Between business and social uses of the word terroir and the corresponding meanings, a variety of mental representations of the word creates the difficulty in mobilizing among researchers and trainers. The transdisciplinary analysis proposed in this paper aims to identify better understanding and to identify the potential of this concept for research, development and training. The concept of terroir has been characterized by a multi-referentiality: on the one hand an object representing a local and cultural productive system, on the other hand a project of a community whose goals are subjective. This multi-referentiality gives some potentiel for the concept about (i) mediation in development projects in rural areas, (ii) interdisciplinary training of agronomists.Entre les usages professionnels et sociaux du mot terroir et les significations correspondantes, une grande diversité de représentations mentales du mot engendre une difficulté à le mobiliser chez les chercheurs et les formateurs. L’analyse transdisciplinaire proposée dans ce texte vise à mieux cerner sa compréhension et à identifier le potentiel de ce concept pour la recherche, le développement et la formation. Le concept de terroir a ainsi été caractérisé par une multiréférentialitée : d’une part un objet représentant un système productif et culturel local, d’autre part un projet d’une communauté dont les finalités et la dynamique sont empreints de subjectivité. Cette multiréférentialité donne au concept de terroir un potentiel pour (i) la médiation dans des projets de développement des territoires ruraux, et (ii) la formation interdisciplinaire des agronomes
New organic cropping systems are needed to keep pace with the growing demand for organic food. Those systems should ideally give more yield and safe for the environment. Current innovations such as non-inversion tillage with cover crops are promising, but investigations usually do not take farmers view into account. Therefore, research work should include farmer participation to maximize success. We present here a method to help farmers in designing innovative cropping systems. This method involves several design workshops with farmers. The first steps of the method foster creativity by changing ways in which farmers thought and worked. The final steps of the method facilitated learning. Participatory tools are used to exchange views and knowledge. System prototypes were developed. The method was applied using groups of six and seven farmers from two French regions. The farmers generated 14 system prototypes. We found that system prototypes differed radically from current practices because prototypes are based on biological rather than mechanical methods. Indeed, cover crop use was almost four times more frequent in prototypes than in current systems. Moldboard plowing and mechanical weeding frequencies were, respectively, two and eight times lower. The main benefits of our method are (1) the involvement of volunteer farmers in the design process, (2) the combination of farmer knowledge and scientific knowledge, and (3) the use of various methodological supports
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