Silvoarable Agroforestry For Europe (SAFE)

Transcription

1 Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources Silvoarable Agroforestry For Europe (SAFE) European Research contract QLK5-CT Final progress report covering the period August 2004 to 31 January 2005 Relative tree yield Poplar Oak Walnut Relative crop yield Cherry Pine mm day Tree transpiration Crop transpiration Soil evaporation /01/ /04/ /06/ /09/ /12/ /03/ /06/ /09/2003 Relative crop yield SAFE PROJECT Arable 156 trees/ha Silsoe Leeds FINAL PROGRESS REPORT 1 Volume 3 : Contractor Reports, May 2005

2 Foreword This volume includes the contributions of the 10 Contractors of the SAFE project during the fourth year of the project. Most of the information is included here. For a rapid survey of the achievements of the SAFE consortium, please refer to Volume 1 (Synthesis) and Volume 2 (Work-Package reports). Service tree (Sorbus domestica L.) is a promising agroforestry tree that was however not considered during the SAFE project. 2

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 CONTRACTOR 1: INRA SYSTEM... 6 SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND TIME SPENT ON THE WPS... 6 CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES... 8 WP2: European Silvoarable knowledge... 8 WP3 Silvoarable experimental network... 9 WP4 Above-ground interactions...21 WP5 Below-ground interactions...22 WP6a Biophysical integrated plot model Hi-sAFe WP6b: Simple biophysical model Yield-sAFe WP7. Economics of silvoarable agroforestry WP10. Project co-ordination CONTRACTOR 1: INRA-AMAP SCIENTIFIC TEAM TIME SPENT ON THE DIFFERENT WORKPACKAGES CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES WP4. Above-ground interactions (0.6 person-months) WP6. Modelling (5.6 person-months) DISSEMINATION Participation in meetings and workshops Scientific publications Utilisation de maquettes architecturales de Noyers hybrides pour Hi-sAFe. (in French) References CONTRACTOR 1: INRA UAFP SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND TIME SPENT ON THE WPS SUB-CONTRACTOR TO INRA :ICRAF SUB-CONTRACTOR TO INRA :CTL Installation de sites expérimentaux : Suivis et mesure de sites expérimentaux : CONTRACTOR 2: WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND TIME SPENT ON THE WPS CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES SUB-CONTRACTOR FINIS E.V.: CONTRIBUTIONS TO WP SUB-CONTRACTOR GPG: CONTRIBUTION TO WP CONTRACTOR 3: NERC - CENTRE FOR ECOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND TIME SPENT ON THE WPS CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES WP5 Below-ground interactions SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

4 WP8 Scaling up to the farm and region WP9 European guidelines for agroforestry Significant difficulties during the reporting period CONTRACTOR 4: UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND TIME SPENT ON THE WPS Partner number, name and address of the participating organisation Time spent on the different workpackages during year 4 (months) CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES WP1 Silvoarable modelling strategies WP2 European silvoarable knowledge WP3 Silvoarable experimental network T3.1: Collect data from existing experiments as required by the modelling activity At the SAFE experimental sites specific information needed to parameterise the biophysical model will be collected Results and deliverables Future work OTHER WORK SIGNIFICANT DIFFICULTIES OR DELAYS EXPERIENCED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD DISSEMINATION CONTRACTOR 5: CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY SCIENTIFIC TEAM TIME SPENT ON THE DIFFERENT WORK-PACKAGES CONTRIBUTION TO WORK-PACKAGES WP6B. Minimal biophysical integrated model: Yield-sAFe WP7. Economic modelling at a plot-scale WP8. Scaling up to the farm and region References SUB-CONTRACTOR TO CRAN : BEAM CONTRACTOR 6: CNR-PORANO SCIENTIFIC TEAM Principal Investigators TIME SPENT ON THE DIFFERENT WORKPACKAGES CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES: WP2: European Silvoarable Knowledge WP3. Silvoarable experimental network WP4 Above ground interactions WP9 EU guidelines CONTRACTOR 7: UNIVERSITY OF EXTRAMADURA SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND TIME SPENT ON THE WPS CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES PERSON-MONTHS WP2. EUROPEAN SILVOARABLE KNOWLEDGE WP3. SILVOARABLE EXPERIMENT WORK WP4. Above-ground interactions WP5. Below-ground interactions WP8. Scaling-up to the farm and the region WP9. European guidelines for policy SUB-CONTRACTED WORK TO FGN EXPLOITATION AND DISSEMINATION ACTIVITIES LIST OF ANNEXES SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

5 13 CONTRACTOR 8: FAL CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES WP1. Silvoarable modelling strategies (2.0 person-months) WP2. European silvoarable knowledge (2.0 person-months) WP6. Biophysical integrated plot modelling (1.0 person-month) WP7. Economic modelling at the plot scale (2.0 person-month) WP8. Scaling-up to the farm and the region (48.0 person-months) WP9. European guidelines for policy implementation (5.3 person-months) FUTURE WORK SIGNIFICANT DIFFICULTIES OR DELAYS EXPERIENCED DURING THE REPORTING PERIOD CONTRACTOR 9: APCA SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND TIME SPENT ON THE WPS CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES WP2 European silvoarable knowledge (10 person-month) WP7 Economic modelling at the plot scale (9.0 person-months) WP8 Scaling-up to the farm and the region (14.0 person-months) WP9 European guidelines for policy implementation (8.4 person-months) CONTRACTOR 10: UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI SCIENTIFIC TEAM AND TIME SPENT OF THE WPS CONTRIBUTION TO WORKPACKAGES Workpackage 2: European silvoarable knowledge SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

6 INRA Report 1 Contractor 1: INRA SYSTEM Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 1: INRA SYSTEM (FRANCE) INRA-SYSTEM, Systèmes de Culture Méditerranéens et Tropicaux, 2 Pl. Viala, Montpellier Cedex 1, France Scientific team and time spent on the WPs Principal investigators Name. Unit Tel Fax Dr. Dupraz Christian SYSTEM dupraz@ensam.inra.fr Lecomte Isabelle SYSTEM lecomte@ensam.inra.fr Dr. Dufour Lydie SYSTEM lydie.dufour@cirad.fr Mineau Jonathan CTL mineau@ensam.inra.fr Mulia Rachmat SYSTEM mulia@ensam.inra.fr Time spent on the different work packages during the final 6 months For the purpose of the project coordination, this table includes some time for Christian Dupraz and Isabelle Lecomte for the project coordination in February and March 2005, as allowed by the technical annex of the contract and approved by the project officer in Brussels. INRA Staff Name Unit WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP10 Total Dupraz Christian SYSTEM 0,5 1 3,1 1,75 0,2 3,5 10,05 Lecomte Isabelle SYSTEM Mulia Rachmat SYSTEM Dufour Lydie SYSTEM Martina Mayus SYSTEM 0,7 1,5 0,2 0,6 5,5 0,2 0,3 9 Total INRA-SYSTEM 0 0,7 6 3,2 18,7 13,25 0,2 0 0,5 4,5 47,05 INRA-SYSTEM sub-contractors Jonathan Mineau CTL 4 4 Jean-Philippe Terreaux CHAV 6 6 Meine van Noordwijk ICRAF 0,5 0,5 Grégoire Vincent ICRAF Betha Lusiana ICRAF 1,2 1,2 Degi Harga ICRAF 1,5 1,5 Total , ,2 Grand total 0 0,7 10 5,2 21,9 15,25 6,2 0 0,5 4,5 64,25 The final total of INRA-SYSTEM time allocation to the whole SAFE project is personmonth of INRA staff (compared to 105 indicated in the contract) and 43 person-months of sub-contractor staff (identical to the contract). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May 2005

7 The Swiss team leader Felix Herzog gifted the project coordinator Christian Dupraz with this superb book on extra-ordinary trees of the world at the Zurich final workshop of the SAFE project A view of the split-root experiment with hybrid walnut trees that allowed to calibrate the responsiveness of the tree root system to an heterogeneous environment Measurements of poplar sap flow at the Vézénobres experimental plot in collaboration with colleagues from CNRS in Toulouse (Etienne Muller and Luc Lambs) Wild cherry trees responded spectacularly to the localized nitrogen experiment at INRA-SYSTEM. Nitrogen was localized in only two voxels resulting in a parallelepiped rooting pattern. Walnut trees did not react as strongly. The SAFE project 2005 greeting card was prepared by INRA-SYSTEM as part of WP10 (coordination) activity A view of the chair of the SAFE final national Conference at Paris on January From left to right : Michel Delacroix, President of the forest commission of APCA, Luc Guyau, President of APCA, Christian Dupraz, coordinator of the SAFE project and Fabien Liagre, SAFE WP2 leader SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

8 Contribution to work packages WP2: European Silvoarable knowledge While being contracted by INRA-System, Martina Mayus kept monitoring the Netherlands sub-contractors of WU. Here are some details of this activity during the last period of the contract. Supervision of the literature study of the MSc student Michel Postma: Its a all in the mix. - Agroforestry, a prospective land use system for the Netherlands. The overall aim of this report is to explore the potential of agroforestry as an innovative and sustainable multiple land use system in the Netherlands. Agroforestry systems with prospects for the Netherlands, appropriate tree and crop species as well as required regulations and subsidies with respect to Agroforestry were identified. Four distinct agroforestry practices (Figure 2 and 3) are considered to be appropriate and innovative for The Netherlands, namely: 1. silvoarable agroforestry, comprising widely-spaced trees and/or shrubs associated with arable crops 2. silvopastoral agroforestry, a combination of trees, forage (pasture) and livestock 3. forest gardening, comprising multi-species and multi-storied dense plant associations, planted and/or managed in such way that they mimic the structure and the ecological processes of natural forests 4. forest farming, the cultivation of edible, medicinal or decorative specialty crops as under-storey in (semi)natural woodlands. Table 1. Windbreaks and riparian buffers are common practices in the Netherlands. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

9 Table 2. Innovative silvoarable (left) and silvopastoral (right) agroforestry systems appropriative in particular for Dutch farmers. Table 3. Innovative agroforestry systems, i.e. forest farming (left) and forest gardening (right), appropriative in particular for Dutch foresters and hobby farmers, respectively. The literature study and the results of the earlier performed survey on farmers attitude towards agroforestry were synthesised by setting up agroforestry design scenarios for farmers, foresters and hobby farmers. For each type of land user several examples of prospective agroforestry designs and practices are suggested. It was concluded that agroforestry fits well into the current Dutch governmental policies aiming for extensification of agricultural land, leaving more room for nature and thus increasing biodiversity. However, two major constraints exists: 1) Agroforestry is not a recognised land status and no subsidies are currently available. 2) There is a lack of adequate research, demonstrations and information towards land users and policy makers. Most farmers and policy makers are not aware of the possibilities of agroforestry. The report was presented in a seminar at the WU department Plant Production, Wageningen (Safe website). WP3 Silvoarable experimental network The field activities of INRA-SYSTEM are concentrated on two different silvoarable systems not far from Montpellier, Southern France. At Restinclières walnut stands and at Vézénobres poplar plantations were combined with durum wheat during the last two SAFE-project years. The growing season of 2003 revealed two interesting results: First, the combination of walnut and the winter crop durum wheat is a good choice in terms of limiting competition. The Hybrid walnut tree is characterised by a late bud break in spring. By the time that the walnut SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

10 trees are full in leave, durum wheat is already far in its development. Overall, the influence of walnut on the winter crop was negligible. Secondly, at Vézénobres, different from what was expected for a Mediterranean region, the competition for light was playing a more dominant role than water competition. In 2004, the experiments were designed to explore the research findings of the prior season. In general the studies at Vézénobres were intensified compared to Restinclières. At both sides, experimental protocols and management actions were performed as similar as possible. Site Tree Year of plantation Crop in Restinclières Hybrid 1995 Durum wheat walnut (Claudio variety) Vézénobres Poplars 1996 and 1997 Durum wheat (Durango variety) Compared treatments Forest control Crop control Agroforestry Forest control Crop control Agroforestry AF treatments (number of modalities) Tree-crop distance (2) Tree line orientation (2) Tree-crop distance (2) Tree-line orientation (2) Tree canopy pruning (3) Table 4: Main features of the two experimental plots managed by INRA-SYSTEM Climate and environmental site characterisation at both INRA sites Climate and microclimate recording At both sites, INRA-SYSTEM meteorological stations record hourly data of air temperature, air humidity, photosynthetically active radiation and rainfall. Both stations are set up at a minimum distance of 30 m from the trees in the experimental agroforestry plots, in order to record the boundary climate outside the influence of the trees. For the following years, it is considered to move the stations further from the trees, as they grow higher. Soil humidity and water table The soil water content was measured with neutron probes during as well as outside the growing season at two weekly intervals. The water table level is needed to compute a correct water budget of the silvoarable system with the Hi-sAFe model. INRA-SYSTEM, therefore, equipped the plots at Restinclières (in 2002) and Vézénobres (in 2003) with piezometers. Soil fertility The arable crop has been well fertilised with nitrogen (about 180 kg N ha- 1 year 1, ca. 450 kg ammonium nitrate/ha) during all years. Therefore, nitrogen should have been sufficient and competition for nitrogen should have been negligible. However, if cropping operations are not homogeneous within the agroforestry plot, tree impact on crop yield could be wrongly evaluated. We, therefore, measured the homogeneity of the nitrogen fertiliser application at both sites. Nitrogen fertiliser is spread with rotatic sprayers that usually need to be driven at precise distances to allow cross-fertilisation at the margin. In agroforestry, this is not possible, due to the fixed distance between tree rows. For the growing season , the distribution of the nitrogen application was measured in Restinclières and at Vézénobres. We placed containers along transects and weighed the ammonium nitrate grains collected at the different locations. Each transect consisted of 5 containers, i.e. one placed on the tree row, and on each side of the tree row at distance of 2 m and in the centre of the alley (6.5 m and 8 m from the tree rows at Restinclières and Vézénobres, respectively). In Restinclières, for the growing season , the first application of the nitrogen fertiliser was assumed to be homogeneous, since performed with a pendular sprayer. The others were performed with the usual machine. At Vézénobres the farmer used always a rotatic sprayer. Tree size and phenological development The impact of the trees on the intercrop depends on tree density, tree height and canopy size, tree leaf area density and on the overlapping growth period of trees and crops. The SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

11 tree-crop interactions depend also on the degree of spatial and temporal complementarity. In this context, the trees have been intensively measured in particular at Vézénobres: phenology, height, diameter, leaf area, sap flow, and root length densities at different depths and distances. The above- and belowground studies are described in detail in WP4 and WP5, respectively. 200 walnut.ha -1 mixed with durum wheat Walnut height ca. 7 m Restinclières plot 2 tree row orientations x 2 sides x 2 distances = 8 agroforestry treatments 2 replications in agroforestry A2 2 replications in agroforestry A3 5 replications in crop control A2 140 poplars.ha -1 mixed with durum wheat Poplar height ca. 20 m Vézénobres plot 2 tree-row orientations x 2 canopy pruning x 2 sides x 2 distances = 16 agroforestry treatments 3 replications in agroforestry replications in agroforestry replications in crop control of each plot Table 5: The experimental agroforestry plots at Restinclières and Vézénobres and the treatments of the season The crop measurements One objective of the crop measurements is to measure state variables of the wheat crop to calibrate the STICS crop model used in Hi-sAFe. The model is an important tool to fully integrate our knowledge and understanding of silvoarable systems and thus add to the insights obtained from experiments (Report part WP6a). Secondly the field observations aim to assess the influence of the trees on the growth and yield of durum wheat. This was achieved by measuring its development and grain yields along transects of the tree-crop interface and in the crop control, i.e. outside the influence of trees (Table 2). The influence of trees on yield components was also determined. All measures were done at 2 distances and 2 orientations from the tree lines as given in Table 2. The experimental unit is a subplot (micro-plot) of 1 m 2, consisting of 7 to 8 one m long crop rows parallel to the tree line. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

12 Site Distances from the tree line Orientation crop Restinclières 2 m and 6.5 m N-S (plot A2) E-W (plot A3) Vézénobres 2 m and 6.5 m N-S (plot 1997) E-W (plot 1996) Additional treatments included Tree canopy pruning: With and without Table 6: Locations of crop growth measurements in agroforestry plots at Vézénobres and Restinclières experimental plots State variable Day of measure at Restinclières Day of measure at Vézénobres Protocol Tiller density n.a Number of tillers on the half the area of the micro-plot (0.5 m 2 ). Phenological stage and plant height Leaf area of top leaves Every 5-10 days DOY n.a. Every 5-10 days DOY and randomly chosen plants per micro-plot (Zadoks scale) on 2 and 3 replications for Restinclières and Vézénobres. Length and 3 width of leaf 1 (flag leaf) and leaf 2. Ear density Ear number of all plants of the microplot, counted at harvest. Weed infestation Larger weeding Harvest Wheat yield Weight of 1000 grains Protein content Not yet Every 14 days Visual assessment in each micro-plot The micro-plots were harvested by hand. Sub-samples were taken for grain yield determination. July 2004 July 2004 At INRA lab Not yet Table 7: Calendar of crop measurements in agroforestry plots at Vézénobres and Restinclières experimental plots In Restinclières, only the intensive agroforestry association was investigated and at Vézénobres, the crop yield measurements were focused on plots with trees of the poplar clone I-214, who had been not root-pruned in We managed 2 and 5 replications in agroforestry and control treatments in Restinclières, and at Vézénobres we had 3 replications for each treatment (Figure 1). Table 3 shows the timing of the various crop measurements. The results of the walnut-wheat field studies in Restinclières have been presented in the third Annual report of SAFE and will be compared, here, with the results of the poplar wheat system at Vézénobres. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

13 Durum wheat yields in the poplar agroforestry experiment at Vézénobres in 2004 Tree canopy pruned Tree canopy unpruned Tree micro-plot Tree row Micro-plot Table 8: Field layout with measurement points (micro-plots) at Vézénobres The agroforestry system in Vézénobres consist of two silvoarable poplar stands, set up in 1996 and 1997 with tree rows in the North-South and East-West direction, respectively. These plots are the most mature silvoarable sites in France or, even, in Europe. The poplar plantations showed a fast growth in height and diameter, and we expect that its life cycle will be not more than years. This is short compared to the life cycles of the silvoarable poplar plantations in Leeds and Cranfield (both in UK), which are expected to be at least 25 years. During the first, i.e. the establishment years of the silvoarable field till season 2002, the rotation of the intercrop differed between the two plots. In plot 1996, there was a rotation of asparagus, durum wheat, durum wheat, sorghum, fallow, durum wheat; while in plot 1997 asparagus was planted during the first 5 years. Then in year 2002, both plots were left fallow and during the last two growing seasons durum wheat was planted between the trees. The effect of poplar on wheat was intensively investigated (wheat development, grain yield and quality) at the different agroforestry treatments and compared with the measurements of the monocrop control plots, one at the south edge of the 1996 plantation, and one at the west edge of the 1997 plantation. The studies on durum wheat will continue during the growing season of Material and Method SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

14 Plot Area (ha) Total Treatments (area) Forest control Crop control Agroforestry Forest control Crop control Agroforestry Tree spacing (m) 7 x 7 no trees 16 x x 6 no trees 15.5 x 4.5 Tree row direction North-South - North-South East-West - East-West Wheat variety no crop Durango Durango no crop Durango Durango Poplar clones studied I-214 no trees I-214 I-214 no trees I-214 Table 9: The Vézénobres site with 2 poplars plantation plots planted in 1996 and 1997 Climate and microclimate characterisation At Vézénobres, the meteorological station was launched on day 155 in year The station records hourly data of air temperature, air humidity, photosynthetical active radiation (PAR) and rainfall. Wind velocity and global radiation are available at the Alès airport station, located at less than 5 km from the experimental site. During both seasons, the station was out of order for several days and sometimes for weeks. For these periods, the data from a Météo-France weather station, at about 5 km from the experimental plots was used (Alès Deaux airport). The soil water volume (neutron tubes) as well as the water table (piezometers) was recorded once a month between May and October 2004, with additional measurements after heavy rainfalls all over the year. The neutron tubes and the piezometers were installed at the end of November 2003 and end of April 2004 (DOY 330 and DOY 118), respectively. More detailed information can be found in the report part of WP5. Hemispherical photographs were taken to estimate the reduction of available light at a given point in the intercrop, i.e. adjacent to the micro-plots at 2 and 6 m from the tree line. In 2004, the photos were taken in May and June. The results of the prior season illustrate that the available daily light is homogenous on the plot with a North-South orientated tree row and heterogeneous for the plot with a West- East tree row orientation. The data will be used also to validate the model Hi-sAFe. This requires information of the available radiation around an average tree surrounded by average trees (torus symmetry), as can be obtained by hemispherical photographs. The method was explained in the Second Year Contractor report in the chapter of WP4. Growth conditions The agroforestry plot was well fertilised, so that nitrogen stress should be ignorable. Furthermore, diseases, pests and weeds were controlled chemically, and the micro-plots have been hand weeded when needed and just before the harvest (2004) (Table 3). The poplars have access to water table, but this is not meaning that they are not suffering from water stress. Tree characteristics In , a root pruning (= root trenching) treatment was set up in both plantations. Roots were cut at 2 and 3.5 m from the tree line. This treatment appeared to have no impact on the water competition between trees and crops and a limited effect on tree performance. Therefore, the root pruning treatment was not further investigated during the growing season The forestry control plots are disked twice a year to limit weed proliferation. In April 2004, a new treatment was included in the agroforestry systems, i.e. two different tree canopy pruning height (6 m is the standard, 10 m is the extra high pruning). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

15 The poplar trees of both plots were measured for height and diameter at breast height (i.e. at 1.3 m) in January In November 2003, the poplars reached a height of about 20 m. The major phenological dates, i.e. start, finish and date of 50% of a) bud break and b) leaffall in were observed. In 2003, bud break started at the beginning of April (around DOY 95) and leaf fall was monitored at the end of November (around DOY 327). In 2004, the dates were very similar. Tree management Day of year Date Operation Forestry plantation disked April Extra high canopy pruning in blocks Table 10: Calendar of tree management at the Vézénobres farm in Durum wheat management Day of year Date Operation Sowing (150 kg ha -1 ) st week Jan Last week Feb 1 st week March Fertilisation (ammo nitrate: 180 kg ha -1 ) Weeding (Hussard: 1l ha -1 ) Fertilisation (sulfamo: 250 kg ha -1 ) April Fertilisation (ammonitrate: 180 kg ha -1 ) / April Fungicide application (OPONAN) Hand weeding of the micro plots Harvest Table 11: Calendar of durum wheat management at the Vézénobres farm in Crop measurements During the season , we concentrated the observations on plots with the poplar cultivar I214. The root-pruning treatment was not repeated, since it showed no effect on wheat production. A new treatment was included in the agroforestry systems, i.e. tree canopy pruning. The overall treatments were: 2 tree row orientations * 2 plot orientation * 2 pruned/ unpruned * 2 distances All measurements were done on all treatments (micro-plots). The influence on crop growth was observed till maturity in a two-week interval. Measurements included: crop height, the phenological stage (Zadoks scale) and the number of organs (brown and green leaves, tillers). At each micro-plot, 5 plants representative for the location were randomly selected. The measurement of flowering (onset, 50%, 100%) and maturity (onset, 50%, 100%) were the most important stages. In Vézénobres, around flowering we estimated leaf area and specific leaf weight of the upper two leaves (leaf1 = flag leaf and leaf 2) of three plants of each treatment. The leaf area of three representative plants was determined by measuring the leaf length and width (top, middle and base). The length of the following leaves was measured too. As a calibration 30 plants outside the micro-plots were treated the same way and then harvested. The leaves were photocopied and their leaf surface was measured by OPTIMAS. Then the leaves were dried at 60 C during 2 days and weighted for computation of specific leaf area. The specific leaf area (m 2 leaf kg -1 leaf) was computed based on the average leaf weight and estimated leaf area. The analyses of the data are in work. The number of all tillers were counted of half of the micro-plot (0.5 m 2 ) in early May and the number of panicles were counted of the entire micro-plot (1 m 2 ) at the day of harvest. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

16 In Mid-June, on DOY 200, the harvest took place about 229 days after sowing. The crop has achieved physical maturity, but the drying of the grains was not finished at all measurement locations. The number of difference in DOY when physical maturity was achieved was visually measured in all micro-plots. The micro-plots plots were harvested manually (hand clipper) after weeding. The plants were cut at ground level and the fresh weight of the sample was measured. Then the number of panicles were counted and cut from the stem and their fresh biomass was weighted too. For each micro-plot a sub-sample of 60 panicles was randomly selected for grain weight, fresh and dry (48 hours at 60 o C). Results Climate and environmental site characterisation The weather of the growing season was rather dry as usual for the region (). However, during the early crop establishment the plots were heavily flooded. In particular in plot 1997 the water in the vicinity of several poplar rows was causing a delay in crop development and at some places even death of plants. Nevertheless, we could find reasonable sampling points. 100 Daily rainfall (mm) Sowing Harvest Daily max. temperature Daily min. temperature 40 Precipitation (mm) Temperature ( o C) Time in day of year from start 2003 to end Table 12: Daily temperature and precipitation at Vézénobres in season SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

17 40 35 Sowing Harvest 30 Daily solar radiation (MJ m -2 ) Day of year from start 2003 to end 2004 Table 13: Daily global radiation at Vézénobres in season Crop yields In 2004, the grain yields of durum wheat in the poplar agroforestry stand were highly reduced compared to the monocropping control plots (Table 8). Overall the reduction was about 50%, with large differences between the treatments. At the first glance, two major effects can be distinguished: pruning and orientation of the plots, while the distance to trees appears to be less important (Figure 5). Agroforestry treatment Yield in agroforestry (AF) T/ha Yield in Trop control T/ha Ratio Yield AF/ Yield control All agroforestry plots Unpruned Pruned Unpruned Pruned Plot 96: Tree row N-S Plot 97: Tree row W-E Plot 97: Tree row W-E * * 0.24 * 0.57 * Plot 97: Tree row W-E ** ** 0.19 ** 0.46 ** * and **: Results using the mean of the two crop control plots and the value of Plot96, respectively. Table 14: Durum wheat yields in an eight-year-old poplar stand at Vézénobres in 2004 It is striking that the production on the control plot 97 was in all years much lower than on plot 96. One of the reasons may be the shade of poplars in the morning (the control is located west of the agroforestry plot). In dry regions, morning hours are very important with respect to growth. The fact that the difference increased in 2004 (ratio yield plot96/ yield plot97 was 0.82 in 2003 and 0.61 in 2004) may also refers to the shade cause. When we correct the yield of the monoculture crop plot 97 for an eventual shade effect (e.g. using the yield of plot 97 or the mean yield of both control plots), the influence of poplars appears to be higher on a silvoarable field with West-East oriented tree rows (Table 7). Soil analysis will show if also difference in soil fertility played a role. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

18 8 8 SOUTH NORTH WEST EAST Yield (t.ha -1 ) 6 4 pruned élagué unpruned non élagué crop control Yield (t.ha -1 ) Distance from poplar row (m) Distance from poplar row (m) Table 15: Yields of durum wheat at different distances and orientations from a pruned and unpruned poplar row in Vézénobres in 2004 The impact of the pruning regimes on wheat yield was impressive in the 1997 plot but less pronounced in the 1996 plot (Table 15). The lowest yield was found in alleys between lowpruned poplars, most striking in the south and north plots. Here the light condition is heterogeneous and pruning treatment had the largest effect in the north, where light reduction by low-pruned trees was highest (Figure 7). The standard errors (not presented) are large, due to a combination of few repetitions and large spatial variability. In the East- West tree rows plot, it must be noticed that the best yields were observed NORTH of the poplars in 2004, which is the contrary to This can be explained by the simultaneous effect if tree height increase and high pruning. Tree height increase moved the sunshade further north, where it reached the next tree row, while high pruning allowed this light to reach the zone situated North of the trees. This total change in only one year illustrates the fast dynamics of a silvoarable system. The researchers advised the farmer not to seed the zone north of the trees, but the farmers did seed. He was right! From these data, is it possible to conclude that shade is the limiting factor for the wheat production in this mature silvoarable system? Water competition may also play a role, as pruning also reduces water use by the tree. However, unless we assume that the rooting pattern of the poplars is not symmetrical on both sides of the tree row, the water competition effect should be symmetrical. What we observe is a non-symmetrical impact well correlated with the light availability that suggests that light is the limiting factor Number of panicle.m-² SOUTH NORTH Number of grains.m - ² SOUTH élagué pruned non unpruned élagué NORTH Distance from poplar row(m) Distance from poplar row (m) sud nord Table 16: Number of panicles and grains of durum wheat on micro-plots at different distances and orientations from a pruned and unpruned poplar row, Vézénobres in 2004 SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

