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Wheat production stagnated in France during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, while cultivated acreage and wheat output declined sharply around the Mediterranean from the 1870s. Wheat output never recovered in this region despite the introduction in 1885 of tariff measures, such as the 1892 Méline Tariff. This paper analyses the response of Mediterranean wheat growers to changes in local rainfall and to variations of the duty on imported grains. It uses regional level data for nine administrative divisions located on or near the Mediterranean and assesses the impact of rainfall on yields. It argues that an interplay of protectionist policies and environmental conditions explain the decline of wheat production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologia Ruralis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper draws on the results of a case study within the SoCo project and aims to assess the benefits and constraints in the application of conservation agriculture (CA) methods in Midi-Pyrénées, France, along with an evaluation of the coherence of the policy framework designed to improve the protection of soil resources. Inappropriate agricultural practices, under particular climate, terrain and soil conditions, have contributed to make erosion the main soil degradation phenomenon in Midi-Pyrénées, particularly under spring crops. The decrease of carbon stock is also a relevant issue. Among the various techniques applied by local farmers to reduce the impact of soil degradation on their land, CA appeared popular and was therefore analysed in detail. No specific legislation on soil protection is currently available in France, while the present agri-environmental policy, including the Rural Development Plan and the cross compliance measures, focuses mainly on water quality and biodiversity. A mixed methodological approach was used consisting of a literature review on the status of soils, of the characteristics of CA practices and of the soil-related policies in force. Semi-structured interviews with selected stakeholders on the use of soil conservation techniques and on soil legislation allowed a broader discussion of the study results. The research suggests that CA can effectively contribute to mitigate soil degradation in Midi-Pyrénées, although some implementation drawbacks seem to limit its wider use mainly due to lack of a specific support. Therefore, a better targeting of existing policies would be desirable for an improved protection of soil resources. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Livestock farming systems are major sources of trace gases contributing to emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHG) nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4), i.e. N2O accounts for 10% and CH4 for 30% of the anthropogenic contributions to net global warming. This paper presents scenario assessments of whole-system effects of technologies for reducing GHG emissions from livestock model farms using slurry-based manure management. Changes in housing and storage practice, mechanical separation, and incineration of the solid fraction derived from separation were evaluated in scenarios for Sweden, Denmark, France, and Italy. The results demonstrated that changes in manure management can induce significant changes in CH4 and N2O emissions and carbon sequestration, and that the effect of introducing environmental technologies may vary significantly with livestock farming practice and interact with climatic conditions. Shortening the in-house manure storage time reduced GHG emissions by 0–40%. The largest GHG reductions of 49 to, in one case, 82% were obtained with a combination of slurry separation and incineration, the latter process contributing to a positive GHG balance of the system by substituting fossil fuels. The amount and composition of volatile solids (VS) and nitrogen pools were main drivers in the calculations performed, and requirements to improve the assessment of VS composition and turnover during storage and in the field were identified. Nevertheless, the results clearly showed that GHG emission estimates will be unrealistic, if the assumed manure management or climatic conditions do not properly represent a given country or region. The results also showed that the mitigation potential of specific manure management strategies and technologies varied depending on current management and climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The last ten years have witnessed a crisis in European agriculture and most farmers have reevaluated their farming strategies. This re-evaluation has taken place within an internal and external farm environment. Traditionally, the key factors within this environment were seen to be economic ones related to the Common Agricultural Policy. In contrast a growing number of research studies have revealed that farm household factors, like age, family lifecycle and family background may be just as important in decision-making. This paper reports on research that examined a number of household factors, which the literature had indicated might be important in distinguishing those French farms that participate in direct selling of farm produce, as an alternative farming strategy. Generally, it was found that background and education were of paramount importance, followed by attitudes to profits, suggesting the need for a less economically dominated approach to examining farm decision-making behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Sociologia Ruralis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociologia Ruralis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This research paper discusses the problem of the regions which are being abandoned by agriculture. It deals with conditions in France, and is built on research and studies conducted in various French regions, but the problem, of course, exists in several other countries. Thus two sets of principles and policies oppose each other, "productivist" agriculture, and the "other." This "other" agriculture seems to have been gaining some strength in the past three to five years, as a result of recent events. These changes are the cause of some action against further desertification, as well as in favour of some change in technology, particularly in fertilizers and feeds. But what action there is has appeared to be until now insufficient and inefficient, so that the productivist model continues to gain ground. The line of thought is probably linked with an implicit assumption about technical and social change, that is, the idea that one technological model replaces another. In other words, the greatest part of the literature presents the current dominant model as having replaced a former model.

