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International audience; Current environmental concerns push towards more sustainable and local practices for biomass production. In this regard, agroforestry has been highlighted by researchers and policies as a highly efficient approach for carbon sequestration (between 1.5 and 4 t C/ha/year), and a sustainable alternative to deforestation with many agricultural benefits: deeper rooting of trees in soil, enhanced biomass productivity, crop fertilization... Agroforestry implies regular branch cuts that are processed into wood chips and mostly used as energy wood or soil mulching. New higher added-value chains could be considered such as reinforcements or specific molecules for bio-based materials and chemistry. Besides, since 90’s, Wood-Plastic Composites (WPCs) have experienced significant growth, particularly in building (decking & siding), and constitute the largest share of bio-based composites developed at an industrial scale. Nevertheless, the quality of WPCs and variability in their performance are major technological issues for their implementation in industrial applications. This could be related to the difficulty in tracing the various origin of wood fillers as well as the different processing steps, from wood drying and defibration process to composite manufacturing, that are not well controlled. Indeed, numerous interdependent parameters govern the final properties of WPCs, such as biochemical composition, presence of metallic and chemical contaminants (binders, wood treatment residues, varnishes, etc.), (micro)structure, thermal stability, mechanical properties of wood fillers, and the control of their milling/granulometry and further processing into composite materials. In this context, the development of quality-controlled agroforestry wood fillers in terms of granulometry (size and shape factor), chemical composition and physical (microstructure, mechanical) properties is therefore strategic for their implementation in wood-based products. This work investigates and evidences the influence of wood species (poplar, oak, walnut, chestnut)) and filler size and shape on the microstructure and mechanical properties of polypropylene (PP) / wood composites manufactured by extrusion/injection moulded. Moreover, wood from three recovery platforms in Brittany (mix of several species) was also investigated to evaluate the potential of existing agroforestry feedstocks.

Executive summary: The AGFORWARD project (Grant Agreement N° 613520) had the overall goal to promote agroforestry practices in Europe that will advance sustainable rural development. It had four objectives (described below) which address 1) the context and extent of agroforestry in Europe, 2) identifying, developing and field-testing agroforestry innovations through participatory networks, 3) evaluating innovative designs and practices at field-, farm-, and landscape-scales, and promoting agroforestry in Europe through policy development and dissemination. Agroforestry is defined as the practice of deliberately integrating woody vegetation (trees or shrubs) with crop and/or animal systems to benefit from the resulting ecological and economic interactions. Context: European agroforestry has been estimated to cover 10.6 Mha (using a literature review) and 15.4 Mha using the pan-European LUCAS dataset (i.e. 8.8% of the utilised agricultural area). Livestock agroforestry (15.1 Mha) is, by far, the dominant type of agroforestry. The LUCAS analysis provides a uniform method to compare agroforestry areas between countries and over time. Identify, develop and field-test agroforestry innovations: 40 stakeholder groups (involving about 820 stakeholders across 13 European countries) developed and field-tested agroforestry innovations which have been reported in 40 “lesson learnt” reports, and in a user-friendly format in 46 “Agroforestry innovation leaflets”. The innovations for agroforestry systems of high nature and cultural value included cheaper methods of tree protection and guidance for establishing legumes in wood pastures. Innovations for agroforestry with timber plantations, olive groves and apple orchards include the use of medicinal plants and reduction of mowing costs. Innovations for integrating trees on arable farms included assessments of yield benefits by providing wind protection. Innovations for livestock farms included using trees to enhance animal welfare, shade protection, and as a source of fodder. Peer-reviewed journal papers and conference presentations on these and other related topics were developed. Evaluation of agroforestry designs and practices at field- and landscape-scale: a range of publicly available field-scale analysis tools are available on the AGFORWARD website. These include the “CliPick” climate database, and web-applications of the Farm-SAFE and Hi-sAFe model. The results of field- and landscape-scale analysis, written up as peer-reviewed papers, highlight the benefits of agroforestry (relative to agriculture) for biodiversity enhancement and providing regulating ecosystem services, such as for climate and water regulation and purification. Policy development and dissemination: detailed reviews of existing policy and recommendations for future European agroforestry policy have been produced. The support provided is far wider than the single specified agroforestry measures. The recommendations included the collation of existing measures, and that agroforestry systems should not forfeit Pillar I payments. Opportunities for farmlevel and landscape-level measures were also identified. The project results can be found on the project website (www.agforward.eu), a Facebook account (www.facebook.com/AgforwardProject), a Twitter account (https://twitter.com/AGFORWARD_EU), and a quarterly electronic newsletter (http://www.agforward.eu/index.php/en/newsletters-1514.html). The number of national associations in Europe was extended to twelve, and a web-based training resource on agroforestry (http://train.agforward.eu/language/en/agforall/) created. AGFORWARD also supported the Third European Agroforestry Conference in Montpellier in 2016 attracting 287 delegates from 26 countries including many farmers. We also initiated another 21 national conferences or conference sessions on agroforestry, made about 240 oral presentations, 61 poster presentations, produced about 50 news articles, and supported about 87 workshop, training or field-visit activities (in addition to the stakeholder groups).