19 In plot 97, the higher yield on certain micro-plots can be explained by a higher number of grains and an elevated 1000 grain weight (Table 16). The higher number of grains is mainly the result of the grain number per panicle, while the number of panicles is only affected in the north of unpruned tree. The latter are the plots with the lowest light availability. In plot 96 with generally more light (Table 17), there is almost no effect on panicle numbers and grain weight (not presented), and the small effect occurs only in the vicinity of the trees. Table 18 presents the correlation between light availability and grain yield and yield components. Wheat crop alleys between poplars pruned up to 6 m Wheat crop alleys between poplars pruned up to 10 m Table 17: Light availability, as % of global radiation transmitted to the crop, at different orientation from the poplar row (green) at 2 m (yellow) and 6 m (orange) for both pruning treatments Vézénobres in 2004 With the exception of DOY 120 (before booting) and the ripening phase, the phenological development appeared to be similar everywhere on the silvoarable field as well as on the crop control plot. Thus the influence of light availability had no effect on the wheat development during most of its life cycle. At the more shady regions (micro-plots in the vicinity of the north side of trees) the physiological maturity was delayed for about 7 days and even at harvest, when wheat was mature everywhere in the agroforestry plots grains were still more humid the more shady the micro-plots. Data are currently analysed. Summary and conclusion In general, the findings of the growing season confirm the results of the prior season. As in 2003, the influence of 7 m tall walnut trees on the winter crop was negligible, while the reduction of durum wheat in the 20 m tall poplar plantation was remarkable. The major conclusions that can be drawn are: In Restinclières, the walnut trees are still to small to affect significantly the crop yield. The late leafing date of the trees limit the shade impact, and their deep rooting pattern limit the water competition At Vézénobres, the mature poplar trees are at a very high density for an agroforestry plot (156 trees/ha). Light competition is now strong, as a result of both early leafing SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

20 and large tree sizes. The poplars have a deep rooting pattern that also limits water competition. Therefore, light competition seems to play a key role. Canopy pruning of poplars was very effective for maintaining crop yields, due mainly to shade reduction, but also possibly to a reduced water competition. In 2003, root pruning had no effect on wheat yields, because trees used the water at a deeper soil depth than the crop. Therefore the impact of root pruning on crop yield was not measured in Grain yield (t.ha-1) y = x R 2 = Fraction light transmitted to the crop (% ) Number of panicle.m - ² y = x R 2 = Fraction light transmitted to the crop (%) Number of grain.panicle y = x R 2 = Fraction light transmitted to the crop (%) 1000 grain weight.g y = x R 2 = Fraction light transmitted to crop (%) Table 18: Relation between light availability and yield components: grain yield, number of grains per panicle, number of panicles per area, weight of 1000 grains At Restinclières, by the time the walnut is developing its leaves (start and end of budburst was DOY 110 and 156, respectively), the crop was already flowering and suffered only few from shading. Similar competition for water and nitrogen are restricted to a short and less important phase in the crop life cycle. In addition, the root studies showed that an important part of tree roots are developed at much deeper soil depths than the zone occupied by durum wheat roots. At Vézénobres, the crop yield in the alley of poplar trees was hardly affected during the first four years of the agroforestry system (i.e ). Subsequently, with the increase of the poplar canopy size, the grain yield was progressively reduced. In 2001, the reduction was about 20% (3.7 t/ha AFS and 5 t/ha crop control), in 2003 and 2004 about 50%. In 2004, the grain yield of durum wheat outside the influence of trees (average of control plots 4.1 t ha -1 ) was higher than in the growing season of 2003 (average 3.4 t ha -1 ), partly due to better weed control. Without additional pruning, the yields keep dropping in 2004: 40% in the 1997 plot, 30% in the 1997 plot. But the additional pruning was very effective in increasing the crop yield to 50% in the 1996 and 70% in the 1997 plots. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

21 In 2004, the distance to the poplar row had a minor role on crop production. In the last year the poplar trees were tall with large (partly each other touching) canopies, hence light was more homogenous distributed over the transect of an alley. Water competition cannot be excluded, but the results suggest that in view of competition radiation was predominantly affecting the yield. WP4 Above-ground interactions Improving the Hi-sAFe light competition module (INRA-System) Field observations show that branches of mature deciduous (without leaves) trees produce significant shade in winter. This reduction of light can affect winter crop physiology. A simple way to account for the branch shade was to assume that a low leaf area density was still present in winter. This has been added to the Hi-sAFe phenology module. To simulate trunk and branches shade of trees before bud burst and after leaf fall, field measurements are necessary (hemispheric pictures) to get a value for the new parameter that is called wintervirtuallad with a default value of 0.03 m 2 m -3. However, this modification implies that the light module is now executed even in winter season, which significantly slow the model runs. Table 19: Hi-sAFe outputs showing how a 8 meter high walnut tree significantly shades the crop at noon, on 21 st December (2 months after leaves fall) While testing, it appeared that the Hi-sAFe light module did not predict correctly the interception of direct light by the tree on the scene when both the cells are small and the scene is large compared to the canopy size. The problem is more serious when the tree canopies are high and narrow, such as for poplars. This was the consequence of direct beam interception being calculated only five times a day. In that case, some cells escaped the direct shade of the canopy, and this resulted in incorrect direct beam maps on the scene (Table 20, top). The solution consisted in running the direct interception routine more frequently each day. In the last version of Hi-sAFe, the number of calculations per day is a parameter that the user can tune in the range 5 to 11. A further improvement would be an automatic optimisation of this parameter by taking into account the size of the cells, the width of the canopy, the height of the canopy and the height of the pruned part of the tree. However, it can be checked on Table 20 (bottom) that even with 11 calculations per day, some anomalies still exist at a distance of the tree canopy larger than two diameters of the canopy. Projected shades of the canopy are still disjoined, resulting in direct shading being underestimated for some cells. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

22 Table 20: Hi-sAFe prediction of the daily integrated tree shade, the 15 th of May, with different frequencies of direct beams interception: 5 times a day above and 11 below Note that the integrated daily radiation map exhibits a banana-shaped shade that is very close to the a priori shape that we used in the further steps of the design of the Hi-sAFe model. Table 21: Assumption of the integrated daily shade of an isolated tree as hypothesised during the WP1 work on the Hi-sAFe concept (The North is in the right top corner). WP5 Below-ground interactions Implementing the two concurrent water extraction modules During the last 6 months, the two water extraction modules (INRA and ICRAF versions) were implemented in the Hi-sAFe shell and evaluated. Both are now correctly operating. The full descriptions of the modules are already available in deliverable 5.1 for the INRA module, and in the ICRAF final report for the ICRAF module. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

23 Exploring the behaviour of the integrated model The water and root routines of the model were tested using the 2002 and 2003 weather data at the Restinclières experimental plot near Montpellier (Table 22) Daily rain Cumulated rain /01/02 01/07/02 01/01/03 01/07/03 01/01/04 0 Table 22: The rainfall pattern during the years 2002 and 2003 was similar with very heavy rains in autumn that caused floods in the area. Both modules predict a strong water stress during the second year (Table 23). The INRA module however indicates that the tree will not be able to extract water during 2 months (which means that the tree would die). Therefore, the module based on the water potential of the plants appears to be more efficient. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

24 waterdemand wateruptake L day /01/02 01/04/02 30/06/02 28/09/02 27/12/02 26/03/03 24/06/03 22/09/03 Using the ICRAF water competition module waterdemand wateruptake L day /01/02 01/04/02 30/06/02 28/09/02 27/12/02 26/03/03 24/06/03 22/09/03 Using the INRA competition module Table 23: The tree water demand and uptake of a 10 year old walnut tree predicted by the Hi-sAFe model at Restinclières in 2002 and The pattern of prediction of soil evaporation, crop transpiration and tree transpiration was satisfactory (Table 24). The comparison with field data is still in the making, and will be performed during the next year as part of the validation of the model, as explained in the Technological Implementation Plan. Environmental indicators such as deep drainage of water and nitrogen under the tree stands can be calculated using the model (Table 25). A preliminary assessment shows that the model predicts a significant decrease of water drainage under a plot of 10-year-old walnut trees at a density of 100 trees per hectare. Such trees are still small and their root systems do not explore the whole are of the scene. Much higher impacts can be expected with larger trees. The consequence on nitrogen leaching was not yet quantified, but should be significant. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

25 7 6 5 Tree transpiration Crop transpiration Soil evaporation mm day /01/ /04/ /06/ /09/ /12/ /03/ /06/ /09/2003 Table 24: Soil evaporation, crop and tree transpiration of the agroforestry walnut plot at Restinclières as predicted by the Hi-sAFe model Pure crop AF Tree cell in AF 600 mm /01/02 01/04/02 01/07/02 01/10/02 01/01/03 01/04/03 01/07/03 01/10/03 Table 25: Deep drainage as predicted by Hi-sAFe during the very rainy winter at Montpellier. The tree component of the agroforestry plot reduces the drainage by half in the tree-rooted cells, and by 16% on the whole agroforestry plot. No runoff was assumed for this calculation. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

26 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% Tree cell in the AF plot 10% 5% 0,1 0,6 1,5 2,5 3,5 0% 01/01/02 01/04/02 01/07/02 01/10/02 01/01/03 01/04/03 01/07/03 01/10/03 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% Pure crop 10% 5% 0,1 0,6 1,5 2,5 3,5 0% 01/01/02 01/04/02 01/07/02 01/10/02 01/01/03 01/04/03 01/07/03 01/10/03 Table 26: Soil water moisture dynamics as predicted by Hi-sAFe at the Restinclières agroforestry plots The model appears to simulate correctly the soil moisture heterogeneity (Table 26). Soil moistures dynamics are quite similar in the topsoil in the cropped area and the tree row, and are dominated by soil evaporation. However, the crop water extraction is limited to the first meter of soil, while the tree extraction is much more deeper. The root voxel automaton correctly predicts the distortion of the tree root system that is expanding faster in deeper and moist soil horizons (Table 27). For these simulations, the fine root density threshold for colonisation of neighbouring voxels was fixed at 500 m m -3. This value needs further adjustment using field data. We initialised the rooting pattern of the tree with a uniform density in the rooted zone, and the model predicts a reshaping of the root system that is close to the measured profiles in the experimental fields. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

27 ,1 0,6 1,5 2,5 3,5 M m Tree cell in the AF plot /01/02 01/07/02 01/01/03 01/07/ M m ,1 0,6 1,5 2,5 3,5 First cropped cell next to the tree /01/02 01/07/02 01/01/03 01/07/ M m ,1 0,6 1,5 2,5 3,5 Second cropped cell next to the tree /01/02 01/07/02 01/01/03 01/07/03 The tree fine roots were initialised with a uniform fine root density in a spherical rooted volume. The root colonisation threshold was 500 m m -3 in these runs. The distortion of the rooted profiles is clear. Table 27: Tree fine roots dynamics in the agroforestry plot at Restinclières As a conclusion, the belowground modules of Hi-sAFe for root growth and water extraction appear to behave correctly, but need further validation by comparison with the field data. This is the priority for the INRA team after the SAFE project Implementing a Nitrogen competition module in Hi-sAFe A nitrogen module, linked to the ICRAF water competition module, has been delivered in January 2005 by the ICRAF sub-contractor. A word document describes the module algorithm and an excel sheet provides the equations. The full documentation on the Nitrogen module is available on line of the SAFE web site. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

28 Basic principles From single root to root system De Willigen et al. (2000) discussed how models at the level of root systems in a volume of soil could use equations that were primarily derived for the concentration profiles around individual roots, using a steady-rate solution to the equations describing diffusion in a cylindrical co-ordinate system. If plant demand for nutrients is high most plants can exhibit a physiological uptake efficiency that is so high that we can describe roots as zero sinks, maintaining a concentration of virtually zero at the root surface. The amount of nutrients that can reach the root surface then depends on the effective diffusion rate (influences by soil water content), the average concentration in soil solution (that is related to the available amount via a sorption constant) and the geometry of the system with the root surface area as inner diameter and the midpoint between roots as the outer boundary. An explicit equation describes the potential uptake supply as a linear factorial of diffusion and concentration and a non-linear function of root length density (Fig. 1). The basic equation has been used in a number of models describing the dynamics of nutrient and water uptake by monocultures (De Willigen and van Noordwijk 1987, 1994, 1995; Heinen, 2001). Uptake options Root diameter (cm) Root length density, cm/cm 3 Uptake options Soil water content, vol/vol Root length density, cm/cm 3 Table 28: Relationship between potential uptake during a 1-day time step from a volume of soil and root length density; A. for two values of root diameter; B. for three levels of soil water content A related equation describes the potential supply to a root system by a combination of mass flow and diffusion because the two processes show strong interaction and the combined result differs substantially from the sum of both processes. Quantitatively mass flow is more important for nutrients with relatively high concentrations in soil solution (such as nitrate) than it is fore nutrients with low concentrations (such as phosphate). But a comparison of the total supply with or without mass flow shows, by contrast, that mass flow has a larger positive effect on possible uptake rates by the root for phosphate than it has for nitrate. The error made by ignoring the process of mass flow is probably of the same order of magnitude, but opposite sign of the error made by describing roots as zero sinks, rather than in need of maintaining a finite minimum concentration at the root surface area. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

29 0 Error by ignoring massflow cm day Root length density, cm cm -3 Table 29: Relative error in the calculated potential uptake rate by a root system of given root length density from a unit volume of soil if the contribution of mass flow (dependent on actual water uptake) is ignored, on the basis of the equations developed by D The switch (back and forth..) between supply and demand-limited situations can be made easily once a quantitative method exists for estimating daily demand given the current biomass, growth rate and nutrient content. By applying the lowest of the supply and the possible supply, the nutrient contents of the crop and plant can be updated for the next time step. Where total possible supply exceeds the current demand, actual uptake from any voxel of soil can be taken as a proportional share of the total thus approaching a minimum energy extended concept. The strong role for plant demand in down-regulating uptake is in line with the plant physiological literature of the past decades, that has superseded the earlier focus on concentration-dependent uptake (and the related modelling approaches of the Barber school). In the case of nitrogen most plants deal with two inorganic forms: ammonium and nitrate. The ratio at which they contribute to the soil mineral N pool depends on the ph, activity of nitrates and recent fertiliser history. On most soils under agronomic use nitrification is rapid and nitrate will dominate. As there is good evidence that the plant regulates the combined uptake of the two N forms rather than ammonium and nitrate uptake separately, we can sum the potential uptake from both sources acknowledging a substantial difference in adsorption behaviour. As the equation for the potential supply to a zero sink is linear in the concentration term, we can add the potential ammonium and nitrate supply to a mineral N heading by adjusting the apparent sorption constant (that relates concentration in soil solution to the available stock). From mono-specific to mixed species vegetation The basic equations can be applied to root systems in a volume of soil by first adding up the roots of all species present to a total root length density with its ensuing potential zero-sink nutrient supply, and then sharing out the potential uptake over the various species proportional to their contributions to total root length density. In doing so a number of additional considerations are: - differences in root diameter between the plant species: this can be done by introducing the concept of weighted mean root diameter - differences in current demand that may make the zero sink assumption an overestimate for some of the plants; by using the current demand per unit root length SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

30 at plant level as additional weighing factor roots of plants with no current demand don t influence the possible uptake by roots of plants with a strong demand - the possible uptake by any plant in a mixture can not be more than what it could get in a monoculture for the same root length density and soil concentration; a series of constraints on the uptake sharing rules ensure that adding roots of a non-demanding plant to the total root length density will not increase the possible uptake by the others With these additional rules, an efficient algorithm can be constructed. In the translation from the WaNuLCAS routines to Hi-sAFe, a number of minor changes were made. References de Willigen, P. and van Noordwijk, M., Uptake potential of non-regularly distributed roots. Journal of Plant Nutrition 10: De Willigen, P. and Van Noordwijk, M., Diffusion and mass flow to a root with constant nutrient demand or behaving as a zero-sink. II. Zero-sink uptake. Soil Science 157: dewilligen, P. and van Noordwijk, M., Model for interactions between water and nutrient uptake. In: Kabat, P., Marshall, B., Broek, B. J. van den, Vos, J., Keulen, H. van (Eds.) Modelling and Parameterisation of the Soil-Plant-Atmosphere System: a Comparison of Potato Growth Models. Wageningen Pers. Wageningen pp de Willigen, P, Nielsen, NE, Claasen, N and Castrignano, AM Modelling Water and Nutrient Uptake. In: Smit, A.L., Bengough, A.G., Engels, C., van Noordwijk, M., Pellerin, S. and van der Geijn, S. (Eds.) Root Methods, a Handbook. Springer Verlag, Berlin. Pp Gregory, PJ Approaches to modelling the uptake of water and nutrient in agroforestry systems. Agroforestry Systems 34: Heinen, M FUSSIM2: brief description of the simulation model and application to fertigation scenarios. Agronomie 21: Specific experimental protocols for validating the root module of Hi-sAFe Objective The root voxel automaton is an important aspect of the Hi-sAFe model. It includes 6 parameters that describe the sensitivity of root systems to soil heterogeneity. To calibrate these parameters, container experiments were set up with hybrid walnut and wild cherry trees grown in containers. The final assessment of the experiment was made in November and December 2004 by excavating the trees and measuring the fine root densities. We report here these results. The use of these data for calculating the parameters for Hi-sAFe is still under progress and cannot be reported here. It will be part of the Ph. D. thesis of Rachmat Mulia who is due to defend his thesis in May These container experiments were presented in the previous SAFE reports. They aim at observing the growth of tree root systems in heterogeneous soil conditions. This is useful to better understand and predict the plant rooting behaviour in natural environments, which are spatially (and temporally) patchy in terms of soil resources. The root data will also be used to validate the root voxel automata (RVA) model specially designed to fully take into account the local soil resource conditions when simulating plant root growth. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

31 Materials and Methods The experiments were carried out at INRA Montpellier (Figure 1 A). We used two temperate tree species: hybrid walnut (Juglans hindsii * regia) and wild cherry (Prunus avium) which have some difference related to their aboveground and belowground physical characteristics. For example, the first has compound leaf type, relatively low ratio between canopy height and width, and a vertical main root (a pivot), which are not the case with the second. The walnut also has a shorter growing period than wild cherry. The tree materials (one-year old walnuts and wild cherries) were bought from the Peyre tree nursery near Grenoble. Each tree was planted in a container with 60 cm and 50 cm of top and bottom diameter respectively, and 50 cm height (i.e. 120 L volume). Before planting, the structural root system of each selected tree was shaped to have 10 cm x 10 cm width and 25 cm depth. Only a few numbers of living fine roots (diameter < 2 mm) were left. In the aboveground system, all trees were also homogenised several weeks after bud burst. Generally, each walnut was left with only two long shoots and each wild cherry with four short and two long shoots. Each pot was basically divided into four horizontal layers (i.e. each of 12.5 cm thickness) separated by plastic grids (with 2 cm x 2 cm mesh size) and each tree was planted in the middle of the two first horizontal layers (Figure 1B). A) B d = 60 cm h=50 cm P lastic grids h=12.5 cm d= 5 0 cm Table 30. A) The pot experiments carried out in the year 2004 to observe the growth of plant root system in a heterogeneous soil condition. B) The dimension and configuration of each pot used in the experiments. The experimental design aimed at measuring the effect of soil water and nutrient heterogeneity on the growth of the tree root system. Basically, we introduced the resource heterogeneity in two ways: either enriched soil resource was localised in a small area inside pot or different levels of soil water and nutrient content were set among horizontal layers or vertical compartments. Two kinds of substrate were used: soil from the Restinclières experimental plot (25.5 % of clay, 59.5 % of silt, 15.0 % of sand, 1.85 % of organic matter, 1.07 % total C, 0.85 % total N, and 12.6 C/N ratio); and perlite (expanded clay) which contains no nutritive elements (Morel et al., 2000). The type and detail of each experiment are described below. The first two types were related to soil water whereas the others were concerned with nutrient heterogeneity. Experiment 1: Pot experiment with localised soil water. We used soil substrate and a small soil area (10 cm x 20 cm with 12.5 cm thickness) in the third horizontal layer was continually irrigated. In contrast, no irrigation at all was applied to the other soil areas. During 5 months (May September 2004), an automatic dripper (Tropf Blumat system, Two Wests & Elliott company, Derbyshire, UK) was used as an irrigation system (Figure 2). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

32 Table 31. The system of irrigation used in the pot experiment with a localised soil water supply (Copyright Two Wests & Elliott company). The probe was filled with water and the section with ceramic material was located inside the irrigated soil area. However, we actually used the probe with a much longer water-filled tube (i.e. the section between the ceramic probe and the dripper head) so we could easily manage the setting knob from the soil surface. The probe type described in Figure 2 is the short version. Basically, when the soil near the probe position dries then water starts to be sucked out of the porous ceramic probe causing a diaphragm to be pulled downwards. This allows water to flow through the drip tubing. We placed two drip tubes (with 10 cm distance) on the surface of the third layer (i.e. 25 cm depth) to evenly humidify the irrigated soil area. As the soil become more humid then the water suction is reduced causing the diaphragm to move upwards restricting the water flow. Experiment 2: Pot experiment with different soil water content among horizontal layers. We used gravels mixed with soils (1:1 in volume) and pure soils. The mixed substrates were located in the top and the third layer and pure soil in the second and in the bottom layer. Gravels reduced the fine soil matrix in the mixed layers, reducing the water holding capacity per volume by half. Hence, there would be differences of soil water content among the mixed and pure soil layers that may give an effect to plant root growth. Experiment 3: Pot experiment with localised nutrient. The principle is the same as Experiment 1 but here we used perlite instead of soils. Two voxels (10 cm x 20 cm with 12.5 cm thickness) in the third horizontal layer were enriched with nutriments in the form of granules (Osmocote, 14% N: 13% P: 13% K). Experiment 4: Pot experiment with different nutrient content among horizontal layers. We used soils in the top and the third layer and perlite in the other two layers. This result in a contrast for nutriment availability. Experiment 5: Pot experiment with different nutrient content between two vertical compartments. Basically, each pot was still divided into four horizontal layers but a half of pot contained pure soils and only perlite in another (Figure 3A). Experiment 6: Pot experiment with different nutrient content among horizontal layers and used to verify the ability of roots to go upwards. Basically, each tree was planted in the middle of the first two soil layers as described before, but the root system was surrounded by a plastic root barrier (10 cm * 10 cm, and 25 cm height). Therefore, all tree roots grew first in the third layer (i.e. the height of the barrier corresponds to the depth of two first horizontal layers). Any roots measured in the first or second layer would result from a negative geotropism. This experiment consists of two types: in the first type, the two first horizontal layers contained soils and only perlite in the two deeper layers. We would verify if this situation can attract roots to go upwards (i.e. into the first two layers). As a control (the second type), we used only perlite in all layers. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

33 All trees were watered (with a watering can) two or three times a week depending on the rainfall occurrence. However, for the trees used in the localised soil water experiment, no manual watering was carried out after May Specifically for the experiment with only perlite substrate used, we also watered trees with one litre solution nutritive every week evenly distributed on pot surface. From October to December 2004 (when growing season has completely terminated), two trees of each species of each experiment type were progressively uprooted. However, because a number of wild cherry trees died due to a delayed plantation time then there was only one wild cherry or only walnuts available for certain experiment types. The trees were uprooted either voxel per voxel or layer per layer. The compartmentalisation of each layer into 21 voxels (each of 10 cm x 10 cm and 12.5 cm thickness) and voxel numbering is described in Figure 3B. The trees used in the experiment with localised soil resource and in the experiment to verify the ability of roots to go upwards were uprooted voxel per voxel; otherwise, roots were collected layer per layer. Two types of tree root were distinguished: fine (diameter < 2 mm) and structural root (diameter 2 mm) but only data of fine root will be presented here. A) B) North cm West cm East South Table 32. A) Pot experiment with different nutrient content between two vertical compartments. One compartment contained fertile soils and only perlite in another. B) Voxel numbering. Results Experiment with localised soil water supply The distributions of fine root biomass (g dm -3 ) of walnut and wild cherry used in the experiment of localised soil water are described in Figure 4. The description was done for each horizontal layer with the SURFER software (Golden Software Inc, Colorado, USA). The circle in the first figure was made to remind that we collected roots in 21 voxels of each layer and the root biomasses near pot border were not used in the analysis. The heterogeneous soil water condition strongly affected the growth of the walnut root system (Figure 4A). Roots were more concentrated in the areas close to the irrigated soils and this situation can be regarded in the second, the third, and the last soil layer. However, the highest root concentration was indeed found in the last instead of the third soil layer. This fact likely indicates that water largely infiltrated to the bottom of the pot which makes the soil area directly beneath the probe position was very favourable for root growth. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

34 For wild cherry, the experiment is not satisfactory. We had no replication : the second tree did not survive. And the reliability of the water distribution is questionable. In July 2004 we found that the plastic drip tube leaked (due to a wasp sting) and the pot was flooded. This accident might have contributed to absence of effect of the localised soil water supply on the tree root distribution (Figure 4B). A) Hybrid Walnut (two replications) T g dm B) Wild Cherry (no replication; water distribution not reliable (see text)) T Top layer Second layer Third layer Bottom layer The letter T indicates plant position. The black rectangle indicates the position of the localised water supply Table 33. Distribution of fine root biomass (g dm -3 ) of walnut (A) and wild cherry (B) inside pot with localised soil water supply. Experiment with localised nutrient supply The effect of localised nutrient supply on the root system of walnut (Figure 5A) and wild cherry (Figure 5B) was impressive (look at the picture on the cover page of this report). In the third perlite layer, roots were clearly more concentrated inside the nutrient-enriched areas. It is worth to remind here that we watered the trees with one litre of nutritive solution every week. Therefore, roots may basically grow well in other perlite areas as well. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

35 A) Hybrid Walnut (2 replicates) T g dm B) Wild cherry (no replicate) T Upper layer Second layer Third layer Bottom layer The letter T indicates plant position. The black rectangle indicates position of localised nutrient supply. Table 34. The distribution of fine root biomass (g dm -3 ) of walnut (A) and wild cherry (B) inside pot with localised nutrient supply. Intriguingly, we found that overall root distribution pattern of walnut and wild cherry was different. The bulk of wild cherry roots were found in the top 12.5 cm perlite layer and it was not the case with walnut root system. In the latter, the roots were more developed in the second layer with relatively higher concentration in deeper perlite layer. Related to the number of tree uprooted, we had two walnuts but only one wild cherry was available. Experiment to verify the ability of roots going upwards As mentioned earlier, the experiment to verify the ability of roots to go upwards (negative geotropism) consists of two types: in the first, we used only perlite so the growing condition inside pot was homogenous but in the second, the first two layers contained fertile soils instead of perlite so there was a strong difference of nutrient content between the upper and deeper layers. This experiment included only walnut trees. The distribution of walnut root density (g dm -3 ) inside pot with homogeneous and heterogeneous growing condition is described in Figure 6A and Figure 6B respectively. In both situations, roots of walnut were able to grow upwards and were found in the first two layers. Interestingly, the deeper perlite layers were clearly not fully occupied which indicates that the decision of roots to go upwards was not related to root saturation or space occupation in deeper layers. It is again worth to remind here that we watered trees in pots of pure perlite with one litre nutritive solution every week. Due to this, the fact that roots go upwards may be actually due to genetic rooting behaviour or nutrient supply in the first two upper layers. However, it is clear that if the upper layers are really attractive in term of nutrient resource then relatively less roots would be found in deeper layers and more roots would go upwards as can be seen when comparing Figure 6A and 6B. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

