Vers la transition agro-écologique

Commissariat général au développement durableApr 20, 2020

Pour réduire l’usage des produits phytopharmaceutiques et opérer une transition vers l’agro-écologie, plusieurs dispositifs complémentaires ont été mis en place et renforcés par le plan Ecophyto 2 et par le plan Biodiversité. Ceux présentés ici visent à soutenir les investissements et les innovations des agriculteurs (fermes DEPHY) et des collectifs d’agriculteurs (GIEE), pour expérimenter, développer les connaissances sur les solutions alternatives et démontrer leurs performances économiques, environnementales et sociales. Poursuivant le même objectif de préservation de notre santé et de la biodiversité, ils sont fortement imbriqués. Dans le but de multiplier par 10 le nombre d’agriculteurs accompagnés dans la transition vers l’agro-écologie à bas niveau de produits phytopharmaceutiques, qui constitue l’action 4 du plan Ecophyto 2, le dispositif "30 000 fermes" a ainsi été créé pour réunir entre autres les agriculteurs déjà organisés dans un collectif existant (DEPHY et GIEE notamment). Chaque dispositif est présenté dans ce qui suit de manière séparée pour plus de clarté.

To reduce the use of phytopharmaceutical products and transition toward agroecology, several complementary schemes have been implemented and strengthened by Ecophyto Plan 2 and the Biodiversity Plan. Those presented here aim to support the investments and innovations of individual farmers (DEPHY farms) and farmer collectives (GEIG), to experiment, develop knowledge about alternative solutions and demonstrate their economic, environmental and social performance. Pursuing the same objective of protecting our health and biodiversity, they are closely intertwined. In order to multiply by 10 the number of farmers supported in their transition to low-input agroecology, which constitutes action 4 of Ecophyto Plan 2, the "30,000 farms" scheme was created to bring together, among others, farmers already organized in existing collectives (notably DEPHY and GEIG). Each scheme is presented separately below for clarity.

3 chapters

A network of experimental farms: the Dephy farms
Ecophyto plan and Dephy network objectives
• The DEPHY pilot farm network initiated as part of the Ecophyto plan aims to reduce the use of phytosanitary products in France to reconcile economically, socially and ecologically sound agriculture and protect public health. • Launched in 2008 at the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ecophyto plan mobilizes a wide range of actors across mainland France and overseas territories. It notably provides for the implementation of a network of 3,000 pilot farms, called DEPHY farms, associated with an experimentation network whose primary objective was to demonstrate, experiment with and produce reference data on practices and systems that economize phytosanitary products. This approach aims to identify and disseminate economical and efficient systems under real farming conditions. After several years of operation, the objectives are now to test, enhance and deploy agricultural techniques and systems that economize phytosanitary products and are economically, environmentally and socially sound.
Network evolution
In 2009, an initial network of 180 farms was established. In 2016, the network was renewed and expanded. In August 2016, the DEPHY farm network comprised 2,621 farms voluntarily engaged in pesticide reduction efforts and covering the six main agricultural sectors with all production chains. The network continued to grow, reaching 3,000 farms in 2019 and from 2017 onward.
Observed results
• Overall, DEPHY network farms reduced their treatment frequency index by 18% across all sectors in approximately 4 years, with no impact on productivity or margin per hectare. • In 2017, field crops covered 46% of agricultural land used (ALU), with a third sown in spring. Conservation agriculture concerns 47% of field crop area. The establishment of winter cover crops preceding 61% of spring crops limits erosion and can be used for energy valorization.
Scaling up experiments: the "30,000 farms" scheme
Dissemination objective
Ecophyto Plan 2 aims to disseminate to other farms the lessons learned from the Dephy network or other initiatives experimenting with agroecological practices that reduce the use of phytopharmaceutical products. This large-scale concrete dissemination targets reaching 30,000 farms by 2021.
2019 status
In 2019, nearly 400 "Ecophyto 30,000" groups comprising approximately 5,300 farmers exist across mainland France.
Number of economic and ecological interest groups (GEIG)
GEIG overview
Economic and Environmental Interest Groups (GEIG) allow official state recognition of farmers' collective commitment to modifying or consolidating their practices through collective initiatives.
Group diversity
• These GEIGs pursue economic, environmental and social performance simultaneously through highly cross-cutting approaches. They differ from one another in: • their sizes: ranging from about ten to over 100 farmers, with an average of 20 farmers; • their locations and geographic scales: from individual municipalities to regional and nationwide coverage; • their productions: all agricultural sectors represented, including beekeeping and aromatic and medicinal plants; • the diversity of partners they work with: agricultural development actors, educators, researchers, local governments, food processing and distribution companies, environmental associations, etc. As of 31/12/2018, 531 GEIGs have been recognized since 2015, of which 493 remain recognized and active as of 01/01/2019. They bring together approximately 8,000 farms and 9,500 farmers.
GEIG trends and themes
According to the 2018/2019 Ecophyto briefing, a 2018 study of over 250 GEIGs showed that half of them focused on reducing inputs. The convergence of the "GEIG" and "30,000 farms" schemes reinforced this permeability between the two initiatives and the relevance of communicating about them simultaneously, as illustrated in the following chart.

Further reading

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