[PhD defence] 23/04/2024 - Sara BOSSHARDT: "Understanding and providing tools for farmers to take into account the multidimensional performance of integrated diversified systems: the case study of orchards grazed by hens" (INRAE)

Title of thesis

Understanding and equipping farmers to take account of the multidimensional performance of integrated diversified systems: the case study of orchards grazed by hens

Date and place

Oral defense scheduled on Tuesday 23 April 2024 at 9.00 am
Venue: Bâtiment Cœur de Centre - INRAE Site d'Avignon. Domaine Saint Paul. 228 route de l'Aérodrome. Site Agroparc CS 40509. 84914 Avignon Cedex 9.
Room: Amphitheatre in the Cœur de Centre building

>> Follow the presentation live on YouTube

Discipline

AGRONOMIC SCIENCES

Laboratory

UPR 767 - Ecodevelopment

Management

• Ms Mireille NAVARRETE
• Mr RODOLPHE SABATIER

Composition of the jury

Ms MIREILLE NAVARRETE	INRAE	Thesis supervisor
Ms Marie GOSME	INRAE	Rapporteur
Mr Guillaume MARTIN	INRAE	Rapporteur
Mrs Chantal LOYCE	AgroParisTech	Examiner
Mr Gilles MARTEL	INRAE	Examiner
Mr Laurent JAMAR	Walloon Agricultural Research Centre CRA-W	Examiner
Mr Rodolphe SABATIER	INRAE	Thesis co-director
Mr Arnaud DUFILS	INRAE	Guest

Summary of the thesis

The diversification of farming systems is now seen as one of the major levers for meeting the challenges of more environmentally-friendly agriculture. Despite the enthusiasm among farmers for these environmentally-friendly systems, managing them presents a number of challenges, such as having to choose between different objectives that are generally incompatible.

Using the case study of orchards grazed by hens, this thesis proposes to examine the ways in which farmers take into account the multiple dimensions of performance in order to make choices in the face of these tensions. To do this, it uses three approaches:

(i) field trials in Provence, to produce knowledge on certain aspects of performance that are under-informed,

(ii) the design of models that organise the knowledge produced by experimentation and that already available, and

(iii) workshops with arboriculturists based on a serious game, using the models, to help them explain the management choices they make when managing this grazed orchard system.

So, as well as producing original results on the dynamics at work in the agro-ecosystem, the results of the experimental approaches have made it possible to calibrate digital simulation models, integrated into a workshop set-up that meets specific specifications for studying the tensions at work. Implementation during three workshops with farmers in south-east France showed that this system is relevant and effective for studying the ways in which arboriculturists make choices in the face of tensions. Finally, an analysis of the information gathered in the workshops showed that the participants did indeed use different dimensions of performance to design their strategies, and that the knowledge acquired through model simulations led the participants to qualify their strategies and adopt a more systemic view of the grazed orchard and its performance. This original multi-device approach not only enables us to understand certain dynamics at work in the agro-ecosystem and the ways in which farmers manage grazed orchards, but also offers food for thought in tackling the issues surrounding diversified systems integrating several production units.

Keywords

Grazed orchard, hen, tension, multidimensional performance, experimentation, serious game