36 A)Perlite substrate in the whole container T g dm B)Soil substrate in the two top layers and perlite in the two bottom layers T Upper layer Second layer Third layer Bottom layer The letter T indicates plant position. The black rectangle indicates position of root barrier. Table 35. The distribution of walnut fine root biomass (g dm -3 ) of walnut inside pot used to verify the ability of roots to go upwards. Pot experiment with a horizontal heterogeneity In this experiment, tree root systems were uprooted per layer. Therefore, we had only two root density values for each layer correspond to that in the soil and perlite compartment. We uprooted two walnuts and two wild cherries. It should be recalled that we introduced no nutritive elements in the perlite compartments. The root density of walnut (Figure 7A) and wild cherry (Figure 7B) was higher (based on one standard error) in the soil than in the perlite substrate. Nonetheless, it may not be surprising since the soil is much more favourable than perlite in term of nutrient availability. Related to water supply, we watered each tree two or three times a week (as mentioned before) so the effect of different water resource between the two types of compartment may not be expected here. Another interesting aspect observed in Figure 7 is the root distribution with depth. It is evident that the walnut and wild cherry had a different root distribution pattern. For wild cherry, root concentration was higher in the first layer than that in deeper layers but it was not the case with the walnut. For the latter, there is a tendency that root density was increasing with depth and this took place both in the soil and in the perlite compartment. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

37 A) Hybrid walnut B) Wild Cherry fine root density (g dm -3 ) 1,5 1 0,5 Soil Perlite depth (cm) fine root density (g dm -3 ) 1,5 1 0,5 Soil Perlite depth (cm) Table 36. The distribution of fine root biomass (g dm -3 ) of walnut (A) and wild cherry (B) with depth, inside pots with horizontal heterogeneity. The vertical bars indicate one standard error. Experiment with different nutrient or water content among horizontal layers The distribution of tree root biomass (g dm -3 ) with depth is shown in Figure 8A and Figure 8B for the experiment with different soil water content (i.e. Experiment 2) and nutrient content (i.e. Experiment 4) among horizontal layers. We uprooted two walnuts and two wild cherries. A) gravel /soil / gravel / soil layers B) Soil / perlite / soil / perlite layers fine root density (g dm -3 ) 1,5 1 0,5 Walnut WdCherry depth (cm) fine root density (g dm -3 ) 1,5 1 0,5 0 Walnut WdCherry depth (cm) The vertical bars indicate one standard error. Table 37. Distribution of fine root biomass for young trees grown in containers with 4 contrasted layers. As described earlier, to create a heterogeneous soil water condition inside pot, we used gravels mixed with soils (1:1) in the first and the third layer and soil only in the two other layers. If this situation happens then root concentration would be a priori higher in the second and the last horizontal layer. However, we did not control soil humidity of each layer. Gravel layers did prevent root growth significantly. This is very impressive for wild cherry (Table 37A) : roots in the top gravel layer were very scarce (compare with Table 36B). These poor growth conditions in the top layer seem to have affected the whole wild cherry tree SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

38 growth. For walnut, the impact is impressive in the third layer (less roots than in the second one, which is the opposite of the pattern evidenced in Table 36A. For the experiment with different nutrient content among horizontal layers, no difference between root density in perlite and soil layers was surprisingly observed (Figure 8B). Only for wild cherry, we observed that root concentration in the top layer was much higher than that in the second layer containing perlite. However, this may not indicate that a clear evidence of nutrient effect was found because high root density in the top layer is generally observed for wild cherry as described in the previous figures. Conclusions These are preliminary and fresh results of these experiments. We regret that we cannot give a full account at the time of reporting. However, conclusions for the Hi-sAFe model are as follows: Tree root systems react rapidly to soil heterogeneity: this was the central hypothesis for designing the root module of Hi-sAFe. It is confirmed. Both tree species react similarly to soil heterogeneity. This result in a distortion of the reference rooting pattern that they exhibit in a homogeneous soil. We already knew that walnut and wild cherry rooting systems behave very differently in a homogeneous soil (see previous reports). Therefore, the analysis of the results should be done by calculating the deviation from the reference patterns on a homogeneous soil. We may therefore hypothesize that the same parameters will correctly describe the root sensitivity to soil heterogeneity for the two tree species. This will complete the genetic parameters that are different for each species (see previous reports). Global vertical and horizontal heterogeneity have very different impacts on tree root systems. Horizontal heterogeneity is more effective in distorting root growth (compare Table 36 and Table 37). A favourable soil zone attracted tree roots (with about twice as many roots in the fertile soil as compared to the perlite zone for both tree species). This is very important for agroforestry, because agroforestry is the only system where horizontal heterogeneity is systematically occurring due to the patterns of extraction by the different neighbouring species. Vertical heterogeneity has less impact on the root distribution: unfavourable layers are less colonized, but the whole profile remains similar to the reference pattern. This is common in most soils and cropping systems. It is difficult to compare the relative strength of the water and nutriment heterogeneity with our experiments. The most impressive distortion was obtained with the water heterogeneity for walnut and for the nutriment heterogeneity for wild cherry Finally, we must admit that for quantifying the reaction of tree root systems to soil heterogeneity, more intensive monitoring of soil variables would be necessary in 3D, and this was not within our possibilities during this project. WP6a Biophysical integrated plot model Hi-sAFe INRA-SYSTEM is responsible for the implementation of the Hi-sAFe model under the CAPSIS 4 environment. I. Lecomte is in charge of this aspect, which is the main activity of INRA-SYSTEM for WP6. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

39 STICS adaptation checking A lot of tests have been performed to check if STICS adaptation gave correct results, after linking with both water repartition modules. These test have been made with maize and durum-wheat STICS crop species parameters. The most important modification to check was the Hi-sAFe voxels to STICS mini-layers aggregation and desegregation procedures, computed every day, before and after each STICS interruption, and for each cell of the simulated plot. START Read data inputs (soil-tree-crop) Tree initialisation Crop initialisation Tree phonology END Crop reinitialisation Read daily weather inputs Tree management YES Last rotation? NO Is leaf area > 0? YES Last day? YES NO NO Light interception Rain interception Tree water demand Light interception Rain interception Stemflow Water and crop roots density in STICS mini-layers are desegregated in each voxels Crop phenology Crop growth Crop management Light interception Crop water demand Crop stress indexes calculation YES Is tree water extracted > 0? Crop root growth Crop water extraction and stress indexes calculation NO Soil water and nitrogen tranfert Tree and crop water extraction in voxels are aggregated in each STICS mini-layers C allocation Root growth Crop water demand NO Is tree water demand > 0? YES Water competition and soil water extraction calculation (trees and crops) Table 38: Hi-sAFe daily loop showing voxel mini-layers aggregation and desegregation procedures (red arrows) Another important point to check was crop rotation chaining on several years. STICS is initially designed to compute single crop season simulation. Several years simulations are nevertheless possible but implement a data copy and paste procedure on an ASCII file (stored on the hard disk of the computer) between each year. Soil state variables are written on this file at the end of one year, and are read at the beginning of the following year to reload the state of the ground. To avoid this heavy and time-consuming operation, the chaining year procedure has been totally reviewed (so called crop re-initialisation in the figure above). A summary of the STICS model modifications that have been required for inclusion in the Hi-sAFe model Breaking the daily loop of STICS La boucle annuelle de STICS a été supprimée afin de ne garder que la boucle journalière. Le programme résultant a été compilé sous forme de DLL afin d être piloté depuis Hi-sAFe, au jour le jour, sur chaque cellule indépendante constituant la scène à simuler. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

40 Table 39 : Scène de simulation Hi-sAFe ou chaque cellule carrée correspond à une instance de STICS (vert=maïs, blanc=sol nu) Grâce à une intervention de Dominique RIPOCHE en automne 2002, les variables auparavant regroupés dans un seul common (paquet de variables globales) ont été séparées en paquets distincts : Les paramètres généraux et sol (Y4) Les paramètres plantes et itinéraires techniques (Y8) Les variables de sortie (Y6) Les variables climatiques (Y3) Toutes les autres variables simples (Y1) Toutes les autres variables sous forme de tableaux de nombres réels (Y7) Variables relatives aux cultures associées (Y2 et Y5) Des routines C permettant la sauvegarde/restauration des tampons mémoire Y1 et Y7 ont été écrite dans STICS afin de conserver les valeurs des variables d état des cellules (ou instance de DLL) d un jour sur l autre. Les tampons Y3, Y4 et Y8 n ont pas à être sauvegardés car ils correspondent à des paramètres stables pour une rotation culturale. Le tampon Y6 n est pas utile dans Hi-sAFe qui gère lui même ses sorties. Les tampons Y2 et Y5 ne sont pas non plus utiles car on ne désire pas planter 2 cultures dans la même cellule. Fichiers paramètres La plupart des fichiers paramètres lu dans STICS sont redondants avec ceux déjà utiles à Hi-sAFe. Les routines de lecture ont donc été déconnectées de STICS puis remplacées par le passage de tableaux mémoire reçu de Hi-sAFe Paramètres du sol (param.sol) Entrées climatiques (.sta) Itinéraires techniques (.tec) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

41 Paramètres de simulation et valeurs initiales (.usm) Seules les routines de lecture des fichiers param.par et plante.plt restent dans STICS. Des interfaces JAVA ont été écrite pour piloter la simulation (nbr jours, espèces, itinéraires techniques, fichiers climat) et pour gérer les itinéraires techniques de la culture. Table 40 : Interface JAVA permettant le lancement d'une simulation Table 41 : Interface JAVA pour gestion des itinéraires techniques Improving the code Au cours de différents test, il s est avéré que certaines variables n étaient pas bien positionnées dans les différents tampons, et étaient donc écrasées d un jour à l autre lors des copier/coller des tampons. Ces variables ont été renommés correctement dans le code afin de rétablir la conformité des résultats (tests effectués sur blé, mais, soja, colza et sol nu). De plus, certaines partie de code ont été nettoyé pour éliminer des variables inutiles ou gênantes (variables textuelles remplacées par des variables entières, test d option inutiles à Hi-sAFe etc ) Chaque partie de code modifiée a été repéré grâce à un commentaire spécifique (//MODIF SAFE ) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

42 Chaining years La procédure d enchaînement des années a été entièrement réécrite pour supprimer l utilisation du fichier recup.tmp. A chaque nouvelle rotation, toutes les variables sont réinitialisées sauf les variables d état du sol et les paramètres généraux. Les routines d initialisation ont été réorganisées pour faciliter l enchaînement des années et les rotations culturales. InitialGeneral = initialisation des paramètres généraux InitialSol = initialisation des paramètres du sol InitialPlante = initialisation d une plante selon l espèce InitialVariables = initialisation de toutes les variables états journalières IniClim = Initialisation des variables climatiques Integrating the impact of the trees on the crops La boucle journalière de STICS a été séparée en 2 parties (après KETP) afin d insérer coté Hi-sAFe, un module de répartition de l eau et de l azote entre la plante et les arbres. Les 2 parties s appellent Simuler1 et Simuler2. Simuler1 récupère chaque jour et pour chaque cellule, les résultats de l influence des arbres, à savoir : L interception lumineuse L interception de la pluie Le stemflow Simuler1 récupère chaque jour et pour chaque cellule, les résultats du module de partage de l eau et de l azote à savoir : Les extractions d eau de la culture et des arbres Les extractions azote de la culture et des arbres SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

43 HISAFE STICS Début boucle jour Interception lumière Interception pluie Stemflow Répartition de l eau et de l azote entre arbres et culture Demande en eau et en azote de la culture SIMULER1 Extraction eau et azote culture et arbres SIMULER2 Fin boucle jour Teneur en eau et azote du sol Densité racinaire de la culture Table 42 : Algorithme simplifié d'enchaînement des modules entre Hi-sAFe et STICS La routine LIXIV.C a été modifiée pour la prise en compte de l extraction d eau des arbres dans les transferts d eau dans les mini-couches de sol. La boucle journalière a été aussi modifiée pour éviter l exécution de la routine TRANSPI.c qui calcule l extraction réelle de la culture lorsque ces valeurs ont été déjà calculé par HisAFe (c est à dire lorsque les arbres extraient aussi de l eau du sol) Un module JAVA d agrégation des valeurs de mini-couches STICS vers les voxels Hi-sAFe a été écrit afin de répercuter dans Hi-sAFe les résultats de STICS à savoir : Les densité de racines de la culture Les teneurs en eau Les concentration en azote Les extractions d eau et d azote de la culture (lorsque ces valeurs n ont pas été calculées par Hi-sAFe) Un second module JAVA de désagrégation des valeurs de voxels Hi-sAFe vers les minicouches STICS a été écrit afin de répercuter dans STICS les résultats de Hi-sAFe à savoir: Les extraction d eau et d azote des arbres Les extraction d eau et d azote de la culture Ces 2 modules sont exécutés tous les jours et pour chaque cellules influencées par les arbres. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

44 What s next? Dans Hi-sAFe les demandes en eau des arbres et de la culture sont réduite par un facteur dit «de Campbell» qui est peut être redondant avec un calcul déjà effectué dans STICS. Si la réponse est OUI, voir s il est possible de le déconnecter. Comme pour le bilan d eau, l extraction en azote de la plante doit être déconnecté lorsque le calcul est déjà effectué dans Hi-sAFe. Il faudra pour cela étudier la bilan azoté de STICS et en particulier la routine ABORSORBN.C Le code de STICS doit être corrigé pour rendre actif l activation de l option «remontée capillaire». L algorithme devra être modifié pour que les remontées capillaires s effectuent à tous les changements d horizons et non pas seulement au dernier (à vérifier dans le code de STICS) Réincorporation des matières organiques de la sénescence des feuilles et des racines des arbres dans le SOL Improving Hi-sAFe to allow runs on several consecutive years This included some complicated issues about data buffers management. Soil initialisation is now correct and allows chaining years. Some concerns remain with the tree initialisation, but should be OK within some weelks. WP6b: Simple biophysical model Yield-sAFe Summary The simple biophysical agroforestry model Yield-sAFe, developed, calibrated and tested by the WU team, was applied at Landscape Test Sites and experimental network-sites during the last report period. Since then, the model has been extensively calibrated and applied, mainly by Anil Graves, Paul Burgess (CRAN), Joao Palma (FAL) and Karel Keesman (WU) and supported by the partners running experimental sites and/or experts of the Landscape Test Sites (LTS) in Spain, France and England. The model performance was not only evaluated by a large consortium of agroforestry experts, but also by the developers of the complex agroforestry model Hi-sAFe. The contribution of the INRA UMR-SYSTEM (Christian Dupraz, Martina Mayus, Isabelle Lecomte, Thomas Borell and Fabien Liagre) was larger than initially planned. Their work included: Application/ calibration of Yield-sAFe for Vézénobres Evaluation of parameters based on expert knowledge, experimental data and comparison with Hi-sAFe simulations. Evaluation of Yield-sAFe results in terms of biomass production and LER (Land Equivalent Ratio) statistic data, a comparison with the results of a LER generator. The output of Yield-sAFe is required for the economic analysis of silvoarable scenarios at the plot (WP7) and farm/ region level (WP8), which in turn forms a crucial information (environmental and economical impact of agroforestry and the effect that agricultural policy changes has on these) for Deliverable 9.2, the Agroforestry Policy Options document. This document highly addresses End-Users. Therefore, the performance of Yield-sAFe and PlotsAFe has been intensively evaluated by the consortium partners. Related definitions and underlying concepts were discussed and distinctly defined. A major corner stone for the silvoarable scenarios is the LER analysis, which was defined differently by the consortium SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

45 members. The importance of the definition of the LER became evident during the workshop in Zurich November The LER served as a measure for evaluating the model performances, simply by comparing the simulated LER with the few available literature data and expertise from network-sites. During the Zurich workshop, the results of Yield-sAFe and Plot-sAFe for the LTS were presented for the first time to a large audience. It became evident that the simulated LERs were often too high. According to the experience of C. Dupraz based on European silvoarable sites and literature on temperate agroforestry in general, the LER of the LTS and network scenarios with walnut, poplar, cherry, oak and cereals should vary between 1.0 and 1.4. This hypothesis forms the base of the developed LER generator, a tool to generate sites specific time series of tree and crop yields (Dupraz and Borrel, see report below). The results of the LER generator for French LTS sites, helped to identify weak points and poor predictions of Plot-sAFe. The reason for the high LER was partly due to problems of re-calibrating Yield-sAFe, calibrated for regional potential yields, to regional realistic yields. So far this was done by adapting the parameter gamma (water use in m -3 g -1 to produce 1 g of aerial biomass). This resulted in unrealistic gamma values and yields. Mayus suggested to use a kind of site factor, that would in fact reduce the light use efficiency (eps) and thus the total aerial biomass. According to Joao Palma, a set of several parameters should be used for adapting the model calibrated under potential growth conditions to realistic growth situations. This recalibration should be done within a range of reasonable (literature of expert knowledge) ranges of parameter values. Later realistic boundary values for the values of gamma, eps, and HI were found in literature and a refined calibration procedure was applied (WP6 report). The second major problem of the model was the overestimated light interception and initial growth of trees at low tree densities when using a fixed k t of 0.8. It appeared that a phased k t, decreasing (e.g. from 0.8 to 0.4) as leaf area increases, showed best results. The need of changing k t with time was also identified by the application of Yield-sAFe to Vézénobres (see below). The complex agroforestry model Hi-sAFe was used to deduce values of k t as a function of tree densities and tree leaf area (see below). The information of Hi-sAFe with respect to the dependence of k t values on tree density and tree leaf area was included in a refined calibration procedure. The latter was a joint effort of Graves, Burgess, Palma and Keesman (December 04) after substantial discussion including Dupraz, Van Keulen, Van der Werf and Mayus. The new calibrated procedure was tested for Silsoe and Vézénobres. Finally all LTS scenarios were redone with recalibrated Plot-sAFe and the results were evaluated by C. Dupraz and F. Liagre and with respect to Vézénobres also by M. Mayus. Application of Land Equivalent ratio to agroforestry systems An agroforestry system consists of a mixture of woody perennial crop and annual crop. For simplicity the perennial and annual components are called tree and crop, respectively. The discussion on how to apply LER for agroforestry took place between several consortium partners by means of . Dupraz, stressed that, the LER is a global measure of Land Use Efficiency. It is aiming at answering the management oriented question: Should I mix trees and crops or not. In the specific case of agroforestry, LER is defined as the area of land required by a monocropping system to produce the same quantity of products as the mixed cropping system. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

46 The area, means the area has to be fixed when using the LER measure for agroforestry. Since, in a mixed tree-crop system, the farmer cannot change the area occupied by tree monocropping every year. The tree monocropping area is determined by the ratio of yields of the tree component in mixed (or intercropping, I) and in monocropping (or sole cropping S) (Eq. 1: [treei year-n / trees year-n ]). The yields over a period of n years are the sum of the annual increments. The equivalent tree monocropping component must therefore have a fixed area. This is turn imposes a fixed area for the crop in monoculture (or sole cropping S). Consequently, the LER integrated over n years cannot be computed with the arithmetic means of the annual LERs, except when the monocropping yields are constant. Christian Dupraz illustrated this by computing several examples of LER scenarios (SAFE web disk: The LER with random yields.xls). A further point that has to be taken into account when computing the LER for agroforestry is, the final year of intercropping (or switching to a shade tolerant crop as pasture). Farmers would only continue cropping, when the yields are still economical beneficial. Examples of threshold yields are: 2 t/ha of durum wheat in Mediterranean France and 4 t/ ha for winter wheat in England. The threshold will be applied when the yield of the crop is below that threshold and if this trend is consistent for e.g. two years. In this way it is assured that the decision to stop intercropping was not related to climate hazards but to the tree impact. Consequently the LER for an agroforestry life cycle of n years is computed as: where LER = [treei year-n / trees year-n ] + [(cropi year cropi year-x )/(crops year crops year-n )] (eq. 1) treei, cropi = yield per ha of trees and crops when intercropped trees, crops = yield per ha of trees and crops when sole cropped year-x, year-n the final year of intercropping and the agroforestry life cycle, respectively. Regarding the LER definition above, the products could refer to the total aerial biomass (Biomass-LER) or to the economic interesting output as timber and grain yield (Main Products-LER). The Biomass-LER is the better measure for checking the model performance, since Yield-sAFe simulates the total aerial biomass. Whereas the Main Products-LER addresses the management question and is required for instance to decide when to stop intercropping or the year of tree thinning. Thinned tree should be included in the LER computations too. Application of Yield SAFE for Vézénobres The agroforestry system in Vézénobres is the most mature silvoarable system in France/ Europe. This makes it an interesting experiment for the evaluation of Yield-sAFe. The poplar trees, planted in 1996 and 1997, showed a fast growth and reached a height of about 20 m in year 8. The model application, to the poplar - durum wheat stand at Vézénobres, located in Mediterranean France was not easy. The first problem was the weather file, since the radiation data of Vézénobres covered only several months. Therefore, first simulation tests were performed with radiation data of the 30 km southwest located experimental site Restinclières. The simulation was performed for potential growth conditions, i.e. the soil water balance was not activated. The parameter set calibrated for Mediterranean region was adapted to the site with respect to management factors as tree density and sowing and harvest dates. The conversion from aboveground biomass to yield was performed with fixed SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

47 relations, i.e. HI for crops and for trees into merchantable volume using ρ timber, the dry wood density of trees (g m -3 ) and π timber, the proportion of the above-ground biomass that forms timber according to the description by Burgess et al. (2004). Management settings of the model Agroforestry life cycle: 12 years, but run for 15 years Tree density agroforestry: 140 trees/ha. Tree density pure forest: 210 tees/ha or also 140 trees/ ha Tree weight at planting was: 100 g/ tree DOY BudBurst: 95 DOY DOY Leaffall: , measured... Crop: durum wheat each year HI: 0.2; computed by STICS π timber 0.5 ρ timber 260 kg m -3 (Souleres 1992). General growth condition The agroforestry plot was well fertilised and nitrogen stress should be ignorable. Moreover, diseases and weeds have been chemically controlled and hand weeding took place too in Nevertheless, in 2003 the weed problem was serious. Poplars have access to water table, which limits the water stress. This will be later implemented into the model by using a lower than realistic value for water use of trees, gammat, to mimic the fact that a large part of water uptake takes place outside the tree-crop root inter-zone. Results Table 43: Total aerial biomass and LAI of durum wheat simulated with Yield-sAFe for potential growth conditions, Vézénobres, Mediterranean France. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

48 Table 44: Total aerial biomass and LAI of durum wheat simulated with Yield-sAFe for realistic yields, Vézénobres, Mediterranean France. Monocropping yields The simulations for potential growth conditions show reasonable estimates for potential durum wheat yields (Figure 1). As reference for potential yields we took the simulation results provided by the crop growth model STICS and the expert knowledge of C. Lafon (pers. comm., 2004), a regional farmer information officer. STICS simulated average potential yields of 30 t/ha and grain yields of about 8.2 t/ha (with HI ca. 2.7), which is in good agreement with the Yield-sAFe predictions. The predicted yields for realistic growth conditions (Figure 2) were with 4.4 t/ha similar to those found in the monoculture wheat crop in Vézénobres, where the average yields were 4 t/ha with a range of 1 and 5 t/ha. The realistic yields were achieved by using a site factor, whereas the water module was switched off. The site factor was a reduction factor multiplied with the light use efficiency, eps. This was done, because at this stage the water part of the model has not yet been calibrated. At the Vézénobres site, poplar growth was more or less potential and no further recalibration was done. The simulated total aerial biomass was with 500 kg/tree a bit overestimated (Figure 3), the experimental value was about 400 kg/tree. The simulation results per poplar tree were the same in the agroforestry and in the monocropping stand. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

49 Table 45: Agroforestry yields simulated with Yield-sAFe for realistic growth conditions, Vézénobres, Mediterranean France. Above total aerial biomass and leaf area per tree. Below total aerial biomass and LAI of durum wheat. Agroforestry or mixed cropping yields The crop yield in the alley of poplar trees was hardly affected during the first four years of the agroforestry system (i.e ). Subsequently, with the increase of the poplar canopy size the grain yield was progressively reduced. In 2001, the reduction was about 20% (3.7 t/ha AFS and 5 t/ha crop control), in 2003 and 2004 about 50%. In 2003, the crop yield was 2.1 and 4.1 when intercropped and sole cropped, respectively. In 2004 the yields were 2 t/ha and 4 t/ha intercropped and sole cropped. The simulated competition effect of trees was underestimated. Apparently, it is not possible to achieve good Yield-sAFe predictions for the poplar-wheat site at Vézénobres when using the parameter set for Mediterranean region. A small decrease after 4 years could be achieved only by recalibration, the parameters that have an impact of light interception (Figure 3). In particular the parameter, k t, which highly determines the amount of light available for the intercrop has an impact (see also sensitivity analysis). The simulation run tests clearly indicated that the parameter should be different for young and tall trees. Accordingly other parameters might change, like the one determining light use efficiency. In the meantime, the model has been extended to allow phased k t and simulations including water stress, but the simulation runs were not yet performed, since we waited for the new calibration procedure recently finished by the team of Graves, Burgess, Palma and Keesman. The simulations and its analyse are in work for Vézénobres and Restinclières. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

50 Using the Hi-sAFe model to improve the simplified Yield-sAFe aboveground model by calibrating the k t parameter of Yield-sAFe k t is the radiation extinction coefficient of the tree leaf canopy and it appears in the YieldsAFe equation that predicts the fraction of radiation intercepted by the trees in the t t agroforestry system : ft = 1 e kl where L t is the leaf area index of the tree stand (m 2 tree leaf area per m 2 silvoarable stand). The Yield-sAFe model does not include an explicit desegregation of the tree canopies over the silvoarable plot, and assumes that the tree leaf area is spread over the whole agroforestry plot. The assumption made in Yield-sAFe was that the usual extinction coefficients of tree canopies could be applied to this equivalent leaf area over the whole silvoarable scene. The k t parameters has a large relative effect on the predicted LER (cf. WP6b report). The nominal value assumed was 0.8. However, this resulted in a questionable pattern of treecrop competition: it resulted in a long term overestimation of tree growth. Reasoning from existing literature on light distribution in crops indicates that the extinction coefficient might change at low tree densities as the canopy is more heterogeneous. Initial use of the model has suggested that it may be necessary to modify the light extinction coefficient in such situations. The Hi-sAFe model was therefore used to calculate the Yield-sAFe k t value for a range of tree densities ( trees per hectare) and of tree sizes ( m 2 of leaf area per tree). We used the Hi-sAFe model to calculate the average radiation available on the ground of the silvoarable plot at the day time step. Then a k t value was fitted to the Yield-sAFe equation so that the distance between the two estimates is minimized over the whole growing season of the trees. The winter period with no tree leaves was not included in the fitting calculation. Hi-sAFe settings included a fixed leaf interception factor of 0.85, tree canopies were assumed to be ellipsoids with an homogeneous leaf area density, the diffuse radiation was modelled by a turtle with 48 directions and the Standard OverCast (SOC) distribution, and the direct radiation was recalculated when the tree leaf area had changed by 5% or the sun elevation had changed by 2 degrees. 1,00 16 Light transmission 0,96 0,92 0,88 0, Tree Leaf area (m²) Hi-sAFe Yield-sAFe kt = 0.54 Yield-sAFe kt = 0.8 Tree leaf area 0, DOY trees/ha of 14 m² leaf area per tree resulted in a fitted k t = Table 46 : Fitting a k t value to match Plot-sAFe predictions and Hi-sAFe predictions of radiation availability at the ground level in a silvoarable plot Adequate Hi-sAFe settings were used to "see" small trees in a huge scene for low density / small trees scenes. There is a limit in Hi-sAFe for the LAI of trees, due to tree-tree competition : we could not get tree LAI values above 6,6. This means that the "1000 m²" SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