Silvoarable agroforestry integrates the use of trees and arable crops on the same area of land, and such systems can be supported by national governments under the European Union’s (EU) Rural Development Regulations (2014–2020). In order to improve the understanding of farmers’ perceptions of such systems, detailed face-to-face interviews were completed with 15 farmers in Bedfordshire, England. Most of these farmers thought that silvoarable systems would not be profitable on their farms and that benefits would tend to be environmental or social rather than economic. Most farmers also thought that management and use of machinery would become more difficult. They felt that the tree component could potentially disrupt field operations and drainage and expressed concerns over the uncertain and long-term nature of timber revenue and the effect of intercrop yield reductions on crop revenue. Even so, 20% of the farmers stated they would use silvoarable systems if convinced that they were more profitable than conventional arable farming. A further 20%said they would farm the intercrop area belonging to someone else, if the rent was reduced to compensate for crop yield reductions. These results suggest that for most arable farmers, an economic advantage over current practice needs to exist before silvoarable systems are likely to be adopted. However, a minority might rent the crop component of a silvoarable system from another party or implement a full system for perceived environmental or social benefits.

To face the new challenges of dairy farming in North-Western Europe, an innovative dairy system was redesigned to produce milk in a context of climate change while saving scarce resources (water, fossil energy) and contributing to a sustainable agriculture. This system, called OasYs, is based on the diversification of forage resources, the development of grazing, larger use of legumes and on a consistent strategy for the livestock system (Novak et al., 2015). The main research hypothesis is that the increase of diversity allows to conciliate production levels and environmental performance, this way improving system resilience.

Although arable landscapes are positively valued by the society, intensified cropping and livestock systems continue to predominate in western EU rural territories. The increase of farm size, conversion/loss of non-crop features and simplification of crop rotations should maintain the trend toward a reduction in landscape diversity associated to an impoverishment of plant and animal communities, a soil and water quality loss due to pollutants transfer, an increase of greenhouse gases and potentially a reduction of the agro-ecosystem’s capacity for carbon sequestration (Stoate et al., 2001). To overcome these issues, in 2012 France decided to set up a strategic programme for the generalisation of “agro-ecology”. All farms are proposed to reach economic, social and environmental performances all in one (MAAF, 2016). Innovative cropping/livestock systems are thus expected and special attention is granted to agroforestry which is more than ever widely considered, being even sometimes proposed as the unique solution enable to limit most of the externalities from intensified agriculture. However, the ecosystem services from agroforestry are not well known. When some are studied, the use of references produced is limited to the sole cropping system, region and tree species of the study area. That is why the appropriation of agroforestry usually remains theoretical (practical use being possible but not without precautions and risks). References on the potential advantages and limits of agroforestry are very frequently expected and questioned within rural territories, by farmers or students. This is particularly the case of water operators which have the duties and the financial capacities to propose to farmers the improvement of the ecological status of their agricultural fields in order to locally contribute to the protection and/or the recovering of the water quality. Very often, [1] a range of agro-ecological infrastructures such as agricultural parcel (re)forestation (APF), peripheral hedge (PHD), living slope fascine (LSF), mechanical slope fascine (MSF), Grass-covering conversion (GCC), intercalated agroforestry (AGF), short rotation coppice (SRC), in-parcel grass strip (GST), in-parcel slope or ditch (SLO), pond (PON) and [2] a range of agri-technical alternatives such as no-tillage technics (NOT), direct (undercover) seeding (DIS) or even tillage direction change (TDC) are proposed to farmers to compensate/replace their intensified practices. But alternatives’ adoption remains limited because farmers ignore or are skeptical of such alternatives and the local farm advisory services often lack expertise. The PREVALTERA project conduced in the Nord - Pas-de-Calais region (Grandgirard et al., 2011) aimed to fill the needs of knowledge and expertise. Experts’ perception and knowledge about the potential ecosystem services from agro-ecological and agro-technical alternatives have been surveyed and analysed. Objectives are three: (i) to identify the main ecosystem services to be related to the alternatives assessed, (ii) to propose a first cross-ranking of these alternatives and (iii) to identify and rank the ecosystem potentials of the two main agroforestry types questioned in France which are PHD and AGF.

