Big demo day on the French South-West I3S’ demonstration farm
On June 6 2024, ARVALIS had the pleasure of welcoming 150 people to its I3S demonstration farm, known as the “SYPPRE Lauragais long-term trial platform”, to find out more about 8 years of trials.
What is SYPPRE Lauragais?
Located in the city of Vieillevigne (31), the SYPRRE Lauragais long-term trial platform is testing an existing optimised cropping system and a promising innovative system. The aim of this platform is to test new levers of interest to farmers, support them in implementing them and disseminate information to as many people as possible. Each of the crops in the two systems is grown every year and replicated twice.
The work is carried out by a farmer with equipment similar to that used on a farm, enabling a comparison to be made between traditional methods and a more environmentally efficient system tested under real conditions.
What was the purpose of the June 6 demo day ?
Four workshops enabled participants to discover the themes worked on the platform over the years. The first had a look at the history of the platform and the adaptations made to meet the major challenge at hand: reducing erosion and improving soil fertility, the subject of a second workshop. ‘It was with this objective in mind that we designed an innovative system to maximise soil coverage,’ explained Eva Deschamps, engineer at Arvalis and in charge of the platform. The second major issue is weed management, particularly ryegrass. A third workshop therefore focused on the levers that have enabled trialists to ‘learn how to live with ryegrass’, according to Anthony Cazaban, the platform's technician. A challenge in a no-till system with cover crops.
Finally, the workshop on the economic performance of the innovative system received particular attention from visitors. It performs less than the control system in terms of margins: even though the two main species are performing well, there are still some rotational adjustments to be made. ‘But the savings made on fertilisers and certain plant protection products, thanks to the rotation and cover crops, are unequivocal’, insisted Eva Deschamps. This should give participants food for thought about how to develop their own cropping systems and why not launch their first trials on part of their plots.
Attached to this article, please find the booklet detailing the results of the SYPPRE platform given to the participants of the meeting as well as the link to a video edited following the meeting on the cover crops management.