51 trees are in fact smaller at density of 100 and above. The leaf area of a single tree is indicated in the last table. Hi-sAFe is taking into account the 3D geometry of the system. A clear example of this is that when the leaf area of the tree is constant (after the end of the long shoots expansion until the beginning of the leaf fall), the leaf interception of the tree varies with the sun declination. Yield-sAFe cannot take this into account, and predicts a stable light interception when the leaf area is stable, irrespective of the sun elevation. Fitted k t Tree density (tree ha - Tree leaf area (m²) ,31 0,26 0, ,54 0,31 0, ,85 0,58 0,48 1 ) Cells in red could not be simulated with Hi-sAFe due to the very small size of the trees; pink cells correspond to implausible tree stands (too high density for the size of individual trees) Table 47 : k t values for Yield-sAFe predicted for various silvoarable stands of walnut trees It finally appears that appropriate k t values for the Yield-sAFe model should not be constant with the age of the tree. The suitable range was from 0.85 for very small trees to about 0.2 for very large trees. As a consequence, using Yield-sAFe with a fixed value of k t across the tree life induced an overestimation of the interception of the tree light by the tree component when the trees become large, and this was observed in the former Yield-sAFe calculations. Using the nominal and constant value of 0.8 resulted in large overestimations of the interception of light by mature trees (Table 46). Similarly, using Yield-sAFe with a fixed value of k t across the growing season induces an underestimation of the tree light interception in spring and autumn (low sun elevation), and an overestimation in summer (high sun elevation). This may result in Yield-sAFe unduly favouring winter crops. The impact of the tree density on the optimised value for k t was less noticeable. k t is slightly increasing with tree density for medium size trees. If we ignore the seasonal (sun elevation) effect on k t and look for a stable annual value that would depend on the tree size and density, the following equation was produced: k t =-0,187 Log(Tree Leaf Area)+0, Tree density+0,717 with r²=0,97 SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

52 1,00 Kt predicted from Tree leaf area and tree density 0,75 0,50 0,25 0,00 y = 0,9668x + 0,014 R 2 = 0,9668 0,00 0,25 0,50 0,75 1,00 Kt deduced from Hi-SAFE runs Table 48: Comparison of predicted k t values from tree density and tree leaf area with Hi-sAFe calculated values. This suggestion of a phased k t that decreases with time was finally included in Yield-sAFe. 1,0 0 0, trees/ha 10 trees/ha 400 trees/ha 0,60 0,40 0,20 0,00 0,00 0,50 1,00 1,50 2,00 2,50 3,00 3,50 Log(Tree leaf area) Discussion Table 49 : Fitted k t are well correlated with the leaf area of trees. This was the first cooperation between the two biophysical SAFE models Hi-sAFe and YieldsAFe. It was performed by Christian Dupraz and Isabelle Lecomte in consultation with Paul Burgess. A declining value of k t with increasing leaf area appears to result in more satisfactorily tree growth pattern (in particular at low tree stands) and corresponding intercrop yields than using a fixed value (Burgess and Graves, 2004). The reason for this is self-shading: in large tree canopies not all leaves are exposed to full sunlight, hence, not all leaves contribute much to the light interception. A phased k t would mimic the effect of the declining "canopy cover" value (C; values ranging from 0 to 1) found in the Jackson and Palmer model of the SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

53 proportion of light (fs) intercepted with wider-spaced trees (fs = C (1 - EXP (-k LAI)). (Burgess, 11 Nov04). The problem of a fixed light extinction coefficient in tree growth modelling (SUCROS type) was also experienced by Cittadini (2002). He applied the theoretical k t value of 0.7 for spherical leaf angle distribution (Goudriaan and van Laar, 1994) for a sweet cherry orchard (3.25 m between rows and 0.6, 0.9, 1.2 and 1.5 m between trees in the row). Because of the row arrangement a clustering factor CLF was calculated with a sub model (Goudriaan pers; comm.) and multiplied by k. The CLF was 0.95, thus the k = CLF * k = Using this k the simulated radiation interception underestimated the measured ones in the beginning of the growing season and overestimated the interception around fruit harvest. Accurate values of k t are difficult to obtain, and only few data can be found in literature. Values reported for broad-leaved tree species ranged roughly from 0.4 to 0.7 (Jarvis and Leverenz, 1983, Gazarini et al. 1990, Vose et al., 1995), but information on how these values depend on tree density and LAI could not been found. Since no literature or experimental data were available the complex Hi-sAFe model was applied to deduce the parameter value as a function of tree density and LAI. Moreover, for a wide spaced tree stand with a given tree leaf area, k t appears to vary with the sun elevation. In case of low sun elevation k t should be high and vice versa. This suggests that the model should use different k t for winter and summer periods, otherwise the available radiation for the crop would be overestimated in winter and underestimated in summer. Consequently, in the overall system analysis of Yield-sAFe and FARM-SAFE, wintercrops would be favoured in terms of biomass production. This aspect has not yet been further investigated. It must be noted, that trees in Yield-sAFe intercept only during the leafy tree period, which is roughly between April and October (DOY 100 and 300). The effect of sun elevation for various latitudes should be considered in the Yield-sAFe calibration and eventual tested with further Hi-sAFe runs. In Hi-sAFe, which considers the 3D geometry of the system, this problem does not occur. This was tested at the example of a tree having a constant leaf area (after the end of the long shoots expansion until the beginning of the leaf fall); the leaf interception of the tree varies with the sun declination, as it should. We get different k t values for a poplar, even if we keep with the same leaf scale k t of 0.85 in Hi-sAFe. The poplar canopy has a very different shape, and for the same leaf area would be represented by a very different ellipsoid. It can concluded, that the parameters for the k t variation are species-specific. Further results and information on the method can be found on the safe WEB SITE (private disk space). Sensitivity analysis: Task 6.6 The model evaluation includes a sensitivity analysis (SA), which is described in detail in the third annual report of SAFE and in the paper: Yield-sAFe, A parameter-sparse processbased model for calculating growth, yield and resource use in agroforestry systems (Van der Werf et al. in progress). The simulation analyses refer to a poplar - winter wheat system under optimum growth conditions of the Leeds experimental site. Due to the low tree density (156 trees/ha), tree to tree competition does not occur. During the course of the model application it became evident that the tree factor responsible for light interception (k t ) was sensible and rather uncertain. Two major values appeared to be important: a k t value of 0.4 and a k t value of 0.8. In the last report period the SA was performed for a k t value of 0.8 and in this report period for a k t value of 0.4 (Table 2 and 3). For the latter the tree part was recalibrated for the same data set, resulting in other values for ε t and N[t 0 ] (Table 1). Overall, the results are similar to the one presented in the last report, namely: The tree factors have the largest influence on the land equivalent ratio (LER) and factors influencing the light interception and light use are in this simple model of major importance (Table 3). However, in case of scenario k t = 0.8, the crop parameters k t and ε t play play a large role in year 20 and SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

54 25 compared to the other scenario. The reason is that tree light interception is double of that with k t of 0.4. During the entire period of 25 years, higher poplar and wheat yields as well as a higher LER are predicted with simulation scenario k t =0.4 than with scenario k t =0.8. Table 50: Values for parameters and initial conditions for the sensitivity analysis of Yield-sAFe for a poplar agroforestry stand with continuous wheat after calibration for the site in Leeds, UK. Symbol Unit Description Default value Default value TREE scenario k t = 0.4 scenario k t = 0.8 ε t g/ MJ Radiation use efficiency tree k t - Light extinction coefficient tree A m M 2 / shoot Maximum leaf area of single shoot τ D Time constant of leaf area growth of a tree shoot α d -1 Maintenance respiration 0 0 coefficient N[t 0 ] # / tree Initial number of shoots per tree B t [t 0 ] g/ tree Initial Tree biomass L t [t 0 ] M 2 / tree Initial LA per tree 0 0 N m # / tree Maximum number of shoots per tree t BudBurst DOY DOY of budburst t LeafFall DOY DOY of leaffall CROP ε c g/ MJ Radiation use efficiency crop k c - Light extinction coefficient crop σ m 2 / g Specific leaf area crop P - Initial Biomass partitioning factor to leaves T 0 o C Lower threshold for crop 0 0 phenological development S h o C d Heat sum at crop harvest S 1 o C d Heat sum at which partitioning to leaves starts to decrease S 2 o C d Heat sum at which partitioning to leaves starts to ceases S 2 o C d Heat sum at which crop emerged S emergence L c [t 0 ] - Initial crop leaf area B c [t 0 ] g/ m 2 Initial crop biomass SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

55 Table 51: Ranking of elasticities of land equivalent ratio s in years 2, 5, 10, 20 and 25 of a poplar-wheat agroforestry stand to biological parameters of tree and crop for scenario k t = 0.4. Ranking over all parameters per year: Highest rank 1 to 4; then rank 5-8, rank Parameter Rank of elasticity, e LER Type year 2 year 5 year 10 year 20 year 25 TREE B t [t 0 ] k t ε t N[t 0 ] A m τ N m t BudBurst t LeafFall CROP B C [t 0 ] L C [t 0 ] k c ε c σ S S P Future Actions include: 1. Evaluation of the Yield-sAFe description of light interception by trees by comparison with the Hi-sAFe light model. 2. Comparison of Hi-sAFe and Yield-sAFe Field scale for wheat-poplar in NE (UK) and wheat-walnut SE (France). 3. Finish writing of scientific papers on modelling and calibration. Reference Burgess, P. and Graves, A Draft Discussion on the value for the extinction coefficient (kt) in Yield-sAFe. Cittadini, E. D., Development of a mechanistic simulation model for potential production of sweet cherry: its usefulness to analyse planting density. MSc thesis, Group Production Ecology Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Gazarini, L. C., Araujo, C.C., Borralho, N. and Pereira J.S. (1990). Plant area index in Eucalyptus globulus plantations determined indirectly by a light interception method. Tree Physiology, 7: SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

56 Vose, J. M., Sullivan, N.H., Clinton, B.D. and Bolstad, P.V., Vertical leaf area distribution, light transmittance, and application of the Beer-Lambert law in four mature hardwoods stands in southern Appalachians. Can. J. For. Res. 25: WP7. Economics of silvoarable agroforestry : Using a priori LERs INRA in cooperation with APCA explored an alternate way to produce time-series of tree and crop yields in agroforestry systems. This approach was decided when the prospect for obtaining satisfactory biophysical models was quite dim, at the Toulouse modelling workshop in April The concept was then considered worth exploring. The basic idea is as follows: If we know the integrated LER of a silvoarable system, it becomes possible to generate time series of tree and crop yields over time, using the LER as a forcing value. This approach does not predict LERs, but generate yield series that match a given LER. With the yield series, economics studies can then be conducted with Farm-sAFe, allowing performing a sensitivity analysis of the profitability of the system to the biophysical efficiency of the system. Improving the LER concept for economic studies LER-biomass and LER-product The Land Equivalent Ratio indicates the area of monocultures needed to produce as much as one intercropped hectare (Vandermeer, 1989). It is calculated as the sum of relative areas (RA), i.e. productions ratios: for each product, the intercrop production divided by the monoculture production. In most of the agroforestry cases, there are 2 RAs: the crop RA and the tree RA. For instance, a tree RA of 0.7 means that an agroforestry plot produces as much timber as a forestry plot of 0,7 ha. A LER of 1.3 thus indicates than intercropping produces 30% more than monocropping. However, it can be calculated either with total biomass or only with commercial products, particularly in the case of timber production: the higher rate of thinning in forestry than in agroforestry implies different tree relative yields whether it is calculated with or without thinned trees. This distinction leads to two different indicators: the LER-products, calculated with the commercial products (bole of timber of the felled trees, grain of the cereals, etc.), and the LER-biomass, calculated with the total biomass produced on the plot (for their detailed way of calculation, see Dupraz et al., 2005). Although the likely range of values for the LERproducts is still to be defined with experimental plots and models, we already know that the expected values of LER-biomass are likely to be comprised between 1 and 1.4. Indeed, a value below 1 is biologically unrealistic considering that if one of the intercrops dominates too much the other, it shall perform as in a monoculture plot and thus produce as much biomass of the same area of monoculture production. A value above 1.4 seems too much optimistic with regards to present experimental results and bibliographical documentation (Dupraz et al., 2005). The LER-based generator For this study, we used a constrained generator of data: forest, arable and agroforest timeseries are generated in accordance with an expected LER-biomass (see Annex 1: Detailed description of the LERbased-Generator). The tree RA-biomass is defined according to the densities in forestry and agroforestry and to the expected increase in tree growth rate at low density. The crop RA-biomass is then deduced in order to reach the predetermined LER-biomass. The LER is only divided in a crop component and a tree component (timber); it is thus impossible to generate data sets SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

57 for a third component (fruits for example), such as for a traditional orchard or double purpose walnuts. The arable and forest reference data and the values of these two RAs permit to generate all the time-series under constraint: o the arable time-series is the repetition of the reference yields in accordance with the rotation; o the forest time-series is generated in function of the reference volume of timber per ha at felling; o the two agroforest times-series (one for the intercrop, one for the trees) are generated so that the constraint fixed by the RAs is respected (sum of productions for the intercrop, volume of timber per ha at felling for the trees). Amongst the hypothesis made in this generator, we assume that : o the agroforest trees are felled at the same time as the forest trees, but their higher growth induces bigger individual pieces of timber; In any case, the unit volume in agroforestry doesn t exceed 20 % of the forestry volume one. o there is no difference in the partition of biomass for the intercrop and a classical arable crop: the crop RA-products is thus equal to the crop RA-biomass, which shall both be called crop RA ; o the intercrops cannot offer higher yields than the arable crops without any tree (consequently the value of the crop RA cannot be superior to the maximum intercropping area: 1 the proportion of area occupied by the tree strips); we made therefore the hypothesis that the trees don t affect positively the crop yield which could be discuss on a long term period (soil erosion and fertility, wind effect, etc.). o the width of the intercropped alley can be reduced by successive steps when the yield decreases (less productive areas are given up), in order to preserve economically acceptable yields as long as possible. When it cannot be reduced anymore (at a minimum width), the intercrop is suppressed when it is no more profitable (profitability threshold yield). A wise hypothesis for the agroforest tree growth In most of the cases, agroforest designs are at lower density than forest designs. As a consequence, trees grow quicker. We assume that the growth rate increases when the density decreases, until to reach a critical final density where the genetic potential is fully expressed. Below this density, we assume that trees don t grow more, even if they are completely isolated. At this critical density, we assume that trees grow at a rate driven by a coefficient: the individual tree timber volume growth acceleration in low density AF conditions, or Tree Growth Acceleration (TGA). At critical density, the volume of an agroforest individual piece of timber at felling, V AF, is thus calculated as: Vmax AF =TGA x V F where V F = volume of a forest individual piece of timber at felling (in the forestry reference data which is used). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

58 Vmax AF is thus the maximum volume of an individual piece of timber. Unfortunately, the critical densities and the likely range of values for TGA are not well documented. Thus these parameters had to be fixed by expert knowledge. In order to realise wise simulations, we assumed a quite low value of TGA: 1,2 for the three species (Table LII). Species Final density in forestry V F TGA Critical density Vmax AF Walnut 100 trees/ha 1 m 3 /tree 1,2 50 trees/ha 1,2 m 3 /tree Wild cherry 150 trees/ha 0,8 m 3 /tree 1,2 60 trees/ha 0,96 m 3 /tree Poplar 200 trees/ha 1,5 m 3 /tree 1,2 100 trees/ha 1,8 m 3 /tree V F is the volume of timber of an individual forest tree. TGA is individual Tree timber volume Growth Acceleration in agroforestry at densities lower or equal to the critical density. The critical density is the highest density at which the maximum volume of an individual piece of timber is reached. Vmax AF is the maximum timber volume of an agroforest tree, reached at densities lower or equal to the critical density. Table LII: reference values in forestry and values of TGA, the critical density and Vmax AF for each of three tree species Nevertheless, some unpublished experimental results are in favour of higher values for TGA: at M. Jollet s farm (Les Eduts, Charentes Maritimes, France), INRA s measurements of the forest and agroforest trees at the middle of the revolution indicate a TGA of 2 for black walnuts, at 80 trees/ha (Gavaland, pers. com.). But another thinning will soon accelerate the growth of the forest trees, and then this estimated TGA is likely to decrease. There is thus an important difference between our hypothesis and what we could expect (Table 53). individual piece of timber (m3/ tree) 2 1,5 1 0,5 with TGA = 2 with TGA = 1, Final density (trees/ha) Table 53: Volume of the individual walnut timber volume in function of the final density and of the value of TGA. As an economic consequence of such a wise hypothesis, the volume of timber at felling is less important, thus the revenue of the tree component might be under-estimated. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

59 Maximum expectable LER in function of species and final density As the production of agroforest timber is determined in accordance with the densities, the critical density and TGA, the tree RA-products and the tree RA-biomass are fixed: it is impossible to tune them without modifying one of these previous parameters. Then the range of variation of the LER (biomass or products) corresponds to the crop RA: As a LER-biomass inferior to 1 is biologically unrealistic, the minimum value of the crop RA is equal to 1 tree RA-biomass. As we assume lower or equal yields, the maximum value of the crop RA must be inferior or equal to the maximum intercropping area. In our optimistic assumptions, at highest densities (tree lines every 10 m), we assumed a crop RY at ¾ of the maximum intercropping area. A likely value would be the mean of these two extreme values. As the proportion of land required by the trees strips rises with the density, the maximum crop RA decreases when the density gets higher. A first conclusion is that we obtain acceptable RA with densities, which correspond to distances between the tree lines included between 24 to 40 m. 1,1 1 0,9 0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5 0,4 LER max LER-optimist LER-medium LER-pessimist 0,3 0,2 No tree Distance between the trees lines (m) Table 54: Range of values of the crop RA with walnut, wild cherry and poplar, according the distance of the tree lines and depending on how optimistic the dynamic of the LER is. In forestry, the realisation of many thinnings means that a lot of biomass is synthesised in addition of the trees, which shall be conserved until the last fall. As we assume that the volume of the agroforest trees is maximum 20% bigger than the one of the forest trees, the production of woody biomass is small compared to the one of a forestry plot. Thus the ratio of woody biomass, i.e. the tree RA-biomass, is low. At low density, even an optimistic value of the crop RA is insufficient to compensate such a low tree RA. Consequently, high LERbiomass cannot be reached for all densities, in particular for species with a high rate of thinning in forestry such as wild cherry (Table 55). However, very satisfactory LER-products can be reached even with these species. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

60 1,6 1,4 LER - Products 1,2 1 0,8 Optimist Crop RA Medium Crop RA Pessimist Crop RA 0, Tree final density (trees/ha) Table 55: Expectable LER-products for walnut, cherry and poplar, depending on how optimistic the dynamic of the intercrop is Impact of the TGA on the LER results In our simulations, we used a TGA of We were cautious in our predictions if we consider some experimental plots (such in Restinclières in France) or private site (Farm of Claude Jollet in Charente Maritime) where we observed some TGA which reach 2. If we had taken this value of 2, the tree RA would have increased between 15 to 30 % in comparison with what we obtained with ,9 0,8 y = 0,4191x + 0,1123 R 2 = 0,9995 0,7 0,6 y = 0,2745x + 0,0955 R 2 = 0, trees/ha - products 120 trees/ha - biomass TREE RA 0,5 0,4 y = 0,2655x + 0,0018 R 2 = 0, trees/ha - products 50 trees/ha - biomass 0,3 y = 0,1773x + 0,005 R 2 = 0,9965 0,2 0,1 0 0,8 1 1,2 1,4 1,6 1,8 2 2,2 Tree Growth Acceleration Table 56: Influence of the Tree Growth Acceleration on the tree RA (biomass and products), according to the tree density. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

61 Data references and main hypothesis The forestry references The revolution duration, timber production and production techniques (initial density, prunings, thinnings, sward maintenance, and final density) were determined by expert knowledge, in accordance with available documentation. The densities correspond to the schedule of conditions of the French circular Forêts de production and to forestry organisms advises. Individual piece of timber at felling (m3/tree) density (trees/ha) initial final Volume at felling (m3/ha) Revolution duration (years) Good Land Bad land unit land unit medium unit Mean annual production (m3/ha/year) Good Land Bad land unit land unit unit medium Walnut ,17 1,89 1,67 Wild cherry 0, ,40 2,18 2 Poplar 1, ,79 13,64 12 Table 57 : Densities, revolution duration and mean annual and total productions for walnut, wild cherry and poplar. With walnut, 2 thinnings of 50 trees/ha are realised at 1/3 and 2/3 of the revolution; with wild cherry, 3 thinnings are realised at 1/3 (400 trees/ha), half (200 trees/ha) and 2/3 (50 trees/ha) of the revolution. Supports for afforestation on agricultural land vary in function of the region and of the tree species: as the poplar revolution is shorter, the Compensation Payment for Agricultural Loss (PCPR) is available for 7 years instead of 10. Type of farm (region) Hy-Lc (Centre) Ly-Lc (Poitou- Charentes) Hy-Hc (Franche- Comté) Walnut and wild cherry Establishment grant (4 first years) 50% of the costs 50% of the costs 0 PCPR farmer (10 first years) 240 /ha 300 /ha 0 Poplar Establishment grant (4 first years) 50% of the costs 50% of the costs 0 PCPR farmer (7 first years) 240 /ha 300 /ha 0 Table 58: Regional supports for afforestation on agricultural land for walnut, wild cherry and poplar (year 2003). The PCPR is the Compensation Payment for the loss of agricultural income. Franche-Comté is a particular region. More than 50% of the area are already woodlands, thus afforestation is not encouraged: there is no support available for new forestry plantation. Everywhere in France, newly afforested plots benefit from an exemption from land tax: for 10 years with poplar, 50 years with walnut and wild cherry. In our simulations, this land tax is comprised between 30 /ha (Centre) and 39 /ha (Poitou-Charentes). Reference data in agriculture All arable data come from the Farm observatory ROSACE, a tool produced by APCA. Thanks to this typology of farms made by the regional Chamber of Agriculture, several types of farms are defined and described, each one corresponding to the mean of 5 to 10 farms selected by the Chambers experts. Each year, the economical inputs are re-calculated (yield, net margin, farm costs, labour and CAP payment). In addition, all the technical orientations and strategies of the farm are also described. We selected 3 types of farm, which we shall now designate with 4 initials: SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

62 Hy-Lc: High yields and Low fixed costs Hy-Hc: High yields but High fixed costs Ly-Lc: Low yields and Low fixed costs For each of them, the ROSACE typology indicates: The cropping area of the farm, distinguishing tenant farming and property; The crop rotation in function of the quality of the soil (up to 3 Land Units: best, medium, worst); The mean yields, attributed to the medium Land Unit (for the best and worst Land Units, we respectively assumed an increase and a decrease of 10% of the mean yields); The variable costs, assignable fixed costs and fixed costs and labour. The prices of the products and sub-products (straws of the wheat) and the CAP payments of the farm Single Farm Payment, SFP). To elaborate the selection of each type of farms, various partners from the Chambers of Agriculture have participated: Camille Laborie, who is in charge of ROSACE in APCA, Anne- Marie Meudre (Franche Comté), Catherine Micheluzzi (Poitou-Charentes) and Benoît Tassin (Centre). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

63 Hy-Lc Ly-Lc Hy-Hc Cropping area of the farm (ha) property tenant farming Total Fixed costs ( /farm) ,4 37, ,5 32, Typical rotation(s) (a) wheat wheat oilseed or (b) wheat oilseed wheat wheat sunflower wheat oilseed sunflower (a) wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat maize or (b) wheat wheat oilseed Crop Mean yield (t/ha) Gross Margi n ( /ha) Net Marg ( /ha) area (ha) wheat 8 (straw ,0 2 t/ha) oilseed ,0 set aside ,0 6,5 wheat (straw ,3 2 t/ha) oilseed 3, ,1 sunflow 2, ,2 er set aside ,4 wheat 6,7 (straw ,8 2 t/ha) oilseed 3, ,1 maize 7, ,2 set aside ,4 Total Net Margin ( /farm) Table 59: Main economic data and total net margin ( /farm) for every type of farm. Rotation (a) corresponds to the best land units, rotation (b) to the worst. Set aside is realised on 10% of the total farm area. The Net Margin is equal to the Gross Margin minus the fixed assignable costs (land tax and machinery costs). The Total Net Margin is equal to the Net Margin minus the fixed costs (rent of land, amortisation and maintenance of the buildings, social contributions, banking costs). Labour costs are not taken into account. The profitability threshold yield With the development of the trees, the crop yield decreases progressively. Below a certain level, the crop is not more profitable, above al near the tree area. For each crop of the three types of farm, the threshold yield was first determined according to the price of the product, the CAP payment and the variable costs, assignable fixed costs and a part of the fixed costs 1. As the results, in proportion of the mean yield of each crop, were roughly the same in the three farms, we fixed this proportion in order to facilitate the extrapolation to other types of farm. 1 If the crop is abandoned on a part of the cropping area, we assume that the fixed costs should decrease a little; thus they must be taken into account in the calculation of this threshold yield. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

64 crop Mean yield in the farm Profitability threshold yield Mean yield in Hy-Hc Winter wheat 100 % 50 % 6,7 t/ha 3,35 t/ha Maize 100 % 70 % 7,5 t/ha 5,25 t/ha Oilseed rape 100 % 60 % 3,5 t/ha 2,1 t/ha Profitability threshold yield in Hy-Hc Table 60: Profitability threshold yield in proportion of the mean yield in the farm and example for the farm Hy-Hc The threshold yield is the same in every farm, whatever the land unit is. Thus it shall be reached more quickly in the worst land unit than in the best land unit. Main management features of the agroforestry systems For each type of farm, we simulated the introduction of 2 agroforestry designs in the 3 land units (best, medium, and worst): Plantation at 50 trees/ha, on 40 m spaced tree-lines; Plantation at 120 trees/ha, on 22 m spaced tree-lines. The tree strip is 2 m wide. The width of the intercropped alley is respectively of 38 m and 20 m, thus the maximum crop area represents 95% of the initial area at 50 trees/ha and 91% at 113 trees/ha. With walnut and wild cherry, an early thinning is realised when the timber volume reaches 0,1 m3 (around the years 10-13), therefore the final densities are different from the poplars one (see Table 5). Agroforestry Forestry Tree Density Timber Density Timber Tree RAproducts Productio Productio RAbiomass (trees/ha) volume (trees/ha) volume (m3/ha) (m3/ha) initial final (m3/tree) initial final (m3/tree) ,2 48 0,36 0,48 Walnut , ,66 0,86 Wild , ,22 0, ,8 120 cherry , ,42 0, ,8 90 0,3 0,3 Poplar , , ,66 0,66 Table 61: Initial and final densities, volume of an individual piece of timber and production in forestry and in the simulated agroforestry systems; tree Relative Area (RA)-biomass and tree RA-products The crops Relative Areas (RA) have been fixed for 3 hypotheses: optimistic, probable and pessimistic. The pessimistic hypothesis means that the LER-biomass is equal to 1. Therefore, the crop RA is equal to: (1 tree RA-biomass). The optimistic crop RA is determined according to 2 constraints: The crop RA must be inferior to the maximum intercropping area We also assumed to fix a ceiling for the LER-biomass of 1.4. Thus the crop RA is equal to: (1.4 tree RA-biomass). This ceiling of 1.4 was reached with walnut and SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

