1. L'évaluation environnementale des agrosystèmes: une approche intégrée pour gérer les risques agri-environnementaux

2. A growing demand for agricultural produce...
2050
4.0
Context - 1
A growing demand for agricultural produce...
2010
Bio-fuels in Europe
Directive 2003/30 EC
(109 tonnes)
Tilman et al., Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices, Nature 418: , 2002

3. Context - 2
...currently met with increased reliance on exogenous inputs...
b: total global use of
N and P fertilisers, and area
of irrigated land
c: global pesticide production
and imports
(Tilman et al., 2002)

4. ...albeit with decreasing marginal efficiency
Context - 3
...albeit with decreasing marginal efficiency
(Tilman et al., 2002)
“Pest control methods with a potential efficiency of 100% raise an issue of
durability for agricultural practices [...] similarly to the problem of antibiotics
becoming less effective in medicine.”
(INRA-Cemagref, Joint expertise report on Pesticides, Agriculture and the Environment, 2005)

5. Context - 4
Agriculture is being pointed out as a major source of negative environmental impacts
IFEN,
6th report on
water quality in
France (2004)

6. Potential impacts from agriculture
Context - 5
Potential impacts from agriculture
Air pollution
CO2
Acidification
Global warming
Fertilizers (N)
Pesticides
N2O, NO,
NH3,
Pesticides
Soil organic
matter
Sol
NO3
Pesticides
Groundwater
Eutrophication
Ecotoxicity

7. An unresolvable quandary ?
Humans have made unprecedented change to ecosystems in recent decades to meet growing demands for food, fresh water, fibre and energy.
Various techniques being used increasingly in various parts of the world allow [...] productive use of land while keeping favorable conditions for nature.
The approach taken by the Millenium Ecosystem assessment could provide a useful tool to enable decision-makers to understand far better the full consequences of their action.
MILLENIUM ECOSYSTEM ASSESSMENT – UN
Living beyond our means: natural assets and human well-being – Statement of the Board

8. Methodology for environmental assessment
Need for integrated assessment, across
Compounds and environmental compartments
Elementary parts of a production chain
Time
A spatial territory relevant to the production or environmental issue at stake
To avoid or manage trade-offs between
Environmental issues
Geographical locations
Generations !

9. Managing a production chain versus a territory?

10. The 'functional' side: life cycle assessment (LCA)
LCA, a conceptual framework to address environmental impacts
from the 'cradle to the grave'
Renewable carbon
Fertilizers
Pesticides
Inputs:
Outputs:
CO2, CH4, NOx
Fossile carbon
Other fossile resources
Products et co-products
NO3-, N Pesticides
In agriculture, LCA was applied to waste management,
cropping systems analysis, and bio-energy chains.

11. E = f(soil, climate , managt, X)
Estimation of fluxes
Emissions
Outputs
Input X
Indirect emissions
E = a X +/- 
Industry
Direct emissions
E within several
orders of magnitude!
Input X
Agriculture
Perturbations
E = f(soil, climate , managt, X)
Inputs

12. Capturing the spatial variability of field emissions
Simulation of
N2O fluxes in the
Beauce region
(fluxes in
kg N2O-N/ha/yr)
Gabrielle, Laville, et al. (submitted to Global Biogeochem. Cycles)

13. Environmental balance models – example of CERES
Atmosphere
PLANT PROCESSES
Phenology
Ressource capture
Partitioning
Senescence
CO2, N2O,
NH3, NO
crop residues
absorption
SOIL TRANSFERS
Heat (Fourier)
Water (Tipping bucket)
Nitrate (Convective)
mineral N
organic N
C-N BIOTRANSFORMATIONS
Mineralisation - Immobilisation
Nitrification - Denitrification
Soil
drainage,
nitrate leaching
Groundwater

14. Challenges wihtin the modelling loop
Integration
into model;
calibration
Module
selection
detailed
Extrapolation
Process
analysis
Experiments
lighter
Model
application
1 exemple par étape
puis exemples d'ACV (room for improvement?)

15. Challenges wihtin the modelling loop
Integration
into model;
calibration
Module
selection
detailed
Extrapolation
Process
analysis
Experiments
lighter
Model
application
1 exemple par étape
puis exemples d'ACV (room for improvement?)

