Does the crop diversification measure impact EU farmers’ decisions? An assessment using an Individual Farm Model for CAP Analysis (IFM-CAP)

Louhichi, Kamel; Ciaian, Pavel; Espinosa-Goded, María; Colen, Liesbeth; Perni, Ángel; Paloma, Sergio Gómez y

doi:10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.04.010

Cited by 38 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 38 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…Other approaches and theoretical frameworks, in agronomy or economics, could have been used to analyze the increase in areas of major crops and the decline of minor crops, and to model these trends. Several studies, based on such disciplinary approaches, are quoted in our paper (for example, in agronomy, Schott et al 2010;Ponisio et al 2015;Zimmer et al 2016;in economics, Fares 2006;Filippi et al 2008;Louhichi et al 2017). However, the complex and systemic characters of specialization led us to overpass these disciplinary approaches, to adopt a holistic perspective of the involved socio-technical factors.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to these strong links between impediments, the lock-in is systemic: any path towards diversification will necessarily rely on the simultaneous and organized mobilization of many actors (Geels 2002). It seems clear that a public policy, which would only contain measures intended for farmers, cannot be sufficient to enhance diversification (Louhichi et al 2017). The proof was given in France in 2010-2011, when public authorities aimed to increase land areas in pulses, by proposing a specific incentive to farmers.…”

Section: Interconnected Self-reinforcement Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Socio-technical lock-in hinders crop diversification in France

Meynard

Charrier

Fares

et al. 2018

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

179

170

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Crop diversification is considered as a major lever to increase the sustainability of arable farming systems, allowing reduced inputs (irrigation water, pesticides, fertilizers), increasing the heterogeneity of habitat mosaics, or reducing yield gap associated with too frequent returns of the same species. To free up paths of collective action, this article highlights obstacles to crop diversification, existing at various levels of the value chains. We used a threefold approach: (i) a cross-cutting analysis of impediments to the development of 11 diversifying crops (5 species of grain legumes, alfalfa, flax, hemp, linseed, mustard, sorghum), based on published documents and on 30 interviews of stakeholders in French value chains; (ii) a detailed study (55 semi-structured surveys, including 39 farmers) of three value chains: pea and linseed for animal feed, hemp for insulation and biomaterials; and (iii) a bibliometric analysis of the technical journals and websites (180 articles) to characterize the nature of information diffused to farmers. We highlight that the development of minor crops is hindered by a socio-technical lock-in in favor of the dominant species (wheat, rapeseed, maize, etc.). We show for the first time that this lock-in is characterized by strongly interconnected impediments, occurring at every link of the value chains, such as lack of availability of improved varieties and methods of plant protection, scarcity of quantified references on crop successions, complexity of the knowledge to be acquired by farmers, logistical constraints to harvest collection, and difficulties of coordination within the emerging value chains. On the basis of this lock-in analysis, that could concern other European countries, the article proposes levers aimed at encouraging actors to incorporate a greater diversity of crops into their productive systems: adaptation of standards and labelling, better coordination between stakeholders to fairly share added value within value chains, and combination of genetic, agronomic, technological, and organizational innovations.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interconnected Self-reinforcement Mechanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-technical lock-in hinders crop diversification in France

Meynard

Charrier

Fares

et al. 2018

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

179

170

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“…Their results show that the environmental impacts of greening are small, although greater effects can be pointed out in the regions with a larger percentage of intensive farms [17]. Louhichi et al (2017), using an EU-wide individual farm level model, show that the effects of the crop diversification practice on the EU farming sector are rather small. At the aggregate EU level, the proportion of the area that was reallocated due to the diversification measure represents less than 1% of the total agricultural area, and the crop production and income declines by less than 0.5%.…”

Section: Literature Review On Greeningmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the aggregate EU level, the proportion of the area that was reallocated due to the diversification measure represents less than 1% of the total agricultural area, and the crop production and income declines by less than 0.5%. At the individual farm level, the impacts could be more pronounced, although the number of farms affected by the measure remains small [18]. Finally, Hart et al (2017) evaluated the observed data regarding the payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment at European level.…”

Section: Literature Review On Greeningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Green Payment and Perceived Rural Landscape Quality: A Cost-Benefit Analysis in Central Italy

Cortignani¹,

Gobattoni²,

Pelorosso³

et al. 2018

Sustainability

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The conservation of perceived scenery of traditional extensive and diversified landscapes is a valuable aim for reaching sustainable rural development. Considering the financial budget assigned and the application rules of European Union agricultural policy (Common Agricultural Policy-CAP), the relationship between perceived landscape benefits and CAP first pillar payments is an interesting aspect to analyze. In this study, a cost-benefit analysis has been carried out in a rural area of Central Italy that represents typical Italian conditions of hilly territories. Greening payment, a mechanism aimed to boost public goods, including landscapes and their ecological functionality, was selected as a proxy for policy cost of preserving traditional extensive landscapes. The benefits of greening have been evaluated through the analysis of the people's willingness to pay for the maintenance of extensive and diversified landscapes. The analysis conducted does not explicitly consider the full range of environmental benefits determined by greening, even if some interviewees may have perceived them in addition to the visual perception of the rural landscape. The present study can contribute to the debate on the agricultural policy post-2020, especially for a future definition of long-lasting and cost-effective sustainable interventions in hilly and extensive rural landscapes.

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“…The Common European Agricultural Policies are promoting crop diversification, by, for example, "greening" farms with over 10 ha of arable lands and regulating both the minimum number of crops and the surface of the main crops in the Usable Agricultural Area of the farm [5]. However, in a recent paper, Louhichi et al [6] concluded that the impact of this policy both on land use reallocation and on farm income of this policy remained rather small at the EU level. In France, Meynard et al [7] showed that the obstacles for crop diversification in 12 minor crops are linked to the difficult coordination between demand and supply, to the lack of technical references, and to the slower genetic progress compared to major crops.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Innovative Land Suitability Method to Assess the Potential for the Introduction of a New Crop at a Regional Level

et al. 2020

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Although crop diversification is one of the main strategy of agroecological transition, a major obstacle is the lack of local references regarding new crops. Land suitability methods can provide a rapid screening of crop suitability in a region. However, mainstream methods are mainly based on assessing soil and climate suitability, whereas it is fundamental to know where and how a new crop can be introduced into existing crop rotations and whether this introduction would be profitable. Our method based on recent advances in the characterization of cropping systems at the regional level can be exploited to evaluate: (1) the yield potential of the new crop, (2) the potential of this new crop being successfully introduced into ongoing crop rotations; (3) the economic benefits of such an introduction. The method was tested for the possible introduction of new soybean varieties in northern France. The method developed has relevance beyond the case study. Our method could also be easily adapted to rapidly assess the potential for introducing new crops in cases where there climate database, soil map information and a Land Parcel Identification System are available.

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Does the crop diversification measure impact EU farmers’ decisions? An assessment using an Individual Farm Model for CAP Analysis (IFM-CAP)

Cited by 38 publications

References 38 publications

Socio-technical lock-in hinders crop diversification in France

Socio-technical lock-in hinders crop diversification in France

Green Payment and Perceived Rural Landscape Quality: A Cost-Benefit Analysis in Central Italy

An Innovative Land Suitability Method to Assess the Potential for the Introduction of a New Crop at a Regional Level

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