The Trajectoire platform shares its first multi-year performance results on cropping systems
June 02 2022The Trajectoire platform was launched in 2017 at AgroParisTech’s Experimental Farm in Grignon, in partnership with institutional, agricultural, and scientific stakeholders. “From the start, we included farmers, farming cooperatives, advisors from the Chamber of Agriculture, researchers, private companies, etc. in our initiative, to take into account their opinions and expertise,” said Sophie Carton, Trajectoire Project Manager.
The platform aims to evaluate the farming and environmental performance of several optimized cropping systems. Among them are systems that have been recognized for their advantages in terms of sustainability—soil conservation methods, organic farming, mixed crop-livestock farming—along with systems that combine various practices used to address specific challenges, such as low-carbon farming, low-level input farming, and nutrition performance. “We are exploring cropping systems to demonstrate the value of optimizing them to promote sustainability,” explained Dominique Tristant, Manager of AgroparisTech’s Grignon Farm and Director of the Trajectoire program.
On the scale of a five-year crop rotation, different cropping systems are used on a plot of the Grignon Farm, in the Plaine de Versailles. Each system is farmed according to specific objectives and constraints. Lastly, cropping systems are run much like farms in order to reflect existing practices.
A vast array of direct measures is deployed on the platform to evaluate cropping systems at agronomic and environmental levels. Specific equipment is used to measure nitrate and active ingredient flows that leach into the aquifer, along with greenhouse gas emissions from soil. “The need to measure performance and impact has been present from the very start of the project. For us, it is the best way to not fall prey to biases and stay grounded in reality,” said Yves Python, Trajectoire’s Director of metrology.
In 2022, the Trajectoire platform began its fifth crop-growing year. The differences between systems have been fully delineated. The initial performance findings for the cropping systems studied over the last four years, along with their description and the technical processes used, were released at the first Farming Innovation Day organized at the Experimental Farm on May 18, 2022, and can be viewed online.
The Trajectoire platform is funded by:
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Eau Seine Normandie
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EcoPhyto, EuroChem
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Corteva Agriscience
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Pioneer
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Bioline by Invivo
Project partners
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The Prefecture of the Île-de-France region
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Axereal
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Natup
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INRAE
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The Chamber of Agriculture of the Île-de-France Region