Agroecological engineering of crop and livestock health. Case studies in the French West Indies
Résumé
Current crop and livestock farming strategies based on elite varieties and breeds and intensive use of chemicals (pesticides, medicines) suffer from major limitations. Production losses, alteration of natural resources, loss of biodiversity, risk to human health, and vulnerability of the agrosystems dependent on polluted resources are part of the numerous undesirable side effects. The solutions derived from the paradigm of eradication of pathogens have shown their limits. The considerable variability and
adaptability among pathogen strains results in emerging resistance and replacement of susceptible with resistant strains in many pathogen species. When extremely aggressive emergent pests or resistance breakage occur, no more food production is possible. Novel approaches and methods are needed to encourage diseases management. The development of an ecological engineering approach that combines nested multi-scale levers is necessary. Mobilizing ecological interactions, largely unexplored, is a key issue to design new health management options. Thus, it fits in with the “smart” (FAO 2011)
approach required for the agroecological transition. We analyze how to enhance ecological interactions for crop and animal health. Based on a conceptual grid (Chave, 2015; Chave and Angeon, 2014), we show that consistent strategies for mobilizing ecological interactions rely on a complex activation of key levers at different spatial scales. We apply this analytical grid to two case studies relating to plant and animal
health in the French West Indies. These areas face strong challenging diseases for which most of the conventional solutions requiring the use of chemicals barely function. By applying an analytical grid that constitutes the ABCs of ecological regulation to crop and livestock health, we point out strategic choices lead in the French West Indies to cope with diseases. We show how new multi-scale approaches are implemented to identify solutions to enhance ecological interactions for crop and livestock health.
Mots clés
Agroecology
grid
plant production
reduction of pollution
integrated protection integrated disease control
animal health
plant health
livestock farms
west indian antilles
tropical zone
Agroécologie
transition agroécologique
grille
contrôle sanitaire
approche intégrée
production végétale
Biocontrôle
protection sanitaire intégrée
lutte contre la pollution
lutte intégrée
lutte biologique
réduction d'intrants
biodiversité
santé animale
santé des plantes
méthode
production animale
guadeloupe
martinique
antilles
Caraïbes
interaction
régulation agroécologique
interaction biologique
zone tropicale
écosystème tropical
Domaines
Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]
Fichier principal
CFCS Abstract Chave et al_agroecological_engineering_1.pdf (230.61 Ko)
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