65 poplar at 120 trees/ha, so the crop RA seems quite low with regards to the maximum intercropping area. We assumed a probable crop RA as the arithmetic average of the 2 previous values (pessimistic and optimistic) (see Table 6 and Table 7). Initial density (trees/ha) Width between tree lines (m) Width of the intercropped alley (m) Maximum intercropping area Pessimistic crop RA Probable crop RA Optimistic crop RA Walnut ,95 0,64 0,79 0, ,91 0,34 0,54 0,74 Wild ,95 0,78 0,85 0,93 cherry ,91 0,57 0,72 0,87 Poplar ,95 0,7 0,8 0, ,91 0,34 0,54 0,74 Table 62: Crop RA in function of the tree species, density and optimism level. Bold values are those, which depend on the ceiling of 1.4 for the LER-biomass. Initial density (trees/ha) Width between tree lines (m) Width of the intercrop ped alley (m) LER-biomass reached with the Pessim. crop RA probabl crop RA Optimist crop RA LER-products reached with the Pessim. crop RA probabl crop RA Optimist crop RA Walnut ,15 1,3 1,12 1,27 1, ,2 1,4 1,2 1,4 1,6 Wild ,07 1,15 1,1 1,17 1,25 cherry ,15 1,3 1,19 1,34 1,49 Poplar ,1 1,2 1 1,1 1, ,2 1,4 1 1,2 1,4 Table 63: LER-biomass and LER-products in function of the tree species, density and hypothesis of optimism for the intercrop bold values are those, which depend on the ceiling of 1.4 for the LER-biomass. Economic hypothesis CAP payments In agriculture, the crops area benefits from the Single Farm Payment (SFP): it was calculated on the basis of the historical references of each farm, in accordance with the way France decided to implement the new CAP in In the basic scenario, we assumed that the intercrops are eligible to the SFP proportionally to the area of the plot that they occupy. It is the present situation in France. The rights corresponding to the tree area could be transferable to another eligible area, which doesn t benefit from a payment right. In our simulations, we did not attribute them to new plots, considering therefore that these rights were lost for the farmer. Tree grants In our basic scenario, agroforest trees benefit from the same establishment payments as the forest trees: 50% of the costs of the 4 first years in Poitou-Charentes and Centre. It corresponds to the present situation, permitted by the circular Forêts de protection which relies on the line i of the French National Rural Development Programme. However an agroforest plot can benefit from neither the PCPR nor the exemption of land tax. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

66 In France, an agro-environmental measure called agroforest habitats can be contracted under certain conditions, but it still faces administrative difficulties and is not available in most of the departments, thus it was not taken into account in our simulations. Costs and prices Some key points have to be underlined: The cost of sward maintenance is higher in forestry than in agroforestry. In forestry, at the beginning of the revolution, sward maintenance is realised thanks to two grindings instead of one for the maintenance of the tree strip in agroforestry. The farmer makes all operations himself, except the marking out and plantation of the young trees. Both of these operations are charged 15 /h. The timber prices correspond to standing trees, thus neither the harvesting cost is taken into account. In a cash flow approach, the basic scenario doesn t include the labour cost for the farmer. While in a farming management scenario, we consider an hourly cost of 7,62 /h (minimum salary in France). In this last approach, it s therefore possible to evaluate the efficiency of the farmer labour. As it seems impossible to anticipate the future evolution of prices and costs, we assumed constant values. For instance, a rise or a drop of timber value would respectively increase or decrease the tree revenue. Main results Labour impact for one silvoarable hectare temps de travail (h/ha/an) agriculture cultures intercalaires arbres agriculture cultures intercalaires arbres temps de travail (h/ha/an) année année Case 1: Plantation of 120 trees/ha Case 2: Plantation of 50 trees/ha Table 64: Labour evolution in the management of a silvoarable plot during the tree rotation, separating the crop from the tree labour. An essential condition for adopting agroforestry from the farmers point of view is that they don t want to devote more time to a new system. If the farmer planted more trees (case 1), he would need 1 to 1.5 days each year to maintain the trees. But in the second half of the rotation, the labour decreases progressively due to the fact that trees don t need more special maintenance and that the intercrop activity is reduced. If he plants fewer trees, the impact during the first years is poor. With the small density, the intercrop activity is longer, because the crop yield is not so affected by the trees. The labour requested in the second half of the rotation is therefore lower but very near from the initial scenario. Prediction of yield evolution SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

67 Crop yield evolution Predicting the crop yield during the second half of the rotation is a perilous venture. If we know the behaviour of the intercrop during the first half thanks to experimental measures on existing plots, we asked the bio-economics model to predict the yield evolution. In our simulation, as we said, we used the LER-Safe prediction. We made the essential hypothesis that the LER must be include between 1 and 1.4. This condition helps us to determine a possible range of crop yield evolution, from the pessimist one to the optimist one (see Table 129). Tree plantation Tree Harvest 100 Optimist 100 Crop yield (%) Intercrop Yield Pessimist Pure Crop Time Table 65: Evolution of the relative intercrop yield according to optimist or pessimist view about the tree competition. Case of one ha of wild cherry with an initial density of 120 trees/ha for a final density of 80 trees/ha. In this example of a plantation of wild cherry at 80 trees/ha (final density), which means a distance between the trees rows of 25m, the crop yield represent more than 90% during the first half of the tree rotation. According to the interaction level, the crop yield varies between 30 and 75 % of the pure crop yield of reference the year before harvesting the trees. The crop yield depends on different parameters: The parameters due to some initial choices: the crop nature (a sunflower will be more affected by the shadow of the adult trees than a cereal), the density of the plantation and the distance between the lines, choice of the land unit (a deeper soil will be more adapted),... The parameters depending on the capacity of the farmer: well pruned trees, tree root maintenance (root cutting), In our economical scenarios, we have tested the different level of interaction. Tree yield evolution As for the crop yield estimation, we put forward the hypothesis of different level of timber productivity. But for our simulations, we only use one prediction of timber production. To SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

68 validate our approach, we use a very cautious estimation of production (see Table 130). Our results can therefore be considered as the minimum result we can get from our hypothesis Interval Basic scenario Pure plantation Optimist Pessimist Standing volume (m3/ ha) Time 0 Table 66: Range of timber volume evolution for an initial plantation of 120 wild cherry. The figure indicates of the cautious hypothesis of standing volume we used for our simulations (77 m 3 for 80 final trees). Cash flow impact To evaluate the impact of the project on the cash flow, we must distinguish first the investment cost and then the evolution of the annual cash flow depending of the crop yield evolution and the possible over cost to crop between the trees in comparison with a pure crop system. Initial investment The poor number of trees to plant in an agroforestry system reduces considerably the investment cost if we compare with a current afforestation cost on agricultural land. The tree cost is nonetheless higher. The owner will choose a better quality of the trees and will have to protect each one with a strong protection: each tree has a possible future value and demands a special attention. The total cost of a plantation (without subsidy) varies between 500 and 1000 euros/ha according to the tree specie (the walnut plantation being the most expensive). This cost represents between 20 to 60 % of the average cost in the case of common land afforestation (see Table 131). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

69 Afforestation Poplar 367 /ha 695 /ha /ha 120 trees/ha 50 trees/ha /ha Wild Cherry 267 /ha 469 /ha /ha Walnut 517 /ha /ha Table 67: Comparison of the investment in agroforestry and forestry scenario, WITHOUT subsidy. In France, it s current to get a subsidy of 40 to 70% to cover the investment cost and the maintenance cost of the trees during the 4 first years (except in Franche Comté). Since 2004, the French Government decided to suspend all economic aids to the land afforestation, except for agroforestry. In our simulations, we decided to conserve this aid, to be able to compare between the two options (see Table 132). Afforestation Poplar 184 /ha 348 /ha 617 /ha 120 trees/ha 50 trees/ha 759 /ha Wild Cherry 134 /ha 235 /ha 817 /ha Walnut 259 /ha 517 /ha Table 68: Comparison of the investment in agroforestry and forestry scenario, WITH subsidy. Cash flow evolution Evolution of the cash flow at the plot scale The cash flow evolution will depend of the crop yield evolution and the LER level we have selected and the final density. For example, in the Table 133, we ve illustrated the cash evolution for two different densities but for a medium LER level. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

70 to 85 % 80 to 90 % 50 trees/ha % Annual Gross Margin trees/ha Silvoarable Gross Margin Agricultural Gross Margin 30 to 60 % Plantation Time 0 Trees Harvesting Table 69: Evolution of the annual cash flow for a probable scenario with wild cherry (LER=1.07 for a density of 50 trees/ha and 1.15 for a density of 120 trees). Being cautious in our forecast, we notice nonetheless that at half of the rotation, the gross margin still represent 80 to 90 % of the agricultural gross margin. We must underline that in our simulations, we ve considered that the crop payment area is reduced progressively by the tree area. In case of the silvoarable area was eligible in its totality, the impact on the cash would be sensible, above all in some regions where man get poor crop yield and where the crop payment is essential in the gross margin calculation (Franche Comté for example). Let s also underline the fact that in the INRA experimental plots, the LER reaches more 1.3 than 1.15 that we have chosen in our simulation with an initial density of 120 trees/ha. Influence of the CAP payment policy Inside the first pillar policy, the situation of the agroforestry plots could be different depending of each country member. In fact, at a European level, the agroforestry plot could be eligible to the Compensatory Payment. We compare here the possibility to get the payment on the whole area (Request of the Safe consortium) or only on the intercrop area (French situation). The impact of the eligibility given to the whole surface on the profitability is not so important. In all our simulations, the profitability increases by 3% in the best option for agroforestry. The impact is more at a cash flow level, when the crop gross margin is low. That s typically the case for the farms where: The crop component is lower than the payment component in the gross margin calculation (Mediterranean area or farm with high cost of production) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

71 The yield is decreasing faster in the silvoarable scenario (high density of plantation or strong impact of the trees on the crop RA) 100% % of the Arable Gross Margin 80% 60% 40% 20% agriculture Payment on intercrop area - 50 trees/ha Payment 100% - 50 trees/ha Payment on intercrop area trees/ha Payment 100% trees/ha 0% 2% 12% 22% 32% 42% 52% 62% 72% 82% 92% Time (Tree rotation) Table 70: Influence of the different CAP payment policies in agroforestry on the annual cash flow evolution. Evolution of the cash flow at the farm scale At the farm scale, one of the first questions of the farmer is about the importance of the area to plant. Does he have to plant on a big area? In several plots or in a single plot? There is no only one answer. According to the strategy of the farmer, a large range of scenarios is available. The choice will depend to the cash flow context and to know if the farmer can support a strong investment or not, and above all if he aims to decrease progressively his crop activity or not. The labour availability is also a strong parameter to decide which area to plant. According to our simulation and experimental experience, we often recommend not planting more than 10 % of the cropping area. In that case, the impact on the farm gross margin is less than 3 % in average on the first half of the tree rotation. A gradual plantation will allow a reduction of the cash flow impact (see Table 134). % of Farm Gross Margin without AF Farm with 8% silvoarable area Farm with 100 % of cropping area 435 % 50 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% % of the tree rotation % of Farm Gross Margin without AF Farm with 8% silvoarable area Farm with 100 % of cropping area 50 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% % of the first tree rotation a. Case of a single plantation b. Case of a gradual plantation 178% 180% 191% 183% Table 71: Comparison of the cash flow evolution when the farmer plants 8 % of his cropping area (50/50 Walnut/Wild cherry). We compare the option where the farmer would plant the silvoarable area in once time or if he decides to plant 2 % every 5 years during 20 years. A gradual plantation will also allow a soft distribution of the timber income in the time from the moment where the owner begins to harvest the first mature trees (case b). From this moment, the timber income is regular. In our example, he can harvest the trees every 5 years. In this context, the farm gross margin increase by 15 %. According to the importance of the plantation and of the species he planted, a farmer could increase his farm income SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

72 between 10 to 100%. Of course, it can suppose a long term to wait for the farmer before the first tree harvest Profitability of a silvoarable investment Comparing a silvoarable scenario with agricultural scenario For our simulations, we have selected 3 kinds of farms: Farm with good crop yields and few fixed costs. Farm with medium crop yields with few fixed costs. Farm with medium crop yields and high fixed costs. For each farm, corresponding to each region of the LTS of the WP8, we have run different scenarios according to: the tree density: 120 versus 50 for the initial density, which corresponds to a final density of 80/40. the LER level: optimist, probable and pessimist the land unit: good/medium the 3 tree species: poplar, walnut and wild cherry 108 scenarios have been run in total (36 scenarios / LTS). Table 72 shows a synthesis of the Agricultural Values for all these scenarios we have calculated for each species according to the level of LER. % of realised simulations 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Walnut Wild Cherry Poplar Agricultural Value Index > 1,35 1,20-1,35 1,05-1,20 0,95-1,04 < 0,95 optimist probable pessimist optimist probable pessimist optimist probable pessimist Scenario for intercrop productivity Table 72: Profitability of the silvoarable scenarios according to the tree specie and the LER level. A first interesting result is that the silvoarable scenarios are at least as profitable as the agricultural scenario. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

73 Walnut timber is actually the most expensive timber on the market. For a same duration of rotation, the best results have been logically obtained with the walnut than the wild cherry. The period of harvesting time is a key parameter in the profitability calculation. 2,00 1,80 1,60 1,40 1,20 1,00 0,80 0,60 0,40 0,20 0,00 Very Très well bien pruned Bien Well pruned formé Mal Badly formé pruned formé (50 ans) (60 ans) 40 years 50 years 60 years (40 ans) Table 73: Influence of the maintenance quality on the profitability. A late in the pruning dates can put the harvesting date back by 10 or 20 years, above all for some sensitive specie such as the hybrid walnut. In this example, a late of 20 years means a reduction of 60% of the profitability in comparison of the agricultural profitability. Influence of the TGA on the Agricultural Value The value of the Tree Growth Acceleration has a strong impact on the profitability of the silvoarable scenarios. This impact is stronger for the scenario with higher densities of plantation. In the following figure, we noticed that the scenario with a density of 120 ha react much quicker than a scenario with 50 trees. Again, in our simulations, we used a TGA of 1,20, which could be considered as a pessimist approach with what we observe in the reality. For example, in the Jollet's case, the agricultural value would have been increased by 10 to 15 %. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

74 1,10 Jollet TGA Indice of Agricultural Value 1,05 1,00 0,95 Hypothesis simulation 120 wild cherry/ha 50 wild cherry/ha 0,90 0,8 1 1,2 1,4 1,6 1,8 2 Tree Growth Acceleration Table 74: Influence of the TGA on the Agricultural Value Which density to plant to get the best profitability? A common question from the farmers is about the number of trees to plant. The farmers often want to maintain a correct crop yield during the whole rotation but trying in the same time to get the best investment for timber. Other decides to plant more trees with the aim to decrease the agricultural activity, even till to suppress the intercrop. We didn t take this case in this study. For each species, Walnut, Wild cherry and Poplar, according to our production hypothesis, we simulated the impact of the density to the LER but also to the Agricultural Value. 1,6 1,4 1,2 1 0,8 LER_optimist LER_medium LER_pessimist Val-agri_optimist Val-agri_medium Val-agri_pessimist 0, WILD CHERRY - Finale Density (trees/ha) Table 75: Influence of the tree density on the LER value and the Agricultural value for wild cherry, walnut and poplar. We observe that for each species, the best density to get the optimum LER is higher than the best density to get the optimum Agricultural Value. For the species with a poor Tree RA (Walnut and wild cherry), the range of density is similar (see Table 76). The best density would vary between 80 to 120 trees/ha to get the highest LER, while the farmer will get the SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

75 best profitability with a density included between 60 and 90 trees/ha. Of course, with a higher TGA, this range would increase. Result Wild Cherry Walnut Poplar LER Agricultural Value Table 76: Range of density to get the optimum LER and Agricultural Value results for each species (trees/ha final density). For the poplar, the optimum densities are higher than for the 2 others species. This result is due to the fact that the biomass produced by the silvoarable poplar is similar to the biomass produced by the forestry poplar. The Tree RA is therefore higher for a given density compared to other species, which demand more important fellings. What could influence these results? As we already said, the TGA level could strongly influence these results, giving priority to higher densities. The policy schedule and the price level of the crop and tree component will be therefore the most important parameters. In the case of the walnut, the choice of a density of 75 trees/ha is a wise option. Below, the farm doesn t want to take any risk at a long-term period, above he bets more on the trees. Comparing a silvoarable scenario with a forestry scenario We compare also the case where the farmer was hesitating between a forestry investment rather than a silvoarable investment from a profitability point of view. 1,50 Agricultural Value Index of a silvoarable scenario of a pure plantation scenario 1,00 1,55 0,50 1,04 0,89 1,21 1,00 0,48 0,00 Poplar Walnut Wild Cherry Table 77: Comparison of the profitability of the silvoarable and afforestation scenario with the agricultural scenario. Silvoarable plantation of 120 wild cherry by ha characterized by a LER of 1,15. In this example, we explore the case of a probable LER of 1.15 in the silvoarable option. In almost all our simulations, the silvoarable options are more profitable than the forestry option. The forestry option may be more profitable in the case where the crop margin is very poor, above all if it s possible to plant some valuable species such as walnut for example. It s also interesting to notice that for the poplar, the silvoarable option could be a possibility to stimulate the poplar market. In France, the poplar area is currently decreasing because of SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

76 the price fall of the timber (less than 45 /m3). Agroforestry could therefore be a possible strategy to reduce the market risks. Property holdings evaluation in agroforestry According to his age, a landowner who plants trees, will not necessary benefit from the harvest But, as a farmer told us, a farmer has three possibilities of income: the sale of his products, the stock variation and the possibility to make a capital gain. In this last option, a silvoarable plot is a capital, which could be evaluated if necessary (inheritance, expropriation, etc). The land evaluation in agroforestry is the combination of the agricultural land evaluation and the future value of the trees No commercial value with commercial value Euros by ha Age of the trees (years) Agriculture agroforestry Table 78: Evolution of the monetary value of the silvoarable land according to the age of the trees. In agroforestry, this value is the sum of the agricultural value plus the timber future value. If the young trees could have a future value, for example at 10 years old, they don t necessary have a commercial value in the sense that the landowner can not expect some income if he cut them. In this example of a wild cherry plantation, the capital evaluation may represent between twice and four time the agricultural land value according to the age of the trees. In the case of a walnut plantation, it may represent till 7 times this value 10 years before the tree harvesting. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

77 Photo 1: In this plot of 4 ha, the wild cherries are 30 years old. The value of the standing volume is estimated to /ha, which represents the same value of the agricultural land. But the future value of this plantation is much higher and overpass the /ha. Main conclusions To invest in agroforestry represents a light investment in money and labour comparing with some new systems of diversification. In our simulations, the profitability reaches 10 to 50 % with walnut, and -5 to +15 % with wild cherry and poplar, comparing with the agricultural scenario. A regular calendar of plantation on a few surfaces is a good option for the farmer (labour and cash flow impact). 10 % represents between 2 and 3 % of reduction of the farm gross margin. But in the balanced period, the income increases by more than 15% (mixed plantation of walnut and wild cherry trees). The gross margin could double if the farmer plants progressively his whole cropping area. But in that case, it means a stronger impact on the initial cash flow and demands a consequent labour... If the best bio-physical option is to plant between 80 to 120 trees by hectare (130 to 200 for the poplars), the best economical option is to plant a lower density around 60 to 90 trees by hectare (100 to 130 for the poplar). This means a distance between the trees lines varying between 24 to 36 m. All our simulations haven t taken into account the environmental benefits such the carbon sequestration, or the impact on the nitrogen pollution. These aspects could be calculated and to be summed to the whole profitability of the silvoarable systems. Bibliography Borrell, T. (2004) De l importance des interactions arbres-cultures sur les performances économiques de l agroforesterie tempérée. Mémoire de Diplôme d Agronomie Approfondie, ENSAM-INRA, Montpellier. 98 p + annexes Boulet-Gercourt, B. (1997) Le merisier. IDF, 2ème édition. 128 pp. Coulon F, Dupraz C., Liagre F., Pointereau P. (2000) Etude des pratiques agroforestières associant des arbres fruitiers de haute tige à des cultures et pâtures, Rapport au ministère de l environnement, 199 p, Solagro/INRA, Fr SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

78 CRPF (1997) Boiser une Terre Agricole. 28 pp. Dupraz C., Lagacherie M., Liagre F., Boutland A., (1995). Perspectives de diversification des exploitations agricoles de la région Midi-Pyrénées par l agroforesterie. Rapport de fin d étude commandité par le Conseil Régional Midi-Pyrénées, Inra-lepse éditeur, Montpellier, 253 pp. Dupraz C., Lagacherie M., Liagre F., Cabannes B., (1996). Des systèmes agroforestiers pour le Languedoc-Roussillon. Impact sur les exploitations agricoles et aspects environnementaux. Inra-Lepse éditeur, Montpellier, 418 pp. Dupraz, C., Liagre, F. & Borrell, T. (2005) The Land Equivalent Ratio of a silvoarable agroforestry system. In preparation. Graves, A.R., Burgess, P.J., Liagre, F., Dupraz, C. & Terreaux, J.-P. (in preparation) The development of an economic model of arable, agroforestry and forestry systems. To be published soon in Agroforestry Systems. IDF (1997) Les noyers à bois. 3ème édition, Février pp. Liagre F., (1993). Les pratiques de cultures intercalaires dans la noyeraie fruitière du Dauphiné. Mémoire de Mastère en Sciences Forestières, ENGREF, Montpellier, 80 pp Segouin O., Valadon A., (1997) Enquête sur les boisements récents de peupliers en Lot-et- Garonne, Analyse de pratiques agroforestières ; les cultures intercalaires. Cemagref, Nogent-sur Vernisson, 45 pp. Souleres, G. (1992) les milieux de la populiculture, IDF, 310 pp. Terreaux, J.-P. & Chavet, M. (2002) Problèmes économiques liés à l agroforesterie : éléments qualitatifs et quantitatifs. Silvoarable Agroforestry For Europe (SAFE) ; Cabinet Michel Chavet, Paris UMR Lameta, Montpellier. Vandermeer, J. (1989) The Ecology of Intercropping, Cambridge University Press, 225 pp. Annexes Annex 1: Detailed description of the LERbased-Generator Principle Farm-sAFe does not have any biophysical module, the time-series must be generated independently: pure crop and intercrop yields, timber production in forestry and agroforestry. We used a generator constrained by the LER-biomass: depending on a previously fixed value and on a quite low number of parameters, these times-series are produced. The starting and final points are known, the evolution between them is drawn thanks to a logistic equation. A key characteristic is that the climatic variability is not taken into account. It would have necessitated defining the impact of variables (temperature, water, light, etc.), which are not implicated in this type of constrained prediction. Nevertheless, we assume that except in very particular cases, this variability does not have any impact on the economic results: on a whole revolution (20 to 60 years), bad weather years are compensated by good weather ones, as we are not interested in year-by-year results but final profitability and global evolution of financial results. Because of discounting, climate would only have a strong effect SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

79 if bad weather years were concentrated in a specific part of the revolution, which is very unlikely to happen. Notations We use the words forestry and forest trees for all types of pure trees plantation, even when the initial density is very low, such as for walnut. A distinction is made, in forestry and agroforestry, between the trees which are cut at thinnings and the trees which are maintained until last felling: the firsts are called thinned trees, the others felled trees. We call timber the bole of the tree, which has the highest commercial value. The same word is used for the thinned trees, even if the bole is often too small to be sold as good timber. V F is the individual forest tree timber volume at forestry reference density. V AF is the individual agroforest tree timber volume, depending on the density. Vmax AF is the maximum individual agroforest tree timber volume. Parameters Parameters per tree species - D C, the critical agroforestry density, i.e. the density at which the tree growth potential is attained: the individual agroforest tree timber volume is equal to Vmax AF, the trees cannot be bigger, even at lower densities. - TGA, the coefficient of individual Tree timber volume Growth Acceleration in low density AF conditions, or Tree Growth Acceleration; e.g. 1,2 indicates that the individual agroforest tree timber volume at a lower or equal density than D C will be 20 % bigger than the one of a forest tree, due to the positive impact of both low density and intercropping (exceeds of nitrogen, less competition than the perennial vegetation classically established between forest trees, etc ). - Timber To Biomass in forestry, e.g. the timber contribution to the total biomass of a young forest tree (TTB young-f ) and of a felled forest tree (TTB fell-f ); - Timber To Biomass of a felled agroforest tree (TTB fell-af ); - maximum value for the forestry ratio: biomass of all the thinned trees/biomass of all the felled trees; - individual tree timber volume of the agroforest tree at thinning. Parameters of the logistic curves - curvature and inflexion for the individual forest tree timber volume, for the individual agroforest tree timber volume; - curvature and inflexion for the height of the forest trees, of the agroforest trees; - curvature for the intercrop yields. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

80 Parameters used only as Farm-sAFe entries 2 Entries - final tree height (same in forestry and agroforestry); - maximum bole height (same in forestry and agroforestry); - fixed value of the ratio: firewood volume/timber volume in forestry, in agroforestry. - arable rotation, reference yield and threshold yield for profitability for every crop; - tree species, revolution duration (60 years maximum); - forestry: reference production, initial density, years of thinnings (maximum 5) and numbers of thinned trees; - agroforestry: initial density, number of trees cut in the unique thinning, plot design (distance between tree lines, initial width of the intercropped alley, width of the intercropped alley reduction step); - LER-biomass aimed. The generation of data-sets The first step is the generation of the time-series of the monocropping systems: The time-series of pure agricultural yields are produced simply by repeating the reference yields as many times as necessary to last the duration of the revolution. The time series of the timber production of the felled trees are generated with the following logistic equation: Y t = Y 1 + T initial t Y inf lexion final courbure + Y final where Y t is the value of Y at year ; Y initial and Y final are the initial and final values of Y; T inflexion is the inflexion date (end of linear growth). Y initial is equal to zero and Y final to any value, as the curve is then distended in order to go through a point {X ;Y }: X is the date of fell of the trees and Y is the reference production (in m3/ha of timber at felling). For forestry, 3 other time series are generated : 2 These three parameters are not used in the generation of tree production data-sets (timber), but they are needed as entries for Farm-sAFe (tree height and production of firewood). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

81 - The timber production of the thinned trees3, as it is considered that they can be smaller than the felled trees. The same logistic equation is used, with an Y calculated in function of 2 constraints: (i) thinned tree timber volume felled tree timber volume. (ii) the parameter maximum value for the ratio: biomass of all the thinned trees/biomass of all the felled trees - The biomass of both the felled and the thinned trees, thanks to the ratio Timber To Biomass. We assume that if TTB F may vary with time t, it is a linear variation: TTB F TTB TTB T fell F young F () t = t + TTByoung F where T is the revolution duration. The biomass of the felled trees and of the thinned trees is thus calculated by dividing their respective timber time series by TTB F (t). The Relative Areas calculated in function of the Tree Growth Acceleration: The coefficient of individual Tree timber volume Growth Acceleration in low density AF conditions, or Tree Growth Acceleration (TGA), permits the calculation of the agroforest tree timber volume: - At D D C, V AF = Vmax AF - At D = D F, V AF = V F - D > D F is not possible - At D C < D < D F, V AF = V F VF V max + D DF DC AF V max AF VF DF DF DC Where: D, D C and D F are the actual density, the critical density and the forest density V AF, V F and Vmax AF are the actual agroforest tree timber volume, the forest tree timber volume and the maximum agroforest tree timber volume, with Vmax AF = TGA x V F On the basis of the final densities in forestry and agroforestry, the forestry RA- products can then be deduced. With TTB fell-af, we easily know the agroforest trees biomass at felling. With regards to the low initial density in agroforestry, we assume that the thinned trees grow as well as the felled trees: the thinning is early enough to avoid a strong effect of competition, 3 There is only one time series for all the thinnings: late-thinned trees have the same rate of growth as early-thinned trees. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

82 thus the individual thinned tree timber volume is the same as the one of a felled tree at that time. And as the number of thinned trees is low and the thinning quite early, the volume of thinned biomass is poor enough to permit us to consider a fixed TTB AF in time. Thus the volume of thinned biomass in agroforestry is calculated by dividing the thinned timber production by TTB fell-af. The forestry RA-biomass can then be calculated. The arable RA-biomass is deduced in function of the aimed LER-biomass. It is equal to the arable RA-products, as we assume that the proportion of grain in the biomass of the crop is the same in agriculture and in agroforestry. The generation of the agroforestry data-sets: The agroforestry timber time-series are generated with the same logistic equation: Y is then the forestry reference production multiplied by the forestry RA-products. Until the thinning, the volume of timber of the thinned trees is taken into account simply by adding the equivalent number of trees with the same individual tree timber volume. The intercrop time-series are also generated with this logistic equation, with an Y final equal to 0: one time-series per crop of the rotation (maize, wheat, oilseed, etc...). For each crop, the curve is adjusted in function of the threshold yield and the width of the intercropped alley reduction step: as the yield per total ha decreases with time due to tree growth and increasing light competition, we assume that the cropped area is reduced by successive steps (see Table 79). A reduction of the width of the intercropped alley happens every time the yield per cropped ha passes under an economically defined threshold. The last reduction corresponds to the suppression of the intercrop. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