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International audience

Presentation From mid 2000, in order to address global challenges, European member states’ strategies for agriculture have progressively identified and given priority to the set up of a multi-functional farm models. In France, to achieve both food security and socio-environmental sustainability, the design, test and deployment of new Productive and Efficient Cropping Systems (PECS) was then engaged. Therefore, those of the particular PECS targeting the re-conquest of water quality often work at reducing drastically, or even renouncing to chemical pesticides. For that, within the 2012 EXPE Dephy Ecophyto program, a 6-years SCA0PEST project (pesticide-free agroforestry cropping system) has been funded. Considering the experimental farm objectives and local sectors' potentials, SCA0PEST objectives are (i) the review of the current conventional agroforestry cropping system and its experts' opinions-based re-design by respecting principles of integrated pest & weed management, (ii) the set up of 6 over 8 of the crops of the crop rotation each year, (iii) the ex-ante and continuous economic, environmental and social assessments of its performances. Depending on raw products sale prices, energy and fertilizers costs, preliminary SCA0PEST ex-ante assessment provided limited economic prevision, as direct margin would decrease from 140 up to 250€/ha mainly due to yield losses and additional costs for seeds. Conversely, environmental performance would be improved as annual GHG emissions from the cultivated compartment fall down to 1140 kg eq.CO2/ha (48% of the reference cropping system with pesticides); additionally, when simulated, annualized carbon sequestration by trees should reach 650 kg eq.CO2/ha. Finally, inclusion of a 2-years alfalfa production within the rotation would provide a supplementary 230€/ha indirect gain when incorporated at 40% within the dairy cows ration. If this first SCA0PEST assessment points an acceptable economic balance and an improved environmental footprint, continuous assessments would have to confirm the potential of this innovative free-pesticide cropping system.

Poster Facing new challenges of agriculture, the research for more sustainable agrosystems includes a growing interest in agroforestry practices. Over the past years, a large number of experimental and demonstration plots have been established all around France. However, coordination between research and extension partners is lacking. In order to support innovations in agriculture, the French government encourages partnership between research, development and education stakeholders, through the creation of Mixed Technological Networks (Réseaux Mixtes Technologiques, RMT). These RMTs benefit from national recognition and receive a grant for network coordination and communication. In 2014, a new network was created: the RMT “AgroforesterieS” brings together about fifty members involved in agroforestry, from research, semi-public and associative farmers’ organizations, technical institutes, engineering offices, and agricultural schools. By sharing expertise, databases and demonstration sites, the network aims at (i) promoting collective dynamics for the development of sustainable and innovative agroforestry systems adapted to the French territorial constraints, and (ii) developing technical and methodological tools for the setting up and management of agroforestry systems. It will particularly achieve these by: 1. Creating an observatory of agroforestry practices, including both experimental and commercial sites, in order to provide technical references for farmers; 2. Carrying out a multicriteria assessment of agroforestry systems, in terms of economical, technical, agronomical and environmental performances, as well as adoption factors; 3. Ensuring the coordination of scientific and technical stakeholders in order to initiate new collectively-thought projects of research and development in agroforestry; 4. Developing and/or improve decision support tools for farmers and land managers for the design and management of agroforestry systems; 5. Drawing up a strategy for knowledge diffusion towards future advisors, learners, and users.

