New practices for sustainable agriculture : testing new biocontrol products and a bioamendement for viticulture

ITEM ALCOVE : AgricuLture bioControl biOamendement ViticulturE
This project aims at developing new agricultural practices with no-harmful consequences for human health and for the biodiversity of agrosystems, which would ensure sustainable ecosystem functioning. These practices will rely on circular economy and our project will include different actors for this change of behaviour (farmers, researchers in psycho-sociology, in soil sciences, plant physiology, genotoxicologists, non-governmental association and the Chambre de l’Agriculture Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur).
This project is thus perfectly integrated in the concept of environmental transition: changing paradigm and designing new solutions for the society.
Our main goal is to optimise the production and to test the efficiency and the innocuity of biocontrol products (BCPs) and of a bioamendment, both produced via solid-state fermentation of agricultural by-products. Up to now, few solutions exist to limit the use of pesticides and of copper sulfate in viticulture though the European Union wants to decrease the concentration of CuSO4 used per ha and per year. Thus, it seems of huge importance to favor the production of non-harmful BCPs and of a bioamendment, valorising agricultural by-products in the context of a circular, local and autonomous economical strategy.

Project organisation

Coordinator of project ALCOVE : Anne-Marie Farnet Da Silva

This work will be organised in different embedded tasks.

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Download this general scheme in pdf format (Figure : Framework of the project showing the interaction between the various actors (scientists, institutions, winegrowers, associations…) and final operations in the field if the different psychosociological and scientific (toxicology, effects on soil and plant fitness) bottlenecks are broken (the dash line represents the frontier between this project and future applications).

Download full project in pdf format

Task 1
Production of a cocktail of BCPs and in vitro tests using phytopathogens Botrytis cynerea, Erysiphe necator Schwein and Plasmopara viticola.
Coordinator N. Dupuy, IMBE

Task 2
Characterisation of physico-chimical and microbial properties of the bioamendment.
Coordinator P. Christen, IMBE

Task 3
Testing the genotoxicity of the products of fermentation i.e. both BCPs and bioamendment.
Coordinator T. Orsière, IMBE

Task 4
Testing the combined effects of BPC and of the bioamendment on plant fitness and on soil chemical (C, N, metallic cations, density, water holding capacity, organic matter quality and quantity by infrared spectroscopy and solid state NMR of 13C) and biological properties (microorganisms, meso et macrofauna).
Coordinator Y. Capowiez, INRAE

Task 5
Partnership between winegrowers and researchers to define new practices for environment in viticulture : role of tradition and identity, social norms and place of sustainable agricultural practices in South Eastern France.
Co coordinators : R. Bertoldo, LPS & P. Minvielle Larrousse, TELEMME

Task 6
Interaction between different scientific domains and managing of transversal interactions.
Co coordinators I. Laffont-Schwob, LPED & A.M. Farnet Da Silva, IMBE

Role of each partner
LPS: field inquiries on the social context of winegrowers and on the psychological and economic impact of changing agricultural practices.
TELEMME: setting partnership between winegrowers and researchers for a progressive and concerted acceptance of new practices consistent with existing initiatives from winegrowers.
IMBE: Coordinator. Production of a cocktail of BCPs and of the bioamendment from fermentation and characterisation of its microbial and physico chemical properties. Testing the innocuity of the products obtained. Testing the effect of the BCPs and of the bioamendment on soil properties.
LPED: evaluate the effect of BCPs, of the bioamendment and of their admixture on the physiological state of the plant.
LCE: Chemical characterisation of the bioamendment and of soils after amendment input. Assessing the persistance of molecules from the BCPs cocktail on the aerial parts of the plants and into the soil. Following copper in soil and in plant.
INRAE: Biological characterisation (meso and macrofauna) of soil after BCPs and bioamendment input.
Chambre de l’agriculture: interaction with winegrowers, communication of the results and help to set up operation in the field.
Association Terre et Humanisme: forming winegrowers for the production of BCPs and of the bioamendment (preparation of the products using solid state fermentation)

Fundings
This project is financed by ITEM, Axis « Transition in action » for 36 months