83 w Table 79: chronological schema of the intercropped area in the alley in function of tree growth. The width of the intercropped strip (w) is reduced at t1 and t2 in order to increase the mean yield per cropped ha. Its next reduction at t3 corresponds to the suppression of the intercrop. In the generator, up to 6 reductions can be made. The intercrop curves are adjusted by modifying their inflexion date so that the sum of the intercrop productions is equal to the crop reference yield multiplied by the arable RAproducts. The intercrop time-series are then mixed according to the arable rotation to obtain a single time-series. The same tree height curve time series in forestry and agroforestry A last time-series is generated for both forest and agroforest trees : their height growth. It is not used in the timber volume calculation, but this time-series is needed in Farm-sAFe for its autoprune function. We use the Boltzmann logistic equation : Y Y initial final ( t) = + Yfinal Y t t Tinf 1+ e curvature Y lexion As for the timber time-series, Y initial is equal to zero and Y final to any value, as the curve is distended in order to go through a point {X ;Y } : X is the date of fell of the trees and Y is the aimed height. ( = 0) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

84 Annex 2: Labour, revenues and costs in the 3 types of farms Crop Annual labour (h/ha) Price ( /t) Single Farm Payment ( /ha) Variable costs ( /ha) Assignabl e fixed costs ( /ha) wheat 6, 110 (straw 30 /t) Hy-Lc oilseed 5, set aside 1, wheat (straw 30 /t) Ly-Lc oilseed 5, sunflower 5, set aside 1, wheat 7 102,10 (straw 30 /t) Hy-Hc oilseed 5, maize 7 85, set aside 1, SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

85 Annex 3: Economic data relative to monocropped or intercropped walnut, wild cherry and poplar in the 3 farms Tree timber standing value Standing value ( /m3) Tree timber volume (m3/tree) Walnut Wild cherry Poplar thinned trees felled trees thinned trees felled trees felled trees SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

86 INRA Report Establishment costs Cost of plant Cost of individual tree protection Labour for ground preparation Labour for full weeding Labour for marking out Labour for planting trees Labour for tree protection Labour for localised weeding ( /tree) ( /tree) (h/ha) (h/ha) (h/ha) (min/tree) (min/tree) (min/tree) agroforest walnut forest walnut agroforest wild cherry forest wild cherry agroforest poplar forest poplar Maintenance and pruning costs Weeding period Annual labour for weeding Annual cost of herbicide for weeding Labour for annual grass sward maintenance Materials for annual grass sward maintenance Height at first prune Minutes per tree at first prune Height at last prune Minutes per tree at last prune Removal of pruning (years) (min/tree) ( /tree) (h/ha) ( /ha) (m) (min/tree) (m) (min/tree) (min/tree) agroforest walnut forest walnut agroforest wild cherry forest wild cherry agroforest poplar forest poplar Labour for thinning and felling Thinnings Clear felling Marking up & labour Removal of tree Labour Removal of tree (min/tree) (min/tree) (min/tree) (min/tree) agroforest walnut forest walnut agroforest wild cherry forest wild cherry agroforest poplar forest poplar Administrative costs In agroforestry, the land tax is the same as in an agricultural plot. It was thus applied to the tree strips. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

87 INRA Report Land tax Insurance ( /ha) ( /ha) Hy-Lc AF plot (agricultural tax) (Centre) forestry plot Hy-Hc (Franche- AF plot (agricultural tax) Comté) forestry plot Ly-Lc (Poitou- AF plot (agricultural tax) Charentes) forestry plot WP10. Project co-ordination INRA-System administered the SAFE web site during the entire SAFE project. The SAFE web site popularity increased a lot since the last 6 months, thank to a good communication on the project (extension papers, member participation on international conferences etc... ) Table 80: Safe web site public section visits progression from May 2002 to January 2005 These documents have been published on the public section of the safe web site under Agroforestry > extension papers and Safe project > Scientific publications SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

88 INRA Report Table 81: French extension paper list on the Safe web site French English Spanish German Extension papers Scientific Publications 11 1 Oral presentations 6 Posters 7 Table 82: Number of documents, by languages, under the public section of safe web site SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

89 INRA Report Visitor Number of hits GOOGLE 4259 INRA - Montpellier 549 INRA - Others 502 Searching engine 477 CIRAD 367 French Ministry of Agriculture 155 University of Florida 142 ENITAB 135 Cemagref 123 Napier University - Edinburgh 102 CNRS - INST 81 Dumrath & Fassnacht KG 76 Chambre Agriculture Ille et Vilaine 72 Ecole Supérieure Agriculture Angers 71 Universidad Complutense de Madrid 65 University of Central Lancashire 64 CNRS 62 Université du Havre 63 Universitaet Hohenheim 53 Commission of the European Communities 50 Faculte des Sciences agronomiques de Gembloux 48 Forest Research Institute Budapest 47 SPIEGEL 45 Universidad Politecnica de Madrid 43 Rectorat de Bordeaux 42 ENFA Toulouse 41 Universite de Laval 41 Université de Moncton 38 CTIFL 37 Agropolis - Montpellier 35 Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Network 35 Chambre départementale agriculture du Doubs 35 University Bergakademie Freiberg 33 Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich 32 Rectorat de académie de Bordeaux 32 ACTA Informatique 28 ENSAT 45 TU Bergakademie Freiberg 28 Conseil général de Hérault 26 Universität Hannover 26 Universidad de Burgos 26 Universite Catholique de Louvain 25 Conseil Regional du Languedoc Roussillon 25 University of Maribor 24 Universite Montpellier I 22 Table 83: 50 most frequent visitors (except consortium members) of the safe web site since March 2003 SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

90 INRA Report 2 Contractor 1: INRA-AMAP Partner: 1: INRA-AMAP Institute: AMAP: UMR Botanique et Bioinformatique de l Architecture des Plantes; TA 40/PS2; Montpellier cedex 5 Scientific team Name Tel Fax Auclair Daniel auclair@cirad.fr Caraglio Yves caraglio@cirad.fr de Coligny François coligny@cirad.fr Dauzat Jean dauzat@cirad.fr Sabatier Sylvie sylvieannabel.sabatier@cirad.fr Parveaud Claude-Éric parveaud@cirad.fr Within the UMR AMAP (joint research unit), Daniel Auclair (DR2), François de Coligny (IR2) and Claude-Éric Parveaud (BTH) are INRA scientists, whereas Yves Caraglio, Jean Dauzat and Sylvie Sabatier are members of CIRAD. Several other members of AMAP have partly contributed both to the botanical aspects of the project (Éric Nicolini) and the software development (Frédéric Boudon, Jean-François Barczi, Christophe Godin, Christophe Pradal). Several tools used within the SAFE project are still under development. Objectives The main role of AMAP was to build detailed simulation mock-ups of trees, to help calibrate the tree-crop models. Detailed mock-ups of three important tree species for SAFE were to be provided, based on measurements in experimental situations. These mock-ups were then to be used as reference descriptors of use of space by trees, in order to test the validity of the Hi-sAFe model. The species to be studied in detail are Prunus avium, Populus sp., and Juglans nigra x regia. AMAP methodology has been briefly described in the first year report. In the first year, data collection and parameter estimations had been performed for Wild Cherry and Hybrid Walnut. The main results of the second year concerned AMAPsim parameters. In the third year, the parameters for AMAPsim tree simulations were improved, and the 3 D tree mock-ups were used for validation of more general models. In this last period the results obtained during the first three years were used i) for estimating the effect of climatic variations on growth fluctuations of Hybrid Walnut, and ii) to estimate parameters for Hi-sAFe and validate the mock-ups. The final reports for Milestone 7: Mock-ups of virtual trees for 3 key species : Prunus avium, Populus, Juglans nigraxregia were published. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

91 INRA Report Time spent on the different workpackages Time spent on the different workpackages during the fourth year Contribution to workpackages Name WP4 WP6 Total Auclair Daniel Caraglio Yves de Coligny François 0.0 Dauzat Jean Sabatier Sylvie Parveaud Claude-Éric Total WP4. Above-ground interactions (0.6 person-months) Climate effect on the growth of hybrid Walnut (Juglans nigra x regia ) The aim of this study is to estimate the climatic intra- and inter-annual variations on the inter-annual fluctuations of the growth of Walnuts and the synchronism of individuals, to improve the hybrid Walnut mock-ups. A sample of twenty-six 9-year-old hybrid Walnut trees that grew in the agroforestry experimental area of Restinclières (Prades-le-Lez, Hérault) were analysed. For each successive annual shoot along the main stem (produced from 1994 up to 2003), the length, leaf number, diameter, branch number and basal diameter, and tree ring area have been collected. These data are recorded as multivariate sequences. The climatic data, minimum and maximum temperature, rainfall and global radiance, are studied at a daily scale. The statistical method of analysis is based in the combination of a multiphasic modelling and a linear mixed modelling, following the method described by Véra et al. (In: 4 th International Workshop on Functional-Structural plant Models, 7-11 June 2004, Montpellier, France). This method allows to relate primary growth (shoot extension) and secondary growth (tree ring) to climatic and ontogenetic factors. The final analysis and results have been delayed, due to the maternity leave of the principal investigator (Sylvie Sabatier): they will become available shortly. WP6. Modelling (5.6 person-months) The AMAP team contributed to the above-ground modelling by using detailed 3-D tree mock-ups to estimate allometry parameters within the tree crown, to feed into the general models: Verification of the pipe-model theory (Shinozaki et al. 1964); Estimation of the volume occupied by the leaves according to the crown representation scale; Estimation of the proportion of woody volume of Hybrid Walnuts between stem and branches. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

92 INRA Report The results are presented in Appendix (in French). The general conclusions are the following: The pipe-model theory is verified at the global scale, with a regression coefficient similar for the three trees studied. But there are differences at the branch or branchlet scale, within individual tree crowns, which could be related to position in the crown, and/or to branch age. No simple relation could be found at this scale. According to the simplification scale, the estimated volume occupied by the leaves can vary by a factor 2: a volume at the whole crown scale can be twice the estimated volume at the scale of an annual growth unit, the branch scale being intermediate. This ratio can increase with time, in conjunction with the larger space unoccupied by leaves. Differences between trees can also be explained by the proportion of short shoots relative to long shoots, which is highly variable in Hybrid Walnut. For a total woody volume of respectively 0.03 m 3 / 0.04 m 3 / 0.10 m 3, the proportion of volume in the bole (free of branches) was 0.27 / 0.31 / Dissemination Participation in meetings and workshops The AMAP team pursues its implication in various workshops and scientific research groups: INRA Club modélisation ; CAPSIS community ; INRA-EFPA Growth and Dynamics group ; INRA ADD (Agriculture and sustainable development) ; SEAMLESS: System for Environmental and Agricultural Modelling - Linking European Science and Society.; SAFODS: Smallholder Agroforestry Options for Degraded Soils ; IUFRO group (temperate agroforestry). Scientific publications Parveaud C.E., Chopard J., Auclair D Reconstruction of foliage geometry on 3D virtual plants in order to compute radiative balance. In: XXII IUFRO World Congress, 08-13/08/2005, Brisbane, AUS. Poster session 056 "Modelling forest production - does scale matter?". Poster paper, accepted. Several scientific publications are in preparation. Utilisation de maquettes architecturales de Noyers (in French) hybrides pour Hi-sAFe. (in French) By Claude-Eric Parveaud SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

93 INRA Report Table 84: Représentation de la couronne du noyer 162 à 9 ans (année 2003) à l échelle foliaire. Les feuilles bleues sont portées par des pousses d une longueur inférieure ou égale à 2cm. Un carreau au sol représente une surface de 1m² A. Vérification de l hypothèse du pipe model sur trois noyers hybrides âgés de 9 ans 1. Introduction Le pipe model est l une des méthodes les plus communément utilisée pour distribuer les ressources entre le feuillage et la structure ligneuse dans les modèles mécanistes («process-based model»). A l origine, il s agit d un modèle purement morphologique. L hypothèse du pipe model (Shinozaki et al. 1964) considère qu il existe une relation linéaire (de pente η) entre la biomasse foliaire ou la surface foliaire et la surface conductrice qui alimente l ensemble des feuilles considérées. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

94 INRA Report Un grand nombre d articles montrent que cette hypothèse est parfois vérifiée, parfois réfutée. La conclusion de ces travaux empiriques est que la réponse dépend de l espèce considérée (Sievänen et al. 2000). Différentes améliorations ont été apportées à cette hypothèse. Dans certains modèles, le paramètre η est une variable qui dépend de la hauteur dans l arbre. Berninger et al. (1995) propose d écrire η comme une fonction de l évapotranspiration potentielle et teste cette relation sur des pins sylvestre situés le long d un gradient nord-sud en Europe (Berninger et al. 1995), (Berninger et al. 1997). L objectif de ce travail est de vérifier si (i) les noyers hybrides répondent à l hypothèse du pipe model et (ii) de préciser cette relation en fonction de l ordre de ramification considéré (branches, rameaux). Pour répondre à cette question, nous utiliserons trois noyers dont nous avons mesurés la topologie et le diamètre basal des pousses annuelles en L utilisation de ces trois maquettes architecturales est possible car (i) nous avons les données nécessaires pour calculer η et (ii) les surfaces foliaires des maquettes ne sont pas décrites comme fonction du diamètre des pousses porteuses. En effet, si tel était le cas, tester cette hypothèse reviendrait à tester ce que nous introduisons comme paramètre à l entrée du modèle pour générer les maquettes, ce qui n a aucun intérêt. 2. Matériels et Méthodes 2.a. Matériel biologique Trois noyers (tableau 1, figure 1) ont été mesurés en 2003 et 2004 afin de reproduire les arbres tels qu ils étaient durant la saison de croissance Ils sont âgés de 9 ans en Nota : Par la suite, ne pas tenir compte du suffixe *P03 dans les figures. Tableau 1 : Caractéristiques divers des trois noyers hybrides étudiés en Parcelle forestière forestière agroforestière Hauteur (m) Nombre de feuilles Surface foliaire totale (m²) Année de première floraison nombre pousses courtes / nombre de pousses longues SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

95 INRA Report Table 85 : Représentation 3D des noyers hybrides 3311, 3610 et 162 en Le trait noir représente une hauteur de un mètre. Les feuilles positionnées sur des pousses longues sont vertes, les feuilles positionnées sur des pousses courtes (longueur 2cm) sont bleues. 2.b. Modélisation de la surface foliaire des maquettes architecturales La surface (Sf) des symboles feuilles est fonction de la longueur de la pousse (L) et du rang relatif de la feuille (r) sur la pousse. Sf est exprimée en cm² et est telle que : si L [cm] 2.0 cm alors Sf(r) = sinon Sf(r) = 442.7r r² r Donc r [0 ; 1], Sf(r) [140.0, 344.9] Cette relation a été obtenue à partir de mesures de surface foliaire (feuilles numérisées puis analysées avec Optimas 6.5) réalisées sur un échantillon de 108 feuilles en c. Représentation des maquettes et extraction des résultats Les maquettes sont construites grâce au logiciel AMAPmod (Godin et al. 1997) à partir d informations topologiques et géométriques issues de la digitalisation des structures ligneuses (Godin et al. 1999). 3. Résultats 3.a. Vérification de l hypothèse du pipe model à l échelle des branches La figure 2 représente la somme de la surface foliaire portée par chacune des branches en fonction de la surface de la section de ces branches. Les trois individus sont représentés. Les droites sont des régressions linéaires effectuées sur les nuages de points en conservant l intégralité des données. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

96 INRA Report Total leaf area (m²) P P03 162P03 Linéaire (162P03) Linéaire (3610P03) Linéaire (3311P03) y = 0.44x R 2 = 0.91 y = 0.41x R 2 = 0.93 y = 0.38x R 2 = Cross sectional area (cm²) Table 86 : Somme de la surface foliaire portée par les branches en fonction de la surface de la section des branches. Une droite de régression est tracée pour chaque individu. n (3311P03) = 50 ; n (3610P03) = 38 ; n (162P03) = 30 A l échelle des branches, la régression linéaire entre la surface foliaire totale et la surface de la section des branches pour chaque individu est de bonne qualité (r² 0.91). La valeur de η (la pente) est proche entre les trois individus. 3.b. Vérification de l hypothèse du pipe model à l échelle des branches individu 3311 La figure 3 est identique à la figure 2 mais ne représente que l individu L âge de la pousse annuelle sur laquelle s insère la branche est différencié par des couleurs différentes. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

97 INRA Report Total leaf area (m²) y = 0.41x ; R 2 = 0.92 y = 0.35x ; R 2 = 0.98 y = 0.34x ; R 2 = 0.97 y = 0.30x ; R 2 = 0.97 y = 0.39x ; R 2 = Linéaire (1998) Linéaire (1999) Linéaire (2000) Linéaire (2001) Linéaire (2002) Cross sectional area (cm²) Table 87 Somme de la surface foliaire portée par les branches en fonction de la surface de la section des branches. Individu Une droite de régression est tracée pour chaque âge des branches. L âge est celui de la pousse annuelle sur laquelle s insère la branche. n (1998) = 9 ; n (1999) = 9 ; n (2000) = 11 ; n (2001) = 5 ; n (2002) = c. Vérification de l hypothèse du pipe model à l échelle des branches individu 3610 La figure 4 est identique à la figure 3 mais ne représente que l individu Les branches situées sur la pousse 2002 du tronc ne sont représentées que par 2 individus (floraison terminale). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

98 INRA Report Total leaf area (m²) y = 0.44x ; R 2 = 0.98 y = 0.47x ; R 2 = 0.99 y = 0.32x ; R 2 = 0.87 y = 0.43x ; R 2 = 0.85 y = 0.37x ; R 2 = Linéaire (1998) Linéaire (1999) 2 Linéaire (2000) 1 Linéaire (2001) Linéaire (2002) Cross sectional area (cm²) Table 88 : Somme de la surface foliaire portée par les branches en fonction de la surface de la section des branches. Individu Une droite de régression est tracée pour chaque âge des branches. L âge est celui de la pousse annuelle sur laquelle s insère la branche. n (1998) = 11 ; n (1999) = 4 ; n (2000) = 12 ; n (2001) = 8 ; n (2002) = 2. 3.d. Vérification de l hypothèse du pipe model à l échelle des branches individu 162 La figure 5 est identique à la figure 3 mais ne représente que l individu 162. Les branches situées sur la pousse 1997 du tronc ne sont représentées que par 2 individus. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

99 INRA Report 14 Total leaf area (m²) y = 0.24x ; R 2 = 0.65 y = 0.48x ; R 2 = 0.90 y = 0.40x ; R 2 = 0.94 y = 0.46x ; R 2 = Linéaire (1997) Linéaire (1998) Linéaire (1999) Linéaire (2000) Cross sectional area (cm²) Table 89 : Somme de la surface foliaire portée par les branches en fonction de la surface de la section des branches. Individu 162. Une droite de régression est tracée pour chaque âge des branches. L âge est celui de la pousse annuelle sur laquelle s insère la branche. n (1997) = 2 ; n (1998) = 7 ; n (1999) = 9 ; n (2000) = Discussion Pipe model à l échelle des branches La figure 2 suggère que l hypothèse du pipe model se vérifie à l échelle des branches sur les trois noyers étudiés. La pente η de la régression linéaire est très proche entre les trois noyers. Bien que ces arbres aient des profils de couronne différents (figure 1) et un ratio «nombre de pousse courtes/nombre de pousses longues» différent, il est intéressant de constater que la pente η de la régression linéaire est très proche entre ces trois individus. Pipe model en fonction de la position des branches dans la couronne Lorsque l on calcul η en fonction de la position des branches sur le tronc, on observe des réponses différentes en fonction des individus. Sur l individu 3311 (figure 3), η diminue avec l âge de la branche : pour une même surface de section de branche, les branches hautes portent moins de surface foliaire que les branches basses. La relation entre η et la position des branches sur le tronc est plus confuse sur les individus 3610 et 162. Sur le 3610, les valeurs de η sont similaires quelque soit la position des branches sur le tronc, sauf pour les branches situées sur 2000 où η est plus faible (η = 0.32). Deux valeurs (entourées en bleues) semblent à l origine de cette différence. Quelle explication? Rester prudent dans l interprétation de cette différence car le nuage est plus étalé que pour les autres années (r² plus faible). Quant au 162, les SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

100 INRA Report valeurs de η oscillent entre 0.40 et 0.48 mais sans relation directe avec l âge de la branche à priori. Remarques et premières conclusions L hypothèse du pipe model se vérifie à l échelle des branches mais pas à l échelle de l ensemble des rameaux. Il existe un effet position des branches sur les valeurs de η, mais on n observe pas de relations simples pour expliquer ces variations dans les analyses présentées ici. B. Évaluation du volume occupé par les feuilles en fonction de l échelle de représentation de la couronne 1. Introduction Afin de pouvoir calculer simplement et rapidement un bilan radiatif sur des couronnes d arbres, les modèles de transfert radiatif définissent une représentation géométrique simplifiée de la couronne. Dans Hi-sAFe, la couronne est représentée par un ellipsoïde de révolution. Cette simplification géométrique engendre probablement une erreur au niveau de l estimation du volume de la couronne, ce qui se répercute sur le calcul du rayonnement intercepté par celle-ci. Dans un premier temps, nous ne travaillerons que sur le volume de la couronne. Une des manières d évaluer cette erreur est de suivre l évolution du volume de la couronne en fonction de l échelle de simplification de celle-ci. C est ce qui a été effectué sur deux noyers hybrides âgés de 7, 8 et 9 ans et sur un noyer âgé de 9 ans. 2. Matériels et Méthodes Le volume occupé par le feuillage a été évalué par le modèle ellipsoïdal. Chaque ellipsoïde est calculé à partir des axes d inertie du nuage de feuilles considérées. Le centre de l ellipsoïde est l isobarycentre du nuage de feuilles. Les axes de l ellipsoïde caractérisent donc l orientation générale de la forme. L implémentation de ces algorithmes dans AMAPmod a été très récemment effectuée par F. Boudon (2004) lors de sa thèse, en collaboration avec C. Godin et C. Pradal. Ces outils sont actuellement en cours de développement. Les trois noyers présentés précédemment ont été utilisés. Les maquettes des noyers 3311 et 3610 permettent de suivre l évolution des caractéristiques de la couronne à 7, 8 et 9 ans. Le noyer 162 n est représenté qu à 9 ans. Le volume du feuillage a été évalué à trois échelles : la couronne (C), les branches (B) et les pousses annuelles (PA) (figure 6). Le volume de feuillage à l échelle C est approché par le volume de l ellipsoïde (figure 6b) ; le volume de feuillage à l échelle B et PA est approché par la somme du volumes des ellipsoïdes à l échelle considérée (figure 6 c et d). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

101 INRA Report a b c d Table 90 Représentation de la couronne du noyer 3311 à 9 ans. Représentation des feuilles uniquement (a) et des ellipsoïdes à l échelle de la couronne (b), des branches (c) et des pousses annuelles (d). Les feuilles vertes sont portées par des pousses longues et les feuilles bleues par des pousses courtes. Chaque carré au sol représente une surface de 1m². Soit (Va)i le volume de feuillage de l ellipsoïde i calculé à l échelle a et (Vb)j le volume de feuillage de l ellipsoïde j calculé à l échelle b. Par la suite, on pose : i δ (a/b) = j ( Va) ( Vb) Si δ(a/b) > 1, il existe un espace vide (non occupé par le feuillage) à l échelle a. Inversement, si δ(a/b) < 1, les volumes à l échelle b se recoupent. En revanche, si δ(a/b) 1, cela ne signifie pas forcement qu il n existe pas d espace vide dans a car les volumes à l échelle b peuvent se recouper. Ce ratio a été calculé pour représenter de manière synthétique le facteur multiplicatif du volume occupé par le feuillage lorsque l on passe d une échelle à une autre. 3. Premiers résultats et discussion Les figures 7 et 8 représentent l évolution du volume de feuillage en fonction de l'échelle macroscopique de représentation de la couronne et de l'âge du noyer (3311 et 3610 respectivement). i j SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

102 INRA Report Volume (m 3 ) couronne branches pousses Âge du noyer Table 91 Évolution du volume de feuillage (m 3 ) en fonction de l'échelle macroscopique de représentation de la couronne et de l'âge du noyer. Calcul du volume avec le modèle ellipsoïdal. Noyer Volume (m 3 ) couronne branches pousses Âge du noyer Table 92 Évolution du volume de feuillage (m 3 ) en fonction de l'échelle macroscopique de représentation de la couronne et de l'âge du noyer. Calcul du volume avec le modèle ellipsoïdal. Noyer couronne branches pousses 35 Volume (m 3 ) Échelle de représentation Table 93 Évolution du volume de feuillage (m 3 ) en fonction de l'échelle macroscopique de représentation de la couronne. Calcul du volume avec le modèle ellipsoïdal. Noyer 162 Quelque soit l échelle, le volume total de feuillage augmente avec l âge de l arbre (figures 7 et 8). Sur le noyer 3311, le volume de la couronne calculé à l échelle C, B et SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

103 INRA Report PA augmente d un facteur 4.4, 4.0 et 2.5 respectivement entre 7 et 9 ans. En revanche, ce même facteur calculé sur le noyer 3610 est de 3.2, 4.5 et 6.5. La différence entre les deux individus à l échelle PA est importante (2.5 et 6.5). Elle s explique sans doute par une différence du ratio pousses longues/pousses courtes entre ces deux individus. En effet, le noyer 3610 à 9 ans est composé d un grand nombre de pousses courtes (tableau 1) du fait de la floraison à 7 ans. Or le volume occupé par le feuillage à l échelle des PA est égal à la somme du volume des ellipsoïdes englobant les feuilles. Le nombre de pousses courtes étant important, il existe un grand nombre de petits ellipsoïdes englobant les pousses courtes avec chacun un volume ε (égale au volume de «vide» laissé entre les feuilles et l ellipse). Si ε est indépendant de la taille de l ellipse, alors le volume calculé à l échelle des PA augmente artificiellement en sommant le volume des ellipsoïdes. La figure 10 représente l évolution du ratio δ. 2.5 d(b/c) 3311 d(pa/b) 3311 d(b/c) 3610 d(pa/b) 3610 d(b/c) 162 d(pa/b) ratio δ Âge du noyer Table 94 Évolution du ratio δ en fonction de l'échelle macroscopique de représentation de la couronne (et de l âge des arbres pour les noyers 3311 et 3610).Le ratio δ suit une tendance opposée pour les deux individus 3311 et Pour le noyer 3311, δ augmente avec l'âge, ce qui suggère qu au cours de la croissance, l espace non occupé par le feuillage augmente à l échelle de la couronne ou des branches. En revanche, le résultat contraire observé sur le noyer 3610 suggère que l espace non occupé par le feuillage diminue. Ce résultat peut peut-être s expliquer par l augmentation du nombre de pousses courtes (suite à la floraison en 2001) qui comble les espaces libres avec les rosettes de feuilles portées par les pousses courtes. Ces résultats doivent donc être pris avec précaution et demande confirmation et discussion. Il suggère également le besoin de définir un indicateur tel δ que j ai défini rapidement, qui puisse prendre en considération l agencement des entités entre-elles. Ce travail pourrait être complémenté en utilisant différents modèles de simplification pour évaluer le volume occupé par le feuillage. C. Calcul du biovolume ligneux des noyers 3311, 3610 et Objectif Dans le modèle Hi-sAFe, l allocation du carbone dans la couronne est un phénomène paramétré par le rapport entre le biovolume de la bille de pied et le biovolume ligneux de SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

104 INRA Report l'arbre (Vb/Va). Ce ratio est difficile à calculer sur le terrain et implique souvent des mesures destructrices. L objectif de ce travail était simplement de déterminer ce ratio en utilisant les maquettes architecturales des noyers 3311, 3610 et 162 pour lesquels la longueur et le diamètre des pousses annuelles avaient été mesurés. 2. Résultats Les résultas sont indiqués dans le tableau 2. Les maquettes utilisées sont représentées dans la figure 11. Les résultats que la bille représente 24 à 31% du biovolume ligneux total de l arbre. Tableau 2 : Ratio entre le biovolume de la bille de pied et le biovolume ligneux des noyers 3311, 3610 et 162 (Vb/Va), et volume ligneux total des individus (exprimé en m 3 ). Les arbres sont âgés de 9 ans. Noyers hybrides Vb/Va Volume ligneux total (m3) Table 95 : Représentation du squelette ligneux des trois maquettes architecturales des noyers 3311 (a), 3610 (b) et 162 (c) âgés de 9 ans. La ligne en pointillés représente la limite entre la bille et le houppier utilisé dans le calcul du ration Vb/Va. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