Copyright of GCB Bioenergy is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Question: Interspecific competition and seed dispersal are key mechanisms that may influence plant community assembly, but their relative importance remains difficult to disentangle as they can be affected by abiotic conditions (environmental filtering). We experimentally studied the balance between these processes in a Molinia wet meadow plant community in which abiotic constraints are mostly represented by flooding, while agricultural practices such as mowing prevent the dominance of a few competitive species. We hypothesized that (H1) mowing, by decreasing competitive exclusion and (H2) seed addition, by increasing immigration, both enhance plant species diversity, and that (H3) small variations in flooding intensity become secondary to these processes in determining species assembly. Location: French National Nature Reserve "Etang de Cousseau", Nouvelle Aquitaine, France. Methods: In a three‐year experiment, we added seeds of 17 species characteristic of Molinia wet meadows and managed above‐ground competition through mowing. We measured spatial variations in soil moisture as an indicator of the flooding regime. We recorded species relative cover, species richness and evenness annually, and measured light availability, linked with canopy openness, twice. Results: From the beginning of the experiment, small‐scale variations in soil moisture mainly affected species richness, composition and evenness, and canopy openness. Mowing significantly increased light availability and evenness, and affected the relative cover of several species, but not species richness. The addition of seeds did not influence any of the variables monitored during the experiment. Conclusion: Our study helps to disentangle processes underlying community assembly in wet meadows. It demonstrates significant and rapid effects of mowing on canopy opening and on community assembly, while seed addition had only a slight effect, possibly explained by an insufficient decrease in competitive interactions through mowing or unmeasured processes. It also shows that abiotic heterogeneity remains a primary driver of community assembly, even on a small scale. Finally, our results suggest that the respective weight of the different filters (dispersion, environment, competition) is subject to interannual variability or environmental stochasticity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant decline of biodiversity in farmlands has been reported for several decades. To limit the negative impact of agriculture, many agro‐environmental schemes have been implemented, but their effectiveness remains controversial. In this context, the study of economic drivers is helpful to understand the role played by farming on biodiversity. The present paper analyzes the impact of risk aversion on farmland biodiversity. Here “risk aversion” means a cautious behavior of farmers facing uncertainty. We develop a bio‐economic model that articulates bird community dynamics and representative farmers selecting land uses within an uncertain macro‐economic context. It is specialized and calibrated at a regional scale for France through national databases. The influence of risk aversion is assessed on ecological, agricultural, and economic outputs through projections at the 2050 horizon. A high enough risk aversion appears sufficient to both manage economic risk and promote ecological performance. This occurs through a diversification mechanism on regional land uses. However, economic calibration leads to a weak risk‐aversion parameter, which is consistent with the current decline of farmland birds. Spatial disparities however suggest that public incentives could be necessary to reinforce the diversification and bio‐economic effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the characteristics of wine growers' syndicates in the French Départements of the Languedoc. These characteristics are distinctive for several reasons: the vine monoculture and the importance of the wine growers in this country but also cultural and political traditions of the Languedoc. Wine growers' syndicates have for long been independent of national agricultural syndicalism. They wanted the state to organize the wine market and defended a regionalist ideology. The European legislation on wine production in 1970 changed the situation. Syndicalism tried to resist and then was forced to change. Today. wine growers choose to improve the quality of their wines and to create groups of producers to sell their products. Beyond change, permanent features are always present and when crisis occurs the traditional discourses re-emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key insights: •Agriculture is given consideration in most periurban municipal policies.•Municipal agricultural projects depend on the political will of the elected representatives.•The location of municipalities does not impact upon how agriculture is integrated in municipal policies.