Why are ecological, low-input, multi-resistant wheat cultivars slow to develop commercially? A Belgian agricultural ‘lock-in’ case study

Vanloqueren, Gaëtan; Baret, Philippe

doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.10.007

Cited by 144 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Tisdell, 2003;Vanloqueren and Baret, 2008). What became evident in this study was that 'knowledge lock-in' is also important.…”

mentioning

confidence: 62%

“…Thus a seemingly minor decision can constrain the trajectory of change after that time (Kay, 2003). The concepts of lock-in and path dependency have been recently applied to analyse choices regarding the regulation of rural and urban diffuse pollution (Kirk et al, 2004;Reeves et al, 2007), loss of animal genetic diversity (Tisdell, 2003) and continuing use of pesticides (Vanloqueren and Baret, 2008) illustrating their applicability beyond technology. However, the theory of path dependency has been criticised for its failure to explain change (Kay, 2003).…”

Section: Analytical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Triggering change: Towards a conceptualisation of major change processes in farm decision-making

Sutherland

Burton

Ingram

et al. 2012

Journal of Environmental Management

181

100

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DisclaimerThe University of Gloucestershire has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights.The University of Gloucestershire accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement. PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR TEXT.This is a peer-reviewed, post-print ( DisclaimerThe University of Gloucestershire has obtained warranties from all depositors as to their title in the material deposited and as to their right to deposit such material.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation or warranties of commercial utility, title, or fitness for a particular purpose or any other warranty, express or implied in respect of any material deposited.The University of Gloucestershire makes no representation that the use of the materials will not infringe any patent, copyright, trademark or other property or proprietary rights.The University of Gloucestershire accepts no liability for any infringement of intellectual property rights in any material deposited but will remove such material from public view pending investigation in the event of an allegation of any such infringement. Bill Slee, James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland AbstractIn this paper, we present a broad conceptualisation of change in farm-level trajectories. We argue that as a result of path dependency, major changes in farming practice primarily occur in response to 'trigger events', after which farm managers intensify their consideration of the options open to them, and may set a new course of action. In undertaking new actions, the farm system enters a period of instability, while new practices become established. Over time these new practices, if successfully achieving anticipated aims, lead to a further period of path dependency. Recognising and capitalising upon this pattern of events is important for the development of policies oriented towards incentivising major change in farming practices, and may explain why similar projects and/or policies influence some 'types' of farmers differently, and at different times. To illustrate our arguments, examples of this process are described in relation empirical examples of major on-farm change processes, drawn from qualitative interviews with organic and conventional farmers in two English case study areas.

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“…Tisdell, 2003;Vanloqueren and Baret, 2008). What became evident in this study was that 'knowledge lock-in' is also important.…”

mentioning

confidence: 62%

Section: Analytical Approachmentioning

confidence: 99%

Triggering change: Towards a conceptualisation of major change processes in farm decision-making

Sutherland

Burton

Ingram

et al. 2012

Journal of Environmental Management

181

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Since the Second World War, agricultural subsidies have been based on the output level, which pushed the farmers to consider the gross yield as their main production objective (Vanloqueren and Baret, 2008). In addition, the increase in labour productivity and the process of practice standardisation have encouraged farmers to simplify their management practices and distribute concentrate all year round to enable high and steady production, without taking the quality of the forage available into account (Veysset et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussion and Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of input self-sufficiency in the economic and environmental sustainability of specialised dairy farms

Lebacq

Baret

Stilmant

2015

Animal

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Increasing input self-sufficiency is often viewed as a target to improve sustainability of dairy farms. However, few studies have specifically analysed input self-sufficiency, by including several technical inputs and without only focussing on animal feeding, in order to explore its impact on farm sustainability. To address this gap, our work has three objectives as follows: (1) identifying the structural characteristics required by specialised dairy farms located in the grassland area to be self-sufficient; (2) analysing the relationships between input self-sufficiency, environmental and economic sustainability; and (3) studying how the farms react to a decrease in milk price according to their self-sufficiency degree. Based on farm accounting databases, we categorised 335 Walloon specialised conventional dairy farms into four classes according to their level of input self-sufficiency. To this end, we used as proxy the indicator of economic autonomy -that is, the ratio between costs of inputs related to animal production, crop production and energy use and the total gross product. Classes were then compared using multiple comparison tests and canonical discriminant analysis. A total of 30 organic farms -among which 63% had a high level of economic autonomy -were considered separately and compared with the most autonomous class. We showed that a high degree of economic autonomy is associated, in conventional farms, with a high proportion of permanent grassland in the agricultural area. The most autonomous farms used less input -especially animal feeding -for a same output level, and therefore combined good environmental and economic performances. Our results also underlined that, in a situation of decrease in milk price, the least autonomous farms had more latitude to decrease their input-related costs without decreasing milk production. Their incomes per work unit were, therefore, less impacted by falling prices, but remained lower than those of more autonomous farms. In such a situation, organic farms kept stable incomes, because of a slighter decrease in organic milk price. Our results pave the way to study the role of increasing input self-sufficiency in the transition of dairy farming systems towards sustainability. Further research is required to study a wide range of systems and agro-ecological contexts, as well as to consider the evolution of farm sustainability in the long term.

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“…Indeed, farming is intrinsically linked to processing, marketing, distribution and consumption, but also for example to biodiversity conservation, water provisioning, inhabiting, which make complex any process of changes (i.e. lock-ins theory, Vanloqueren and Baret, 2008).…”

Section: When Farmers Trigger Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

Hatt

Boeraeve

Artru

et al. 2018

Science of The Total Environment

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Spatial diversification of crop and non-crop habitats in farming systems is promising for enhancing natural regulation of insect pests. Nevertheless, results from recent syntheses show variable effects.One explanation is that the abundance and diversity of pests and natural enemies are affected by the composition, design and management of crop and non-crop habitats. Moreover, interactions between both local and landscape elements and practices carried out at different spatial scales may affect the regulation of insect pests. Hence, research is being conducted to understand these interdependencies.However, insects are not the only pests and pests are not the only elements to regulate in agroecosystems. Broadening the scope could allow addressing multiple issues simultaneously, but also solving them together by enhancing synergies. Indeed, spatial diversification of crop and non-crop habitats can allow addressing the issues of weeds and pathogens, along with being beneficial to several other regulating services like pollination, soil conservation and nutrient cycling. Although calls rise to develop multifunctional landscapes that optimize the delivery of multiple ecosystem services, it still represents a scientific challenge today. Enhancing interdisciplinarity in research institutions and building interrelations between scientists and stakeholders may help reach this goal. Despite obstacles, positive results from research based on such innovative approaches are encouraging for engaging 2 science in this path. Hence, the aim of the present paper is to offer an update on these issues by exploring the most recent findings and discussing these results to highlight needs for future research.

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Why are ecological, low-input, multi-resistant wheat cultivars slow to develop commercially? A Belgian agricultural ‘lock-in’ case study

Cited by 144 publications

References 25 publications

Triggering change: Towards a conceptualisation of major change processes in farm decision-making

Triggering change: Towards a conceptualisation of major change processes in farm decision-making

Role of input self-sufficiency in the economic and environmental sustainability of specialised dairy farms

Spatial diversification of agroecosystems to enhance biological control and other regulating services: An agroecological perspective

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