International audience; From mid 2000, in order to address global challenges, European member states’ strategies for agriculture have progressively identified and given priority to the set up of a multi-functional farm model. In France, first reflection officially started in 2007 through the Grenelle de l'Environnement initiative from which several priority themes were identified, and dedicated measures approved. Concerning agriculture, four different objectives were selected: (a) the deployment of organic farming up to 20 % of the utilized agricultural area by 2020, (b) the Ecophyto plan for a 50 % reduction of the pesticides use, (c) the enforcement of the High Nature Value (HNV) certification scheme and the certification of at least 50 % of the French farms by 2012, and (d) the energetic diagnosis of at least 100.000 farms every 5 years within the farms' energetic performances (PPE) plan. If most of the quantified objectives have not been reached by 2014, coming into force of these measures actually goes on and represents a real opportunity for research organisms to participate to both food security and socio-environmental sustainability by the design, test and deployment of new Productive and Efficient Cropping Systems (PECS). Conversely to the majority of the PECS tested within the EXPE Dephy Ecophyto program, some have been imagined to go further the sole re-conquest of water quality by reducing drastically, or even renouncing chemical pesticides. They actually target (i) the reduction of the farm carbon footprint by reducing and/or mitigating GHG emission, (ii) the improvement of local ecological connectivity by contributing to the establishment emission, (ii) the improvement of local ecological connectivity by contributing to the establishment of new biocorridors and (iii) the financial sustainability of the experimental farms. Among the forty-one EXPE projects funded in 2012 and 2013, only one is testing and monitoring a pesticide-free agroforestry cropping system: SCA0PEST. It aims to: run an experts' panel conceptualization of the SCA0PEST cropping system by considering locally the actual and future market outlets, the hosting parcel and farmhouse agrotechnical potential, and local epidemiologic pressures; to deploy and conduce in farm conditions the cropping system; assess global and thematic performances of it; and favour the disclosure of the obtained knowledge and references towards farmers, advisers and agricultural students

Many traditional land-use systems in Europe involved agroforestry in the pre-industrial era, but, over the years, increased mechanization led to the development of increasingly specialized crop, animal and wood production systems. As a consequence, the area under agroforestry declined in many regions of Europe, and agroforestry systems became confined to situations where understorey primary production is restricted due to cold temperatures (Boreal and Alpine areas) or drought (Mediterranean areas) and to plots that are hard to reach or too small for cultivation with modern machinery, as in Spain, Italy and the lower altitude mountain regions in southern and central Germany. On the whole, agroforestry continued to be practised only where it enabled farmers to obtain economic returns from lands that were otherwise relatively unproductive and mostly limited to silvopastoral practices. Since the mid-1990s, however, European policies have encouraged land management systems that combine production, environmental services (biodiversity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling and water quality) and social benefits, and this has created a new interest in agroforestry systems. Today, the major agroforestry practices in Europe include silvopasture and silvoarable. However, the benefits and opportunities offered by agroforestry can only be realized with substantial investments and coordinated efforts in research, education, knowledge transfer and appropriate national policies across Europe.

Increased adoption of silvoarable agroforestry (SAF) systems in Europe, by integrating trees and arable crops on the same land, could offer environmental benefits compared with conventional agricultural systems. Soil erosion, nitrogen leaching, carbon sequestration and landscape biodiversity were assessed for a stratified random sample of 19 lanscape test sites in Mediterraean and Atlantic regions in Europe. Computer simulations showed that SAF couls reduce erosion when combined with contouring practices (crops as wheat, sunflower, oilseed, maize)