•Urban planning documents provide a sound proxy to identify interesting municipal agricultural policies. Urban growth leads to decreases in area of farmland. In France, considerable attention is paid to this problem, including in frequent public policy debates. In this article, we explore issues associated with agriculture in 24 French periurban municipalities. We compare the treatment of agriculture in municipal policies by analysing urban planning documents and conducting in‐depth interviews with elected representatives. Our study reveals a high level of congruence between these two sources of information, confirming that planning documents are a sound proxy to identify municipalities' agricultural strategies. The study also shows both diverse degrees of municipal commitment to agriculture, which range from ignoring it to strongly supporting it, and diverse issues about agriculture that depend on local context and concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how farm women represent rurality and agriculture within the context of farm tourism. We draw upon qualitative data analysis of a farm women's agritourism network in southern France centred on sheep milk production for Roquefort cheese. Through the use of choreography, staging, performances, and their bodies, we found that women represent rurality and agriculture in multiple and seemingly contradictory ways. At times they paint portraits of rural life that reproduce human-nature and masculine-feminine binaries affiliated with tradition and cultural heritage. At other times, they choreograph, stage, and perform modernity by accentuating materials, ideals, and roles more accurately articulated as a product of contemporary society. The result is a complex amalgam of agriculture and rural life representations constructed for tourist consumption. We conclude by discussing the opportunities such representations hold for enabling farm women to access cultural influence in agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws on the agricultural household literature to understand the dynamics of wage labour on farms in a context of family farming. The recent evolution towards an increased use of seasonal wage labour motivates the original distinction of three types of labour: family labour, permanent-wage labour and seasonal-wage labour. Considering the two wage labour types and hiring cost for seasonal workers, our empirical results based on 2000 French data on fruit and vegetable farms suggest that the choice between hiring permanent or seasonal wage labour is not only determined by the seasonality of the activity. Indeed, the characteristics of the local labour market also affect the trade-off between permanent and seasonal wage labour. This result provides insights on the substitutability of the two labour types, especially when the local labour market is tight. Moreover, the substitution of seasonal-wage labour for permanent-wage labour can occur in the agricultural sector as a mean of increasing flexibility as well as reducing costs and commitments. Finally, family labour is found to substitute for wage labour and more specifically for seasonal-wage labour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the preparation and implementation in France of a vaccination campaign (2008) to protect livestock against bluetongue disease ( BT) and questions the long-term stability of structural relationships in the animal health sector. Using three approaches from the sociology of risks - exogenous or endogenous nature of crisis, responsibility of expertise - we show that post-bovine spongiform encephalopathy ( BSE) reforms, by claiming a clearly separated role for each party (risk assessment, risk management, farmers' responsibility), have left the issue of relationships between actors by the wayside. We argue with the bluetongue case that such radical partitioning is unworkable. Discussing the decline of the French 'health tripod' (State, farmers, veterinarians), we emphasise that it has been idealised as a model that each party has a major interest to maintain. Our sources are based on 35 interviews, analysis of professional press and ministry of agriculture's internal notes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent literature on sharecropping has emphasized its importance in reducing problems associated with moral hazard in cultivation (in Tuscany), or providing a crucial 'rung' on the farm ladder (in the US south). Yet despite these and other important features, sharecropping was surprisingly absent in most regions. Using case studies associated with French wine production, this article argues that a number of factors have often been overlooked in the literature, the first of which is the need for landowners to be able to offer farms that were sufficiently large both to employ the sharecropper's family on a full-time basis, and to allow them to produce a variety of products to minimize risk. Second, measurement problems exist with the division of the harvest, especially when quality was an important factor in determining price. Finally, the nature of vertical cooperation and integration associated with the production and marketing arrangements of individual crops suggests that landowners were not indifferent to receiving payment in cash or kind, and this affected contract choice. This article incorporates these ideas to explain not just the presence and absence of sharecropping in different geographical localities, but also the wide variety of different forms of the contract that existed in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the effects of political structure on rulers' monopolistic gains and investment