We visited CA-SYS - co-designed agroecological system experiment. This station was established in 1956 and have been in operation for a long time. The foci is not just variety trials but also agroecological system evaluations. Agroecological system is the interaction between cultivated field and the habitats in the neighboring landscape.
By increasing biodiversity, they are trying to drastically decrease pesticide use. From 2018, they're not using pesticide, fungicide, or herbicides. They protect thei crop by encouraging the growth of the natural enemies of pests, and mechanically weeding. The field plots are sectioned by flower strips to provide habitats for beneficial insects. Weeding is done when the crop plants are big enough and weeds are just emerging. They need to do it at the right timing, and some small crop plants will be lost, but it's alright.
Experiments are carried out for sustainable agriculture without a lot of input. Plots are a combination of till or no till, with nitrogen input or without nitrogen input, systemic experiment for observing pests and microbe transitions etc. or factorial experient.
This project has just started, so we will see what we will discover. It really felt that France is trying to transition from input-heavy agriculture to agroecological farming with harmony of living organisms and cultivated crops.
Lentils (I think)
Faba bean
One interesting experiment is to grow peas and wheat together to provide peas with better support and wheat with nitrogen. Sowing rates are 60 seeds/m^2 for peas and 50 seeds/m^2 for wheat. Some 180 lines of peas are grown with 2 wheat lines to see the yield and maturity. It's one way to increase biodiversity and decrease fertilizer input. The challenge is, however, to separate peas and wheat after harvest since they will be harvested together. It's an important point because peas must be gluten-free when marketed. One of the researchers said it's possible due to intensive sorting. Another bean researcher proposed a similar field plan with different types of common beans planted together so that wider ranges of disease resistance will be achieved, and he also said mechanical sorting and visual inspection by a camera can separate beans according to their sizes and shapes. The other possibility of using the mix of peas and wheat is to feed animals with it. It'll provide meals with better nutrition such as improved amino acid profiles.
It's an interesting shift from specialised one-crop agriculture to a diversified multi-purpose farming. The cropping cycle is long: 7-12 years depending on nitrogen input and experiment types. Legumes play an important part in it! I see the difference of foci between Europe and the US.
Pea and Wheat growing together
Chickpeas ( I think...)
Emerging faba beans
Faba beans are bred with high consumer traits: zero tannin and low vicine. It's more nutritious because tannin and vicine are both antinutients and/or toxin. Zero-tannin Faba beans have white flowers, which is a morphologal markers to select. There were also netted plots where bumble bees are kept inside with Faba beans to aid crossing. Faba beans have a fairly high rate of outcrossing, so it's easier for breeders to make crosses using pollinators. But how will they know which ones are outcrossed and which ones are selfed?
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