse productions will be a
challenge for many farmers
• Policy framework needed supporting farmers to
implement agroecological practices

19.
Thank you for your attention
Alexander Wezel
ISARA-Lyon, France, Department of
Agroecology and Environment;
Agroecology Europe