decisions in the context of the medieval milling industry in northern France, 1150–1250. Using Salop's spatial model, this article aims to show that political fragmentation increased investment in watermill construction because it reduced the capacity of rulers to limit competition from neighbouring mills. The calculations demonstrate that competition significantly reduced rulers' income from watermills and that the construction of more than 50 per cent of these mills cannot be economically ‘justified’ unless rulers' profit maximization over joint production is considered, and revenues from additional labour allocated to wheat production is included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glomus intraradices, an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF), is frequently found in a surprisingly wide range of ecosystems all over the world. It is used as model organism for AMF and its genome is being sequenced. Despite the ecological importance of AMF, little has been known about their population structure, because no adequate molecular markers have been available. In the present study we analyse for the first time the intraspecific genetic structure of an AMF directly from colonized roots in the field. A recently developed PCR-RFLP approach for the mitochondrial rRNA large subunit gene (mtLSU) of these obligate symbionts was used and complemented by sequencing and primers specific for a particularly frequent mtLSU haplotype. We analysed root samples from two agricultural field experiments in Switzerland and two semi-natural grasslands in France and Switzerland. RFLP type composition of G. intraradices (phylogroup GLOM A-1) differed strongly between agricultural and semi-natural sites and the G. intraradices populations of the two agricultural sites were significantly differentiated. RFLP type richness was higher in the agricultural sites compared with the grasslands. Detailed sequence analyses which resolved multiple sequence haplotypes within some RFLP types even revealed that there was no overlap of haplotypes among any of the study sites except between the two grasslands. Our results demonstrate a surprisingly high differentiation among semi-natural and agricultural field sites for G. intraradices. These findings will have major implications on our views of processes of adaptation and specialization in these plant/fungus associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The tick vector Ixodes ricinus can be found in pastures in landscapes where pasture and woodland intermix, such as in the bocage. To identify which mammal or bird species could potentially transport ticks between woodland and pasture, we did a species inventory on four French bocage sites in 2005. Fifty-eight species were observed, 21 of which were found in three different habitats: the middle of the pasture, the hedgerow ecotone, and the woodland. Because the bocage is a meeting point for wildlife, domestic animals, and humans, species using the three habitats could potentially be epidemiologic agents for circulation of tick vectors as well as of pathogens. Thus, the bocage could be used as a model landscape for the study of epidemiologic cycles and potential emergence of multiple-host pathogens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An opportunity exists to merge three independent bodies of thought bearing on contemporary farms and families. One considers the fate of small farming in the advanced capitalist societies but, atypically, focuses on the continuing role of this type of agriculture rather than its decline. Another deals with the question of whether small-scale agriculture will continue to have a place at the periphery of the world capitalist system. A third set of ideas is concerned with changes in the domestic and local social relations of small farm communities, either in the "First" or "Third" Worlds, but seldom in both. Although there is some substantive overlap in these literatures, no systematic melding of the three streams yet exists. We attempt to merge them by arguing that the domestic relations of small- scale farming are integral to its role in the world political economy and that, although this role is changing, it is still economically significant, even in the most developed capitalist societies. This importance is accentuated by the migration of international capitalist investment and industry to the hinterlands of the United States and Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) A vegetation and soil survey of a 400-ha pasture in the Camargue (southern France) was carried out as part of a programme on the ecology of grazing animals and their impact on the vegetation. (2) A classification of the vegetation by indicator-species analysis gave eight groups. One of these was a closed grassland dominated by Brachypodium phoenicoides. Two others typically contained rich swards with abundant Limonium vulgare, Halimione portulacoides and annual grasses. The fourth group was very species-poor, containing sparse clumps of Arthrocnemum glaucum separated by large expanses of bare ground, while the fifth was similar but richer in species. Two groups were characteristic of marshes; one group, dominated by Scirpus maritimus or Phragmites communis, was typical of the wetter parts, while the other, with abundant Scirpus maritimus and Aeluropus littoralis, was