105 INRA Report ReferencesBarthélémy, D. (2003). Botanical background for plant architecture analysis and modeling. Plant growth modeling and application - Proceedings - PMA03. B. G. Hu and M. Jaeger. Beijing, Chine, Tsinghua University Press, Springer: Berninger, F., M. Menccucini, et al. (1995). "Evaporative demand determines branchiness in Scots pine." Oecologia 102: Berninger, F. and E. Nikinmaa (1997). "Implications of varying pipe model relationships on Scots Pine growth in different climates." Functional Ecology 11: Boudon, F. (2004). Représentation géométriques multi-échelles de l'architecture des plantes, Université Montpellier II: 176p. Godin, C., E. Costes, et al. (1997). "Exploring plant topological structure with the AMAPmod software : an outline." Silva Fennica 31: Godin, C., E. Costes, et al. (1999). "A method for descritibing plant architecture which integrates topology and geometry." Annals of Botany 84: Shinozaki, K., K. Yoda, et al. (1964). "A quantitative analysis of plant form - the pipe model theory." Japanese Journal of Ecology 14: Sievänen, R., E. Nikinmaa, et al. (2000). "Components of functional-structural tree models." Annals of Forest Science 57: SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

106 INRA Report 3 Contractor 1: INRA UAFP Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 1 : INRA UAFP (FRANCE) UMR DYNAFOR, BP 27, Castanet Tolosan cedex, France (Unité Agroforesterie et Forêt Paysanne belongs to UMR DYNAFOR since 1st january 2003 (same address) Scientific team and time spent on the WPs Principal investigators Name Unit Tél Fax Dr Cabanettes A. DYNAFOR cabanett@toulouse.inra.fr Mr Gavaland A. DYNAFOR gavaland@toulouse.inra.fr Technical assistance Laurent Burnel, Jérôme Willm and Adrien Montupet Time spent on the different workpackages during the third year Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP10 Total Cabanettes A Gavaland A Total TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE : Laurent Burnel, Jérôme Willm and Adrien Montupet TIME SPENT ON THE DIFFERENT WORKPACKAGES (man.month) Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP10 Total Cabanettes A Gavaland A Total Contribution to workpackages WP3: Silvoarable experimental network (2.1 persons-month) Report of field measurements and analysis of the first results During the 6 last months of the SAFE project, research activities of DYNAFOR team consisted in: -achieving root description of two black walnut trees at Les Eduts (one in a silvo-arable field and one in a forest stand) as mentioned in the previous report SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

107 INRA Report -measuring intercrop rape samples from Grazac previously harvested ( /2004) -harvesting and measuring intercrop maize samples at Pamiers -analyzing the above experimental data. All these activities and the main related results are presented below. Moreover, one article 4 submitted on 23 th july 2004 has been accepted with minor revisions and another one 5 has been submitted during autumn. Final submission of the first article 1 will be performed before the deadline: 16 th march CHIFFLOT V., BERTONI G., CABANETTES A. and GAVALAND A., Beneficial effects of intercropping on the growth and nitrogen status of wild cherry and hybrid walnut trees. Submitted to Agroforestry systems 23 th july. 5 LAMBS L., MULLER E., CHIFFLOT V. and GAVALAND A., Sap flow measurements of wild cherry trees (Prunus avium) in an agroforestry system during a dry summer, South-west of France. Submitted to Annals of Forest Science 15 th November SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

108 INRA Report Root description at Les Eduts Four black walnut trees have been felled in the beginning of 2002 at Les Eduts for stem analysis and root description. Stem analysis has been performed immediately after felling but root description has been delayed for time availability reason. Root description is very time consuming so it has been decided to do it on only two trees, one in a silvo-arable field (AF1, field Foix- Bonnet ) and one in a forest stand (F1, La Foye). Two different methods have been used for the description of AF1 and F1 root systems. Root description of AF1 tree ( /2004) methods The root system has been divided in elementary segments considered as homogeneous for direction. For each segment several parameters have been registered: -distance to the trunk centre of the beginning of the segment -depth to ground surface of the two ends of the segment -diameter of the two ends of the segment -azimuth of the segment Each root has been removed after entire descriptions (of all its segments) in order to avoid confusion between roots. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to describe all the roots because of the difficulty to clear them: the soil was very stony and many roots were very long and reached the middle (or more) of the cultivated alley occupied at the moment by winter wheat. results With this operation, it has been possible to describe 163 root segments of a total length of m and a volume (calculated using equation (1) 6 of m -3. The average diameters of the segments were 46 mm (beginning, range: 180-9) and 35 mm (end, range: 126-2). With the recorded data, it has not been possible yet to calculate the xyz position of the measured segments in order to study the spatial repartition of the roots. Root description of F1 tree ( /2004) 6 equation (1) Volume = 1/3*PI*h*(R²+R*r+r²) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

109 INRA Report methods A 3D digitizer (Picture 1) connected to a computer has been used: By clicking at the beginning and at the end of each elementary segment of the root system, it has been possible to record 3D position of the segment; at the same time, diameter at the two ends of the segment has been measured with a calliper and recorded on the computer. Picture 1: 3D digitizer next to root system of F1 tree Les Eduts After description, the overall root system of F1 tree has been weighed (roots have been weighed separately form stump and taproot); 10 samples have been kept for Dry Matter (%) and density (kg.m -3 ) estimation. The 3D data have been analyzed by Dr F. Danjon (INRA Bordeaux-Pierroton) with AMAPmod software. results 270 roots (269 + stump and taproot) have been observed through the description of 1290 root segments of an average length of 14 cm. The main parameters of the root system (from F. Danjon calculations) are presented in Table 96. Table 96: Main parameters of the F1 tree root system Les Eduts Total root length (m) 177 Total root volume (m3) Stump and taproot volume (m3) Total root volume without stump & tap root (m3) Maximum radial distance from the trunk (m) 4.69 Maximum depth of roots (m) 1.08 SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

110 INRA Report The described root segments were from roots of 2 nd to 6 th order (1 st order is stump and taproot). The average diameters of 2 nd to 6 th order roots were respectively 55.4, 26.2, 18.3, 12.5, and 0.9 mm. Table 97 gives the distribution in number, volume and length of the root systems between the 2 nd to the 6 th order level. It clearly shows that the main part of the root system volume is in the 2 nd and 3 rd order roots; at the opposite, the 2 nd order roots represent a small part in length of the root system comparatively to 3 rd to 5 th order roots. Table 97: Repartition of the F1 root system according to root order (without stump and taproot) Les Eduts From digitizing, 3D views of the root system of F1 tree have been obtained. The comparison between a photograph (Picture 2) and the 3D view with the same orientation (Picture 3) suggests that it is possible to get rather faithful representations with the digitizing technique. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

111 INRA Report Picture 2: Root system of F1 tree (photograph) Les Eduts Picture 3: Root system of F1 tree (from digitizing) 7 - Les Eduts (Picture F. Danjon) It is also possible to analyze the root distribution according to depth and orientation. First observations (Picture 4) suggest that the root distribution of trees in a forest stand such as F1 trees are not dependant on the row direction. It may depend whether distances between two next trees in the row and between the rows are the same (7m in our situation) or not. The repartition of the root biomass in length, volume and number among 8 directions (that is to say eight 45 angles) is presented in Table 98. It appears that about one third of the root system is in the West direction; this is in agreement with picture 4 which shows that a long and big root is in this West direction, An explanation of this distribution could be that dominant wind and rainfall come from the West, this should imply for the trees to have more available water on this side and to develop roots for stability? 7 The different order roots are represented by different colours SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

112 INRA Report Picture 4: Vertical view of the root system of F1 tree (from digitizing) 4 Les Eduts (Picture F. Danjon) Table 98: Root distribution of F1 tree according to 8 directions Les Eduts 35 % % number % volume % length North North- East East South- East South South- West West North- West SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

113 INRA Report DM ratio obtained from the 10 oven-dried root samples is 62.9 %. The volume of these samples has been estimated with equation (1) and a 448 kgdm.m -3 ratio has been obtained. Total weight of the observed root system was 58.9 kg DM (37.9 % from stump and taproot and 62.1 % from the roots). Discussion The repartition of weight between stump and taproot and the other roots of F1 tree is not in agreement with the volume repartition obtained from digitization: stump and taproot represent 37.9 % of the total root system weight and only 18.5 % of the volume. It is likely that the stump and taproot volume has been under-estimated by digitalization because of the difficulty to reach the lower parts and to click at the right position. Nevertheless, another stump and taproot volume estimate can be obtained using its weight and the 448 kg DM.m -3 ratio presented above. The overall root system volume estimate of F1 tree could thus be: (instead of 0.024) = m 3. A part of the root system has not been described and the AF1 and F1 tree root system volumes have probably been underestimated. The underestimation is low for F1 tree because more time has been spent for clearing roots of F1 before description than for AF1 tree and also because F1 tree rooting system was much smaller (about twice smaller) and easier to be described. Nevertheless, the results can be linked with the estimates of the above-ground biomass estimation (presented in 2004 report). Table 99 gathers the results for above-ground and below-ground biomass of AF1 and F1 trees. Table 99: Biomass repartition between above-ground and below-ground compartments of F1 and AF1 trees Les Eduts F1 AF1 DM Kg m 3 % total DM Kg m 3 % total Total NA Bole NA Above-ground Crown NA biomass Total Bole Crown Below-ground DM NA NA biomass Volume Total tree biomass DM NA NA Volume It appears that either in forest stands or in silvo-arable stands, the part of biomass in the bole could approximately be the same (21-22 %) but that the crown biomass could be SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

114 INRA Report less important in the first situation (37-42 % in F1 tree) than in the second one (48 % in AF1 tree); at the opposite, % belowground biomass should be more important in forest stands (36-40 % in F1 tree) than in silvo-arable stands (30 % in AF1 tree). Nevertheless, these first conclusions need to be confirmed by further investigation and to be compared with available results in the scientific literature. Concerning the spatial distribution of tree roots, using the digitizing technique in silvoarable plots would give information on the effect of intercropping on the tree root development. Unfortunately, it is necessary to clear roots previously and this needs a lot of time especially if the soil is stony like at Les Eduts. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

115 INRA Report Intercrop yield measurement at Grazac The yield measurement has been performed with the advises of Mr Garric from CETIOM 8. Methods Rape (variety Toccata) has been settled at Grazac during autumn 2003 (295/2003). Plants countings have been performed twice during the crop season, 309/2003 and 69/2004, and also just before harvest (166/2004). Rape has been harvested on 181/2004 but before, samples have been collected two weeks (166 and 167/2004) before the whole harvest in order to estimate rape yield. Samples for plant counting and samples for yield estimation where the same. At Grazac, intercrop can be located in three kinds of locations: - near wild cherry rows - near hybrid walnut rows - in crop alleys without trees. For each of these kinds of locations, three gradients have been chosen for yield measurements (one in each replication); each gradient consisted in six 1 m² square sample (three at the east and three at the west of a tree (for plots with trees), the centre of the sample squares number 3 and 4, 2 and 5, 1 and 6 being respectively at 1.5 m, 2.75m or 4m distance from the tree as presented in Table 100. Consequently 54 (6 x 3 x 3) gradient samples have been observed. The average DBH and height of the trees in the centre of the gradients were (8.4 cm, 504 cm) and (7.5 cm, 427 cm) respectively for wild cherry and hybrid walnut trees (measurements /2003); concerning wild cherries, the three gradients have been chosen in order to be near the same clone: Monteil. Moreover, nine 1 m² average square samples (3 kinds of location x 3 replications) have been harvested, these average samples being the further as possible from wild cherries, or walnuts, or in the centre of the pure crop plot alleys (Table 100). 8 CETIOM: Centre Technique Interprofessionnel des Oléagineux Métropolitains SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

116 INRA Report Table 100: Rape samples location in the intercropped alleys - Grazac West East sample number : m 0,25m 1m "gradient square sample" 6 metres tree row "average square sample" tree row 10 metres Table 101 gives the map of Grazac field experiment with the 63 (54 + 9) rape samples location within the field. Table 101: Rape samples location at Grazac The harvest has been performed on /2004 (Picture 5 and Picture 6). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

117 INRA Report Picture 5: Rape harvest at Grazac (Stems have been cut with pruning shears) Picture 6: Rape harvest at Grazac (Harvested plants have been put in bags) After harvest, rape samples have been let at the air during two months under a greenhouse with bags open for drying (Picture 7). Then, threshing has been performed with an electric thresher (Picture 8) from 219/2004 to 230/2004. Picture 7: Drying rape samples under a tunnel greenhouse INRA Toulouse Picture 8: Electric thresher used for threshing rape samples (INRA Toulouse) The suction fan of the thresher has not been used during the threshing in order to avoid grain loss because of the very light grain weight of rape. Grain samples have been cleaned afterwards with a sifter and with a small electric fan to blow the bigger impurities SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

118 INRA Report For the 1000 grain weight measurement, grains have been counted with a Numigral (Durant solid State 1800). Thus, from the harvested rape samples, to sub-samples have been obtained after threshing and cleaning: straw (including impurities) and grains. The sub samples have been oven-dried: twice at 80 C during 48 h for straw and only once at 110 C during 72 h for grains. The 1000 grains samples have been oven-dried at 50 C during 72 h. Weighing of samples has been performed with electronic scales with a 10-1 g precision. So, for each (1 m²) sample, 4 parameters have been recorded: 1- Number of plants, 2- DM grains, 3-DM straw, and grains weight. Results Plant counting There were neither significant effect of the sample location (near wild cherry, near walnut, pure crop plot) nor of the gradient number (distance to the tree) on the number of plants. The results obtained were [mean (standard-deviation)]: - On 309/2003: 25.2 (9.8) plants.m -2 - On 69/2004: 23.8 (9.8) plants.m -2 - On 166/2004: 23.4 (9.9) plants.m -2, that is to say plants.ha -1. Rape yield The results are presented in Table 102. The average yield observed at Grazac was rather low: 5.2 tons DM.ha -1 above ground biomass (1.06 ton grain tons straw) The yields were also very heterogeneous (standard deviation of grain yield is 0.68 ton.ha -1 ) due to heterogeneous soil fertility: the density (plants.m -2 ) of rape was not significantly different between samples. There were no significant differences between the 9 average square samples (far from the trees and in the middle of the alleys, Table 100). Among the 54 gradient samples, there was a significant effect of the gradient location, near trees (wild cherry or hybrid walnut) or in the pure crop plots, but no effect of the location in the gradient (1 to 6), on DM grains weight. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

119 INRA Report There was also a significant effect of the location in the gradient (1 to 6) on the 1000 grains weight, but only for the gradients near trees (not for the pure crop gradients): 1000 grains weight at locations next to the tree (3 and 4) was significantly lower than yields at locations more next to the alley centre (1, 2, 5 and 6). No significant effect was observed on DM straw (and total above ground DM biomass). Table 102: Rape yield parameters at Grazac in 2004 Number of Number of plants DM grains (g.m²) DM straw (g.m²) Aboveground DM Kind of samples samples (ha -1 ) (g.m²) All Average Gradient : all Wild cherry (A) Hyb. walnut (B) Pure crop a 22.2 a 19.4 a 94.5 b 90.0 b a a a a a a a 1000 grains weight (g) 3.67 a 3.76 a 3.67 a Gradient(A)+ (B) East (1+2) a 84.8 a a a 3.78 a Near tree (3+4) a 95.8 a a a 3.47 b West (5+6) a 96.2 a a a 3.88 a Comparisons are made vertically. Means followed by the same letter are not significantly different (5%). As a conclusion, it can be said that the main effect of the trees on the crop development at Grazac during the crop season could have been to reduce the filling of rape grains during the maturation period because of the shading effect of trees (between 10 and 20 % of radiation are kept by trees as presented 2004 report); this effect does not seem to be strong enough at this stage of tree development to induce significant yield loss : the main yield differences observed at Grazac in 2004 were due to soil heterogeneity. Further investigation in more homogeneous situation needs to be performed! SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

120 INRA Report Intercrop yield measurement at Pamiers Methods Maize has been sown on 122/2004 with variety Bounty. The soil has been fertilized twice: -before sowing, 115/2004 (35 N, 70 P, 70 K) -after sprouting, 147/2004 (161 N) Chemical weeding has been performed the day after sowing (123/2004), with Primeset (5 liters.ha -1 ) + Lagon (0.6 l.ha -1 ). Maize has been irrigated twice in July before flowering. The entire harvest has been performed on 301/2004 but samples of above-ground biomass (grains + straw) have been collected previously (285/2004) for yield estimation. Each sample was a 2 meters long part of maize row. Two kinds of samples have been collected: - average samples located in the centre of the alleys and at the cross of the diagonals between four trees, in a location visually observed as locally optimal for crop yield. 12 average samples have thus been harvested. - gradient samples located on both sides of a wild cherry in a line perpendicular to the tree row. On this line, every two meters part of maize row has been collected. 7 gradients of 12 samples each have been harvested; among the 7 gradients, 2 were control ones without tree. Table 103 gives the location of these samples in the wild cherry plantation at Pamiers. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

121 INRA Report Table 103: Location of the 2004 maize samples in the wild cherry plantation of Pamiers North Location of the gradients Location of the average samples Maize For each sample, the entire above-ground biomass has been harvested; the ears have been separated from the rest of the plant and shelled manually. The samples have been oven-dried (during 48 hours at 80 C); then several yield parameters have been measured: -grain weight -biomass yield (total above ground biomass without grain) grains weight (measured on 500 grains sub-samples counted with a Numigral counter) Yield parameters variation of maize according to the distance to the tree row has been analysed using the supsmu function of Splus software package (Table 106 to Table 110). Results Wild cherry measurement SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

122 INRA Report The wild cherries in the centre of the gradients had an average DBH of 24.9 ± cm and an average crown surface of 30.6 ± 5.9 m² (average crown radius of 3.12 ± 0.3 m) 10 ; the average crown height was 5.64 ± 0.36 m. Spacing The average distance between maize rows was 75 ± 7.4 cm and the average distance between the tree row and the next maize row was 155 ± 40 cm; the average density of was plants.ha -1 (spacing 75 cm cm). Considering the low variation of spacing between maize rows, it has been decided to apply the mean, 75 cm to every measurement unit for the yield calculations (measurement unit area of 1.5 m² (2m 0.75m)). Maize yield Table 104 gives the average results in the different situations observed in the experiment. Kind of sample Table 104: Maize yields according to the kind of sample at Pamiers in 2004 Number of samples DM grains (ton.ha - 1 ) % DM grains 1000 grains weight (g) Grains number by ear DM straw (ton.ha - 1 ) % DM straw Aboveground DM (ton.ha - 1 ) Harvest Index 11 (%) Average sample ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± 7.1 (41.1) (3.3) (16.7) (34.6) (37.4) (18.9) (37.8) (13.0) Gradient with trees ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± 17.7 (77.2) (20.2) (22.8) (40.6) (53.8) (12.1) (64.3) (39.8) Gradient without trees ± ± ± ± ± ± ± ± mean ± standard deviation 10 Crown measurements have been performed on 289/ Harvest Index = DM grain / Above-ground DM Biomass SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

123 INRA Report (36.3) (2.6) (7.4) (27.2) (33.4) (11.1) (34.4) (8.5) mean ± standard-deviation (Variation Ratio = standard deviation / mean, %) The first data analysis (Table 104) has led as to conclude to a very great heterogeneity of the yields through the field, partly due to the presence (or not) of trees but mainly due to soil fertility heterogeneity: Even for samples without trees, the variation ratio (VR) of yields (DM grain and DM straw) are very high, between 33 and 36 %; this ratio is somewhat higher for average samples (37 to 41 %), probably because of some tree effect, and much higher in the gradient samples with trees (between 64 and 77 %). DM % of grain are less varying (VR is near 3 %), except for gradients with trees (20 %). DM % of straw is more heterogeneous than DM % of grain (11 to 19 %). In order to take into account this heterogeneity and to go further in the data analysis, every sample yield parameter in a gradient has been compared to the maximum obtained in the gradient. Table 105 gives the average yields observed in the gradients with (A) and without (O), in % of the maximum yield in the gradient) and an estimate of the yield reduction with trees: grain yield reduction is about 24 % while straw yield (above-ground biomass production without grain) is not much affected by the presence of trees (only 6 % reduction). Table 105: Yield parameters (average of the % of the maximum in the gradient) - Pamiers Kind of sample DM grains Grains number by ear DM straw Above-ground DM Gradient with trees (A) Gradient without Trees (O) Loss with trees 100 (1 - A/O) Yield parameters (in % of the maximum in the gradient as explained above) have been plotted with the distance to the tree in Table 106 (grain yield) and Table 107 (Harvest Index). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

124 INRA Report Table 106: DM grain yield (% of the maximum yield in the gradient) according to the distance to the gradient centre - Pamiers From Table 106 it can be concluded that grain yield is reduced when the maize row is at less than about 3.50 m of the tree row; the reduction reaches half of the average yield of the gradient without trees ( %, Table 105) at less than 2.5 m from the tree row. In the measurement units next to the tree row (less than 2 m) grain yield is very low. Table 107: Harvest Index according to the distance to the gradient centre - Pamiers Table 107 shows that the Harvest Index (HI) is also influenced by the distance to the tree row in the same way as grain yield. Average HI is 56 % in the gradients without SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

125 INRA Report trees and 44 % in the gradients without trees (Table 104); this HI reduction is mainly located in the maize rows next to the tree rows (less than 3 m). The 1000 grains DM is higher in the gradients without trees (291 g) than in the gradients with trees (191 g) but in the latter ones, the variation according to the distance to the tree row does not appear clearly (Table 108). Table 108: 1000 grains DM weight according to the distance to the gradient centre - Pamiers If we consider the grain number by ear, the average difference between gradients with trees and gradients without trees is not very important (Table 105) but this parameter is influenced by the distance to the tree row mainly for maize rows next to tree rows, 3 m or less (Table 109). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

126 INRA Report Table 109: Grain number by ear (% of the maximum in the gradient) according to the distance to the tree row - Pamiers Discussion The common question for all the yield parameters presented above is whether or not, the tree effect is the same on both sides of the tree, north and south. Table 110 shows that grain yield variation is not so different between north and south sides of a tree, except may be for the higher distances. But, the south of a tree is the north of the tree in the next row! As a consequence, a common model for both sides of trees linking yield parameters and distance between maize row and tree row could be fitted. An interesting observation is that for a distance of 3.12 m (the average crown radius of the trees), the yield could be 50 % of the potential yield (maximum in the gradient). A Weibull model [Y = a (1-exp(-b x c ] with parameters (a, b, c) dependant on dendrometric parameters, crown radius or DBH?, and spacing between tree rows seems to be convenient in this situation SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

127 INRA Report Table 110: Grain yield in gradients with trees (% of the maximum yield in the gradient) - Pamiers 50 %? Crown limit Our data provide information on the tree effect in the north south direction, but information is missing concerning the tree effect on maize yield in the east-west direction. The average samples, compared with results in the further maize rows in the gradient were supposed to give this missing information; unfortunately, maize yield at Pamiers is too much heterogeneous. Gradients with measurement units from parts of maize rows of 6 meters long divided in three parts (2 meters long each) should have been a more appropriate method for evaluating the effects of wild cherries on the maize production. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

128 INRA Report Abstract of the Toulouse reports from 2002 to 2005 The main contribution of UAFP to SAFE project consisted in providing experimental data within WP 3. Four silvo-arable sites have been studied, three field experiment previously settled by UAFP (Lézat, Grazac and Pamiers) and one silvoarable farm (Les Eduts). The first site, Lézat, settled in december 1997, has only been studied (for tree growth) during the first year of the project because i) the main forest species, Sorbus domestica, was not a major species in the SAFE project ii) the landowner died in 2002 and his farm was proposed for sale. In the second site, Grazac, also settled in December 1997, two forest species, wild cherry and hybrid walnut trees have been planted respectively at 10m 6 m and 10 m 10 m spacing. Three kinds of management of 8 m out of the 10 m wide alleys have been compared i) intercropping ii) chemical weeding iii) fallow (no management). All the trees have been measured annually; moreover, mineral nutrition of trees has been investigated during three years, 2001 to 2003, and tree phenology has been described during the growing season 2003; some investigations on water supply of trees (water potential, tensiometry and sapflow) have also been carried out during year Intercrop yield measurements have been performed during years 2000 (wheat), 2001 (wheat), and 2004 (rape). The site of Pamiers consisted in a wild cherry clone field trial previously settled by INRA in spring Three different tree spacing are being compared in this site (11m 11 m, 11m 5.5m and 5.5m 5.5m). The alleys between tree rows were occupied by spontaneous (ligneous and herbaceous) vegetation. During spring 2002, spontaneous vegetation and deep ploughing has been performed in the 11 m wide alleys and intercrops have been managed in half of the 11 m wide alleys during the growing seasons 2002 (maize), 2003 (wheat) and 2004 (maize), the other half part of the 11 m wide alleys has been kept as fallow control and the rest of the field trial is from now on considered as forest control. Annual measurements of DBH has been carried out before the first intercrop settlement and then after the growing seasons 2002 and Moreover, maize yield measurements have been carried out in autumn 2002 and At Les Eduts, height and DBH measurements have been performed during year 2003 in one of the black walnut stands of Mr Claude Jollet in which trees were either in forest condition, 7m 7 m without intercrops, or in silvo-arable conditions, 14 m 7m with intercrops managed in 12 m of the 14 m wide alleys since the settlement of trees (almost 30 years). Then four black walnuts, two in silvo-arable fields and two in a forest stand, have been felled for stem analysis (on the 4 trees) and root description (on two of the four trees, one in silvo-arable field and one in forest stand). Moreover, hemispherical photographs have been carried out at Grazac, Pamiers and Les Eduts during year 2003 (and some ones in the beginning of year 2004). These 1476 photographs have been analyzed with GLA and Surfer software to get the evolution of the radiation transmitted by the tree canopy during the growing season and the variation of this parameter according to canopy size and tree species. Among the amount of experimental data collected during the SAFE project, the main emerging conclusion is that trees grow much better when there are associated with SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

129 INRA Report intercrops. This result has been observed in all of our four sites. When intercropping is performed since the tree settlement, significant differences on height and diameter tree growth are obtained since the third year. A positive effect of intercropping on diameter increment has also been recorded after two years of intercropping in a wild cherry stand of 18 years. The result is impressive when intercropping is performed during many decades: intercropped black walnuts grown at Les Eduts on poor soils have produced three times more above-ground ligneous biomass, and at least twice more below-ground biomass, during 25 years than black walnuts in forest stands. This gain in overall ligneous biomass results in an important gain in valuable timber: bole volume is increased by +132 % after 25 years. The effect of intercropping on heartwood formation dynamics has to be investigated more further. The consequence is that, the rotation length of trees could be reduced significantly with intercropping, of may be 15 to 20 years at Les Eduts. The main explanation of this better tree growth could be that trees benefit from intercrop fertilization and get better nutritional status: they produce more foliar biomass and the nutrient uptake from the soil is increased: mineral concentrations, mainly nitrogen, of leaves are increased with intercropping. Intercropping could be more profitable to some tree species, probably the more demanding ones: at Grazac, it appears that the gain in growth increment is much more important for hybrid walnut than for wild cherry trees. The second conclusion is that trees reduce intercrop yields: a part of the radiation is kept by the tree canopy and is not available for the intercrops; the yield reduction will thus be much more important for summer crops than for winter crops. The yield reduction is very low when the trees are young: a significant yield reduction has not been clearly demonstrated at Grazac with 7 years old wild cherry and hybrid walnut trees; this effect is more obvious with older (and larger) trees: at Pamiers, the average maize yield reduction was near 25 % with 19 years old wild cherries with Dbh of 25 cm planted at 11 m distance between rows; the reduction could reach 50 % at the limit of the tree canopy and more than 50 % under the tree canopy. Nevertheless, the experience of Mr Claude Jollet shows that intercropping can be carried out during more than two decades without important yield reduction: at Les Eduts, intercropping has been carried out during more than 25 years between black walnut tree rows. After 25 years, the intercropped alley (with winter crops) was still 12 m wide with 14 m spacing between tree rows. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