16. Integration of nitrous oxide emissions
--- Simulated
o Observed
Haplic calcisol
Redoxic luvisol
Haplic luvisol
Simulation by CERES with two different N2O emission modules
Gabrielle, Laville, et al., Nutr. Cycling Agroecosys. (in the press)

17. Challenges wihtin the modelling loop
Integration
into model;
calibration
Module
selection
detailed
Extrapolation
Process
analysis
Experiments
lighter
Model
application
1 exemple par étape
puis exemples d'ACV (room for improvement?)

18. The 'eco-balance' experiment

19. Challenges wihtin the modelling loop
Integration
into model;
calibration
Module
selection
detailed
Extrapolation
Process
analysis
Experiments
lighter
Model
application
1 exemple par étape
puis exemples d'ACV (room for improvement?)

20. Extrapolation to new sets of soils and climates

21. Challenges wihtin the modelling loop
Integration
into model;
calibration
Module
selection
detailed
Extrapolation
Process
analysis
Experiments
lighter
Model
application
1 exemple par étape
puis exemples d'ACV (room for improvement?)

22. Model application: scenario analysis
Oilseed rape / wheat / barley crop rotation, on a rendzina soil (Indre)
Data averaged over 30 years
Fertiliser
N dose
(kg N/ha)
Mean grain
yield
(tonnes / ha)
Management
Scenario
Nitrate
N2O
NH3
Business as
usual
210
8.7
10.5
3.7
24.1
“Sound”
(Raisonné)
150
8.3
7.5
2.9
18.0
Reduced
inputs
120
7.8
8.5
2.9
15.3
Emissions in g N per tonne of wheat grain produced

23. Is there really room for improvement ?
Technological “fixes” at the field-scale
Optimising fertiliser N applications (including variable-rate within agricultural field)
Selection of crop rotations (eg, legume crops)
Introduction of new genotypes (eg, herbicide-tolerant)
Displacement of fossile resources (bio-energy, 'green chemistry')
Agricultural recycling of urban waste
Premier item de 'cropping systems': surtout de l'ordre du diagnostic agrocnomique (boucle conception/évaluation), pas vraiment du ressort de l'ACV (sauf si déclinaison au niveau régional)
Exemples où l'approche proposée est pertinente, tirés des travaux passés: déchets, systèmes, OGM

24. Benefits of herbicide-tolerant crops ?
Calculated impacts on various environmental or population targets for rotations
with or without herbicide-tolerant, genetically modified crops in Dijon.
(Mamy, 2004)

25. Recycling of urban waste
Simulation of
soil C variations in
plots amended with
urban waste composts
(Gabrielle, Da Silveira, Houot, Michelin,
Agric. Ecosys. Environ., 2005)
MSW: municipal solid waste
BIO: biodegradable waste
GWS: green waste + sludge
FYM: farmyard manure
+N: complemented with fertilizer N
Integration into
life cycle assessment
of waste management
Donner pbs de recherche et pistes principales
(science/modèle et appliquée)
ici: effets long-terme
verrous sur autres termes que C-N ?

26. Potential benefits on soil quality
Compost application may improve the structural stability of soils (Annabi, 2004), and mitigate runoff and erosion risks in loamy soils.
How to incorporate such qualitative impacts in life- cycle assessment?
Pictures by Y. Le Bissonnais

27. Room for improvement? Maybe make room bigger....
Technological “fixes” at the field-scale
Cropping systems approach
Identification of 'best management practices' tailored to local conditions
At the farm or production basin level
Optimal allocation of land use and agricultural inputs
Optimisation of nutrients and carbon flows (especially in livestock systems)
Rural engineering
Premier item de 'cropping systems': surtout de l'ordre du diagnostic agrocnomique (boucle conception/évaluation), pas vraiment du ressort de l'ACV (sauf si déclinaison au niveau régional)
Exemples où l'approche proposée est pertinente, tirés des travaux passés: déchets, systèmes, OGM

28. Territorial approach opens up new horizons
The introduction of new productions entails changes in
Physical and biogeochemical fluxes in local environment
Cropping systems management
Economic revenues and farm management
Organisation of labour, logistics, ...
Perception of agricultural activities by local stakeholders