found at the edges. Finally, there was a group restricted to disused rice-fields, rich in ruderal species. (3) An ordination of the stands by correspondence analysis (reciprocal averaging) separated the main marsh sites from the remainder on the first axis. Stands in the old rice-fields .and in small temporary marshes were separated out on the second axis, while the remainder of the stands (the majority) were spread fairly evenly along the third axis, showing a gradation from completely glycophytic sites to extremely halophytic ones. (4) Of the eleven soil factors measured in each stand, four (pH, depth of the water table, percentage of organic matter, and amount of extractable potassium) were significantly correlated, with the first axis of the ordination: these were shown to be related to soil hydrology. Four more (extractable sodium and magnesium, the total amount of extractable bases, and the depth of the mottled horizon) were significantly correlated with both the second and the third axes; these factors were connected with soil salinity. The remaining three (extractable calcium, and the percentages of phosphorus and nitrogen) were significantly correlated with all three axes. A cluster analysis of these factors showed a similar grouping. It was concluded that the vegetation and soil show parallel responses to variations in the hydrology and salinity of the area. (5) A number of normally glycophytic species were found in saline soils; some hypotheses are pat forward to explain this occurrence. (6) Comparisons with previous phytosociological work in southern France suggests that the vegetation in the pasture shows affinities with four Zürich-Montpellier orders; Thero-Brachypodietalia, Salicornietalia, Juncetalia maritimi and Phragmitetalia. These groups are important components of Mediterranean halophytic vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores why Great Britain became an industrialized and urbanized economy long before France. On the eve of the Great War, agriculture, according to official censuses of population, continued to provide employment for up to 41 per cent of the workforce in France and generated around 35 per cent of the country's national income. In Britain only 8 per cent of the workforce could be officially classified as employed on the land, and agriculture accounted for a mere 5 per cent of gross domestic product. Around 1911, 35 per cent of the population of France resided in towns containing populations of 3,000 and above, while the comparable proportion for Britain was 78 per cent. Structural change in France was in large measure predetermined by a combination of geographical endowments and a system of property rights inherited from its feudal past. Both constraints, operating within the context of pre-chemical and pre-mechanical agricultural systems, so limited the scale and scope of French endeavours to follow the path taken by Britain between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries, became almost irrelevant to conditions in France.

The downward trend in the number of family and conjugal farms and the tendency towards individually operated farms expresses, in terms of the farming world, the tendency towards autonomy for individuals within the family in French society and inherent in the development of capitalism. The crisis of family relations in production is expressed by diverse movements, which have led to a change in the composition of the female farming population. The refusal of daughters of farmers to imitate their mothers has led to an exodus from agriculture, more marked and starting at an earlier age among girls than among boys to which may be added the limited attraction of marriage to a farmer for young girls of the lower classes. Marriage, even transformed, therefore remains a major factor in the professional success of a farmer, especially when young women accept responsibility with regard to their husband's business. The subordinate position of female farmers, a result of both the social and legal state of affairs, finds both its expression and its legitimization in the sexual division of work between the couple.

The article focuses on the historical development of the land system in France, the basic division of power on the land between 1870 and 1914, the hierarchy of rural personnel, and the irregularity of rural social behavior. Since its great revolution in 1789 France has been praised and envied as Europe's classic home of the family farmer, that independent, landholding peasant whose stake in the soil has made him the bulwark of private property and conservative politics. France is a fertile country of varied produce. Each of her seven topographical regions yields important and abundant products for the food and processing market. On the surface of things, therefore, the idea of a stable, contented peasantry in a balanced national economy has been supported by data on the high degree of ownership, the fertility of the countryside, and the impressive list of marketable staples. These statistics, however, do not explain the contrast between the familiar generalizations about the peasantry and certain vivid descriptions of oppressive rural living conditions. A striking contradiction, therefore, confronts the investigator of French farming, a gap between the pat theory and the spotted reality.