29. Future research and problematics
Integration of environmental assessment with other disciplines (agronomy, economics, social sciences)
To internalize determinants of agrosystems management (including land use)
Also, internalize environmental impacts in the selection of management strategies
Modelling (and experimenting)
To generate spatial distributions of input parameters, and validate regional estimates
Long-term trends from repeated applications
Gaseous emissions (and depositions)
Encompassing ecological issues that can hardly be tackled by flux-based methods (eg, soil quality)

30. Linking of bio-physical and economic models
Agronomic scenarios
(crop rotations,
fertilization,
decision rules, ...)
Environmental
balance model
N losses,
crop yields
Micro-economic
model
'Typical' farm
Soil types
Profits,
social costs
Input costs,
market prices,
taxation,
incentives, etc...
Optimal
management
Environmental
performance at
territorial level

31. Example: efficiency of agri-environmental measures
Profit associated with the optimal combination of nitrogen inputs reduction and soil vegetation cover under nitrate leaching constraint for a typical arable farm of Champagne-Ardennes. (Hardelin, J., Master's dissertation, 2005)
PRAITERRE project, coordinated by G. Lemaire (INRA Lusignan), and funded for

32. Large-scale simulations of N gas emissions: Nitro-Europe
Integrated Project coordinated by M. Sutton (CEH Edinburgh), and funded under the 6th EU FP for

33. Bio-energy, a model frame-work for assessment ?
Regional case-studies and chain implementation may be provided by the R&D Cluster on Agro-Resources (in Picardie-Champagne- Ardennes)
With support from national and European programmes (BioEnergy Network of excellence)
Life cycle assessment may be
implemented at supply basin level,
Thereby integrating land-use change
and territorial impacts
(tentative Ph.D. Programme with INRA Laon/Reims/Mons),
With links to other sustainability indicators: economic, social, ecological (UT Troyes)

34. Conclusion: challenges ahead
From a scientific perspective
Develop bio-physical models for environmental assessment
Broaden the scope of the assessment and tackle territorial impacts
...and from a personal perspective
Foster collaboration with thematically- or geographically-distant groups
Entrust work to students (graduates or post'docs) and colleagues

35. Merci à tous !

36. Lecture Outline
Context and issues
Méthodologie de l 'évaluation intégrée
Exemples de résultats
Conclusion: vers une approche systémique

37. A range of available methods
Temporal variability
Dynamic
Methods based on fluxes of matter and energy
Life cycle assessment
Agri-environmental indicators
Methods based on cropping practices
INDIGO
SIRIS ranking;
IDEA
Static
Static
Physical variability (soil, climatic zone)
Local
environment
Mean
environment

38. Why use biophysical models ?
Oilseed rape Sugar Beet Maize
GM crop
non-GM crop
Impacts on “fresh water” target, across soil and crop types (model-based)
Dijon
Châlons
Toulouse
Châlons
Dijon
Châlons
Dijon
Toulouse
Ph. D. thesis by L. Mamy, 2004
Low risk 7
Values of indicator I-Phy for the chemical weeding of GM and non-GM crops
Châlons
Dijon
Toulouse
Châlons
Dijon
Toulouse
Châlons
Dijon

39. Application to natural systems: a source of controversy
LCA of bio-diesel from oilseed rape

40. From field to production system: PRAITERRE
Typology and drivers of farms
Impact assessment
Economic functions
Pilot farms
Support for innovations
Adoption of innovations
Impact assessment
Economic functions
Prior models
Selection of suitable
innovations
Agri-
environmental engineering
Innovative systems
design
Posterior models
Simulation of future environmental impacts
Economic analysis
Impact assessment
Economic functions
Project coordinated by G. Lemaire (INRA Lusignan), and funded for

41. Using straw for combined heat and power production
Global warming impact of one litre of bio-ethanol produced with
either pure natural gas or 50% wheat straw. Direct emissions (field)
are estimated with a biophysical model, including climate variability.

42. Eat local: common sense or real progress?
Life cycle impacts of the production of one litre of milk produced by cows fed with locally-produced oilseed rape cake or imported soymeal.
(Lehuger, S., Master's dissertation, 2005)

43. Research issues in a nutshell
Modelling (and experimenting)
Long-term trends from repeated applications
Gaseous emissions (and depositions)
Generating spatial distributions of input parameters, and validating regional estimates
Encompassing ecological issues that can hardly be tackled by life cycle assessment (eg, soil quality)
Expanding physical system to internalize management rules