130 INRA Report 4 Sub-contractor to INRA :ICRAF ICRAF FINAL 6-MONTHS REPORT Sub-contractor to INRA: ICRAF Sub-contractor 1: ICRAF (Indonesia) ICRAF World Agroforestry Centre, Jl. CIFOR, Situ Gede, Bogor, 16610, Indonesia. Principal Investigators: Name Tel Meine van Noordwijk m.van-noordwijk@cgiar.org Betha Lusiana b.lusiana@cgiar.org Contribution to Work Packages WP5 Belowground Interactions In the last 6-month period ICRAF focuses on producing the algorithm for water and N uptake. The final products that available are: 1. Water uptake algorithm: as a document and its instanteneous implementation in excel worksheet 2. N uptake algorithm: as a document and its instanteneous implementation in excel worksheet 3. Three draft manuscripts: A process-based algorithm for sharing nutrient and water uptake between plants rooted in the same volume of soil I. Water in static root systems by Meine van Noordwijk, Betha Lusiana, Christian Dupraz, Simone Radersma, Harry Ozier- Lafontaine, and Peter de Willigen A process-based algorithm for sharing nutrient and water uptake between plants rooted in the same volume of soil II. Nutrients in static root systems by Betha Lusiana, Meine van Noordwijk, Christian Dupraz and Peter de Willigen SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

131 INRA Report A process-based algorithm for sharing nutrient and water uptake between plants rooted in the same volume of soil III. Growing root systems by Meine van Noordwijk, Betha Lusiana, Rachmat Mulia and Christian Dupraz All the above products are attached. Sensitivity Analysis Sensitivity analysis on water and N uptake algorithm (2D version) as implemented in WaNuLCAS model was conducted. In this study, the WaNuLCAS model was used to simulate a Peltophorum dasyrrachis maize intercropping system. The intercropping system is based on experiments in Lampung-Indonesia and parameterized by Suprayogo (2002), with soil of 10% clay and 10% silt. Mean annual rainfall in Lampung is 3100 mm. Simulations were made for a second cropping season (March May), after the hedgerows have established for 6 months. The effects that variation of tree and crop root length densities have on the uptake and partitioning of water were simulated. Tree roots are assumed to be constant over the whole simulation while crop roots are dynamic as a function of growth stage. Figure 1. Effects of root length densities on water and N uptake by tree and crop in Peltophorum maize agroforestry system, as simulated in WaNuLCAS. Water and N use by crop, tree and both plants in agroforestry system is expressed relative to its value at default root length density. Water and N use by crop or tree in monoculture system is expressed relative to its value in agroforestry system at default root length densitiy.. Both water and N uptake shows similar trend (Figure 1). Decreasing root length density for the tree will have only a small effect on calculated water and N uptake (over 85 days) in a monoculture of the trees, but it will lead to a small increase in crop water uptake and decrease in tree water uptake in a mixed tree + crop system, for nearconstant total water uptake. Decreasing crop root length density will decrease total water and N uptake of the mixed system as well as in a crop monoculture, but will have a moderate positive effect on tree water and N use and strong negative effect on crop water and N uptake in the mixture system. Reference Suprayogo D, Hairiah K, van Noordwijk M and Cadisch G The inherent safetynet of Ultisols: measuring and modelling retarded leaching of mineral nitrogen. European J. Soil Science 53, 1-10 SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

132 INRA Report 5 Sub-contractor to INRA :CTL CONTRAT EUROPEEN n QLK5-CT (Code INRA B3645) Décembre 2004 SILVOARABLE AGROFORESTY FOR EUROPE (SAFE) Contrat de Sous-Traitance INRA / AGRO.M - Centre de Transfert Rapport final de l activité du technicien Projet de sous-traitance signé le 16/11/01 s étalant sur une période de 3 années (clôture le 15/10/04) suivant les clauses du contrat INRA B I. Relevé des coûts par tranche (journées travaillées pour SAFE) : BILAN DES DEPENSES REALISEES (EUROS HT) Poste 1 ère tranche 2 ème tranche 3 ème tranche Coût final Coût prévisionnel Personnel (Ingénieur, Techniciens, M.O.O) 4,5 HM 5,3 HM 4 HM 13,8 HM 13,5 HM 9 074, , Frais divers de gestion 725, , TOTAL (HM : Homme Mois) L activité de sous-traitance représente 13,8 hommes mois sur la période des 3 années du programme pour une coût total de euros HT. L'engagement initial portait sur 12 HM et un budget de euros. Le solde a versé en fin de contrat est de euros. II. Réalisation des tâches (article 1 du contrat) : Travail à effectuer Mesure du développement architectural aérien et souterrain des arbres et des cultures. Mesure du bilan radiatif et hydrique des associations arbre/culture. Objectif réalisé Oui Oui SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

133 INRA Report Mise en forme et interprétation des données obtenues pour le modèle de simulation. Oui Les résultats sont remis sous forme informatique (base de données) de façon conforme au cahier des charges établi pour l élaboration du modèle Hi-sAFe, logiciel de modélisation agroforestier, développé par les autres partenaires du projet. (Fichier disponibles non joins à ce rapport) III. Compte rendu détaillé de l activité : 1. Installation de sites expérimentaux : a. Macroclimat local : Installation ou remise en état des stations météo des sites expérimentaux de Restinclières (34) et Vézénobres (30). Programmation et enregistrement au pas de temps horaire des variables instantanées suivantes : Tair, Hrair sous abri. Rayonnement (RPA et/ou global). Vent moyen horaire. Pluie cumulée horaire. b. Mouvements de la nappe alluviale : pose de piézomètres en témoin agroforestier et forestier à 4 ou 5 mètres de profondeur suivant le terrain. nivellement des piézomètres installés. pose des mires limnimétriques dans le Lez. c. Teneurs en eau du sol installation de tubes de sonde à neutron pour la mesure de la teneur en eau du sol. Les tubes sont installés à 3 mètres de profondeur dans deux transects pour l agroforestier : arbre/culture et arbre/arbre. d. Dynamique saisonnière de croissance des arbres Installation de dendromètres à ressort pour le suivit fin de la variation et la croissance en diamètre des arbres (parcelle agroforestière de Vézénobres (30)). 2. Suivis et mesure de sites expérimentaux : a. Macroclimat local : relevé bimensuel des données. b. Suivis de la hauteur de la nappe alluviale : mesure au pas de temps bimensuel de la profondeur de la nappe SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

134 INRA Report mesure de la hauteur d eau dans le Lez en amont et en aval c. Mesure de l homogénéité des pratiques culturales uniformité de l épandage d azote homogénéité des infestations d adventices d. Teneurs en eau du sol mesures mensuelles des teneurs en eau du sol sur 3 m de profondeur à la sonde e. Densité de racine fine des arbres et leur phénologie Prélèvement séquentielle (1 tous les 2 mois de mars à novembre, soit 5 prélèvements) de carottes de 1 à 2 m de profondeur pour suivi de la densité de racines fines des arbres. Après carottage : remplissage du trou avec de la terre fine, complété après une semaine pour compenser le tassement. f. Dynamique saisonnière de croissance des arbres Mesure mensuelle du diamètre des troncs au millimètre pour valider le module de croissance (allocation du carbone) de l arbre. Divers : Soutien technique ponctuel aux divers protocoles de SAFE. Travaux annexes (achat de matériel, entretien général du matériel...). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

135 Wageningen University Report 6 Contractor 2: Wageningen University Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 2 : Wageningen University (WU, The Netherlands) Department: Plant Sciences, Group Crop and Weed Ecology (CWE) Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Systems and Control Group (SCG) Wageningen University, 6700 AK Wageningen, PO Box 430, Netherlands Scientific team and time spent on the WPs Principal Investigators Name. Tel Fax WU W. van der Werf Wopke.vanderwerf@wur.nl H. van Keulen Herman.vankeulen@wur.nl K. Keesman Karel.Keesman@wur.nl K. Metselaar Klaas.metselaar@wur.nl GPG J. van den Briel gpg@het.nl A. Kofferman gpg@het.nl V.G.F. Repelaar deelerwoud@tiscali.nl FINIS F. Schuman f.schuman@agropark.de B. Schindler schindler@finis-ev.de Contribution to workpackages During the reporting period (1 August January 2005) no EU-paid additional staff was employed by Wageningen University (EU budget was not sufficient to cover salary costs of Klaas Metselaar until the end of his contract on 5 August 2004). Most work at this contractor was done by permanent personnel, notably K. Keesman, W. van der Werf & H. van Keulen, in interaction with especially - the partners 1: INRA (Christian Dupraz & Martina Mayus), 5: Cranfield University (Anil Graves & Paul Burgess) and 8: FAL (Joao Palma & Felix Herzog). The first main objective of WU during this period was to develop the simple agroforestry model Yield-sAFe into an instrument for yield forecasts under practical conditions (Workpackage 6B). The development of Yield-sAFe was taken up by WU when it became clear that the comprehensive detailed model Hi-sAFe would not be suitable for rotation-long simulations. Developing Yield-sAFe for practically useful yield forecasts required in depth analysis of model response to different calibration approaches, which was conducted in collaboration with Cranfield University, FAL and INRA during the reporting period. Contacts were maintained through , phone calls and working visits. The objective of calibrating Yield-sAFe to practical conditions was challenging, notably because very few calibration data for Yield-sAFe were available (see contractor 5 report), and because the model had to be calibrated for widely diverging environmental conditions. The second main objective of WU was to publicize the scientific outcomes of its contribution to SAFE. Coordination of subcontractors in the frame of WPs 2, 7 and 9 was maintained by Mrs dr Martina Mayus, who was employed by INRA until 31 November SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

136 Wageningen University Report The main achievements of WU are described in the report of work package 6B and include: A preliminary report on time series of tree and crop yield in agroforestry systems (Klaas Metselaar, August 2004) and uncertainty analysis of the agroforestry model Yield-sAFe (Klaas Metselaar, August 2004). Frequent and in depth contributions to the calibration efforts with Yield-sAFe by partners 5 and 8. An intensive session on model balibration issues was conducted during the final SAFE meeting, 2-5 November 2004 in Zurich. A successful working visit to Cranfield was made by Karel Keesman and Wopke van der Werf on 2 and 3 December 2004 to help overcome critical difficulties in model calibration (report made by Anil Graves). W. van der Werf supported M. Mayus in efforts to conduct a sensitivity analysis of Yield-sAFe to be included in a scientific paper describing the model concept of Yield-sAFe (van der Werf et al. 2005). A contribution was made to the preparation of the national conference in the Netherlands (to be held on 20 April 2005). At the final SAFE meeting in Zurich (2-5 November 2004), W. van der Werf, K. Keesman & H. van Keulen participated actively in critical discussion on model choice for yield forecasts. Issues with respect to scientific plubaction of SAFE results were discussed. K. Keesman prepared in collaboration with W. van der Werf & H. van Keulen an in depth mathematical analysis of a parameterised version of Yield-sAFe, which was then submitted to the Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (submitted December 2004). H. van Keulen, in collaboration with M. Mayus, supervised the MSc student Michel Postma, who made an inventory of farmers opinions on Agroforestry in the Netherlands (report provided to Fabien Liagre) and a literature study about the potentials of Agroforestry in the Netherlands (MSc report Michel Postma). Total workload over the reporting period was 1.0 man-month for K. Keesman, 0.75 manmonth for W. van der Werf, and 0.5 man-month for H. van Keulen. Sub-contractor FINIS e.v.: contributions to WP9 Policy: Task 9.2 FINIS e.v. investigated the political and legal basic conditions of Agroforestry in Germany. Since in Germany after the constitution of the Federal Republic the Lands have the right of their own legislation, we examined additionally the responsible guidelines of the agriculture, forestry and environmental protection in Schleswig- Holstein, Baden-Württemberg and Hessen. The results were summarized in a detailed report, which was provided to the WP9 leader Gerry Lawson. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

137 Wageningen University Report Silvoarable plot: Task 9.4 During the year 2004, strong winds caused again and again damages to the tree bamboo pole. Thus, labour intensive repair work was required after each strong storm, to avoid that the tree could be damaged and impaired in its growth. It appeared that the bamboo became brittle and got crannies by the weather. Finally, we replaced the bamboo poles by wood poles, before autumn storms could cause large damages. The new poles resisted well two strong autumn storms; future maintenance work after storms should be small. At the end of the growing period 2004, the height of all trees was measured for a second time. We compared the results with the measurements from the previous year. It turned out that the tree species had very differently developments. While Prunus avium and Acer saccharum showed a clear increase in height, Acer pseudoplatanus mainly invested in tree foliage, and only few in height growth. It must be noted, that Acer pseudoplatanus grew better during the season 2004, than during the previous year. From this we concluded, that the Acer pseudoplatanus first invests in root development before it starts growing aboveground. Whether this assumption is true will show the growing season of In co-operation with FINIS, the farmer will maintain the silvoarable field also after the SAFE project has been closed. Further contributions For the SAFE meeting in Zurich in November 2004, FINIS supported by M. Mayus provided a Power Point presentation about the silvoarable field in Groß Zecher, Schleswig-Holstein (Safe web site). The presentation, hold by M. Mayus, included, the tree heights and climatic data from the region (2002 and 2003). Every year in October, the broadcast NDR (Nord Deutscher Rundfunk, north German broadcast) organizes a "day of the open farm". The public has the possibility of visiting different farms in Schleswig-Holstein to experience agricultural production practices. FINIS, used the opportunity to present agroforestry at the farm Groß Zecher. Next to an exhibition of photos of various agroforestry systems, and a presentation of the SAFEproject and a guided visit on the silvoarable field was undertaken. The number of visitors was between 1000 to In January 2005, Frank Schumann hold a lecture about Agroforestry at the Academy for Science and Culture of the donation Herzogtum-Lauenburg in Mölln, Germany. At the same day, there was the prelude the by FINIS organized exhibition on agroforestry systems, which continued till 25 February 05. Sub-contractor GPG: Contribution to WP9 GPG investigated the political and legal basic conditions of Agroforestry in the Netherlands: The following authorities/ organisations had been contacted for information, Alterra (research), Probos (forestry advice), Bosschap (forest policy institute for regulation of the sector an public-private organisation) and Bosgroepen (cooperation of private forest owners). Alterra and the Bosschap could not answer the questions SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

138 Wageningen University Report because they were not sufficient informed about agroforestry. The subject is yet too new. The information obtained by Probos are: 1. What is the availability/capability of forestry subsidies for agro forestry? For afforestation and forest management subsidy is possible in the frame of the subsidy regulation called Programma Beheer, provided that no subsidy is obtained for other purposes /management forms. Subsidies for combinations of agriculture and forestry are not possible in principle (from forestry point of view approached). From agricultural point of view however we come closer there are subsidies for the maintenance of traditional ( high stem ) fruit orchards. A pastoral combination is there the most common. 2. There are no reactions known about agro forestry 3. The definitions: A. According to the Boswet (Forest Law): definition forest: Where and for which counts the Boswet? The Boswet is alone of application outside the town centre/ in rural areas. The municipal council decides upon the areas/ limits of the zone. It needs for this approval from the provincial authority (representative states (GS) of the province). The town centre forestry law is not necessary to fall together with the town centre in the frame of the traffic- and road law. The Forest Law (is outside the towns) of application for: 1. Forests /woods, shelterbelts and windbreaks with a surface larger than 10 Ares 2. Trees planter in a row (linear plantations / windbreaks) of more than 20 trees. The Boswet is not of application on: - property and gardens; - hedges of hawthorn (one row) if these are as such planted and managed; - one rowed linear plantation of poplar or willows, on or along agricultural lands and along roads; - Italian poplar, Tilia tree, chestnut and weeping willow; - Fruit tree; - windbreaks along orchards; - Christmas trees plantations not older than twelve year, cultivated on special for that purpose designated grounds; SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

139 Wageningen University Report - Seedlings etc. in nurseries. B. Definition high stem orchard (fruit) according to subsidy regulation agricultural nature management (is part of the Programma Beheer, see above); - being an orchard of apple-, pear-, plum-, cherry- or, walnut species; - the orchard having a surface of minimally 25 Ares, with a density between 50 and 150 trees per hectare. - The trees are at least 4 meters high. For the management of a fruit orchard subsidy is possible when: - it stands the criteria (see above); - the orchards lays in two formally classified landscapes ( hill country and rivers territory ); - fulfils criteria for proper natural management: no manure, no chemical pest control etc.; - In the cases of pear- or apple species when the trees are at least 1 time per two year being trimmed/ pruned. C. There are no definitions in use yet for good (agricultural) practice (as element/criteria for cross compliance'. Most close comes the subsidy criteria for orchards (see just above). D. There is no solid (unique) definition of agriculture. Agriculture means in the practice, arable or grassland /meadow farming, not including waste land, windbreaks, forest, nature etc. In other words; there is no unambiguous precise definition. 4. The Dutch subsidy schema is not favourable for agroforestry. Trees are just not seen as an element of agriculture. From the Bosgroep, we got the next contribution: By my knowledge there are in the Netherlands no subsidy possibilities for Agroforestry. The EU financial contribution for afforestation in the Netherlands is subject to the condition that the agricultural land is taken out of production and is legally converted in into (formally classified) forestland this means: it may no longer be used for agricultural production. The road to subsidy for agroforestry seems to be blocked by this. As the definition for agroforestry is concerned they cannot help us any further. Because agroforestry makes no part of subsidy schemes or sets of instruments no definitions are necessary. Possibly that Freerk Wiersum of the University of Wageningen may help you further. He is engaged in the subject agroforestry. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

140 Wageningen University Report The Bosgroep does not consider orchards as a form of agroforestry, as to their opinion it has in the Dutch context nothing to do with forestry. Silvoarable plot: Task 9.4 In spring 2004 most of the replanting was done. The trees of Picea abies, planted in spring 2004, are growing well. In this report period, some Robinia trees has been replanted. The farmer will maintain the silvoarable field also after the SAFE project has been closed. During the SAFE meeting in Zurich in November 2004, M. Mayus gave a presentation about the Dutch silvoarable field and the policy situation in the Netherlands and Germany. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

141 NERC Report 7 Contractor 3: NERC - Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 3 (NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology) Centre for Ecology and Hydrology - Maclean Building, OX10 8BB, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom Scientific team and time spent on the WPs Principal investigators Name. Tel Fax Dr. Nick Jackson naj@ceh.ac.uk Dr John Roberts jro@ceh.ac.uk Mr Gerry Lawson gela@nerc.ac.uk Dr Deena Mobbs dcmo@ceh.ac.uk Dr Marcel van Oijen mvano@ceh.ac.uk Dr Bob Bunce Bob.Bunce@wur.nl Time Contributions Year 1 Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 Total Dr. Nick Jackson Dr John Roberts Mr Gerry Lawson Dr Deena Mobbs Dr Bob Bunce 0 Total Year 2 Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 Total Dr. Nick Jackson Dr John Roberts Mr Gerry Lawson Dr Deena Mobbs Dr Marcel van Oijen Dr Bob Bunce Total Year 3 Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 Total Dr. Nick Jackson Mr Gerry Lawson Dr Bob Bunce Total Year 4 (6 months) WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 Total Dr. Nick Jackson 2.5 Mr Gerry Lawson 1.5 Dr Bob Bunce 0.5 Total Overall Total Contribution to workpackages WP5 Below-ground interactions NERC-CEH Wallingford (Nick Jackson) leads WP5, but almost all the work in this workpackage was completed by month 36 (mainly year 2). Re-design and implementation of the modelling by staff at both INRA-APC (Guadeloupe) and INRASYSTEM (Montpellier) was largely completed by month 36, and no further working visits to Guadeloupe were conducted. Nick Jackson attended the final workshop in SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

142 NERC Report Zurich and the Consortium management Meeting. The final report on Workpackage 5 is largely unchanged from the 36 months version. WP8 Scaling up to the farm and region CEH Edinburgh and Dr RGH Bunce (sub-contractor associated with both CEH and Alterra in Wageningen) have provided advice, student supervision, and land-use classifications for FAL (Partner 8). The European Land Classification system has been completed and used to define landscape test sites in Spain, France and the Netherlands. Dr Bunce attended the final SAFE workshop in Zurich and submitted a final report titled the distribution of silvo-arable systems in western Europe and their ecological characteristics (Annex 1). This described contrasting samples in the Atlantic European zone and in Southern Europe. Silvoarable systems were extremely rare in the former, but in the latter silvo-pastoral and silvo-arable system covered millions of hectares. It is very difficult to separate these two land-uses using existing methodology since the land is often used for both purposes. There are likely to be significant landscape ecological benefits to linked to the trees in new silvo-arable plantings, especially in homogeneous lowland landscapes dominated by arable crops. WP9 European guidelines for agroforestry This Work Package is co-ordinated by GJ Lawson (NERC), was particularly active during the final two months of the project. Task 9.1 Document the problems of farmers establishing new silvoarable plots in at least 5 countries. Anecdotal evidence was gathered during end-user meetings (between January and March 05) in several countries on the perceptions of officials and farmers. In summary, officials have difficulties with agroforestry for several reasons. There is no EU Forest Policy (or mention of forestry in the Constitution) There is little knowledge that knowledge that agroforestry is mentioned several times in 1999 EU Forest Strategy There is lack of experience of old or new agroforestry systems, or willingness to be flexible with grant rules in order to benefit experimental trials of agroforestry. Agroforestry presents complications to calculating grant levels which are most easily solved by making it ineligible. Agroforestry has complicated effects on the cadastral and local tax status of land. Responsibility for agroforestry falls between agriculture, forestry and environment departments (the Agriculture Department wants to hang on to agricultural land, the Forestry Department doesn t believe its possible to grow good quality timber at wide spacing, the Environment Department doesn t like regimented rows, intensive management and control of weeds). Finally, there is a perception that EU doesn t allow it!! (e.g. it is frequently stated that EU insists that afforestation grants must reduce agricultural surpluses ). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

143 NERC Report Farmers are reluctant to introduce agroforestry plantations because of technical difficulties, such as: uncertainties over management, time consumption and yield; likely damage to field drains; perception of increased pest problems; incompatibility with machinery & potential tree-damage; little knowledge of timber markets; possible lower timber quality; trees owned by landlord and not tenants. Or because of disincentives due to current regulations: low or no subsidies following 1257/99 (no or lower arable area payments, no or pro-rata reduced planting grants, no income support payments, ineligible for agri-environmental payments); classification as permanent forest land (lower tax but lower land value & irreversible planning control); time and bureaucracy for grant application process; scepticism of professionals and advisors. Task 9.2 Compare eligibility of silvoarable systems for Government financial Support in EU member states A Report on Deliverable 9.2 was prepared during just after the reporting period (Annex 2). More detailed appendices have been prepared for the UK, France and Spain, and are under production for other SAFE member countries. Rules and regulations in many countries are changing and it is hoped that these country reports can be updated after the end of the project. Results are presented in the Workpackage 9 report, and are summarised in Table 9.1. Presentations focusing on eligibility of agroforestry systems for current arable area payments, for tree-planting grants, and for future single-farm-payments were made following the formal end of the project at end-user meetings in three countries (Paris - 26 th January 05, Madrid - 11 th March 05, and Brussels - 30 th March 05). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

144 NERC Report Table 9.1 Eligibility of Agroforestry Systems for Agricultural and Forestry Grants under current Pillar I and Pillar II rules Country Agricultural Payments (First Pillar) Forestry Grants for Agroforestry Spacings (Second Pillar) Agri-environmental (Second Pillar) Arable Area Payment Livestock payments in silvopastoral systems (if declared as foreage areas ). Planting Tree-maintenance (usually for 5 years) Income support (for 8-20 years) France Yes on cropped area. (with young trees) or area reduced for crown area (mature trees) Germany Yes on cropped ares, but so far no references with mature trrees Greece Yes on cropped area reduced by crown area Yes in grazed woodland if forage area >50% Yes in grazed woodlands if forage area >50% Yes in grazed woodlands if forage area >50% Yes, proportion of total cost. But strong restrictions in practice (such as follow up of the plantation by a research institute) Yes, proportion of total cost Yes, on non-cropped area. But not yet applied for Yes, specific AF measure, but only applied in two Departments No No No Possible but untried No No No Possible but untried Italy Yes usually reduced by crown area but can vary Yes in grazed woodlands if forage area >50% No No No Possible but untried Netherlands Yes on cropped ares, but so far no references with mature trrees Yes in grazed woodlands if forage area >50% No No No Possible but untried Spain Arable payments usually reduced by more than corwn area. Yes in grazed woodlands (e.g. Dehesas) if forage area>50% Proportion of total cost (density as low as 278t/ha for some species Yes, proportion of total cost No Small grants in some Regions but only for maintaining existing trees 12 Switzerland? Yes in grazed woodlands No No No Possible if AF recognised as Ecological Compensation Areas UK Yes on cropped area, Pro-rata reduction Pro-rata reduction No Possible (e.g. hedges) but provided connected to untried larger field. Yes in grazed woodlands (tho area is reduced to account for trees & grazing should be possible for 7 months per year) from 1200t/ha for poplar (only). No income support 12 E.g. support for traditional agroforestry in Andalucia; maintenance of non-productive trees (Aragon, Madrid); maintenance of windbreaks and setos (Asturias, Canarias, Cataluna, Rioja; Pais Vasco; soil protection through lines of trees and scattered trees (Pais Vasco); SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

145 NERC Report Task 9.3 Comment on proposed changes in forestry and agroforestry policy based on scenario testing using models. Partners in WP6, 7 and 8 have collaborated to develop plot and landscape models of agroforestry growth which allow the effects of subsidies for tree, crop and environmental to be varied. Standard scenarios are being tested using the FARMSAFE model within Landscape Test Sites in Spain, Netherlands and France, and to a lesser extent in other countries. These scenarios form part of the final milestone for the SAFE Project (Milestone 15), and have been described in the WP7 and WP8 final reports. A final conclusion on the profitability of agroforestry within the reformed CAP depends on the whether agroforestry is considered eligible for Single Farm Payments, and whether countries implement Article 41 of the draft Rural Development Regulation This regulation, for the first time, provided for tree-planting grants to be paid for trees at agroforestry spacings. The SAFE Project has identified 7 policy issues. Regulation 1782/03 introducing the move to the decoupled Single Payment Scheme (SPS) indicates that woods (Article 43) and forests (Article 44) are ineligible for the SPS. But confusion exists because the Regulation does not define either woods or forests. Already there are examples of farmers removing trees from farmland (e.g. traditional orchards in England, hedges in Poland or dehesa systems in Spain) because they fear the loss of SPS payments. Guidance Document AGRI recommends that the threshold of 'woodland' is > 50 stems per ha, but does allow countries to define exceptions in the case of mixedcropping. In accordance with Article 5(1)(a) of Regulation (EC) No 2419/2001, areas of trees particularly trees with a potential use only for wood production inside an agricultural parcel with density of more than 50 trees/ha should, as a general rule, be considered as ineligible. Exceptions may be envisaged for tree classes of mixed cropping such as for orchards and for ecological/environmental reasons. Eventual exceptions must be defined beforehand by the Member States. We propose replacing tree classes of mixed-cropping with agroforestry systems and include a simple definition of agroforestry. Farmers obtaining the Pillar I SPS are obliged to demonstrate that they maintain the farm in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition' (GAEC). Annex IV of Regulation 1782/03 gives one GAEC condition as avoiding encroachment of unwanted vegetation on agricultural land'. EU countries differ in their definition of GAEC but it should be clear at the EU level that well managed Agroforestry Systems fulfils GAEC requirements. The draft Rural Development Regulation includes support for new planting of agroforestry (Article 41) but NOT the 5-year maintenance element received by conventional plantations. However, good maintenance during the 5 first years of a low density tree stand are crucial for the success of the plantation. Tree protection, weed control, and stem pruning are essential. Existing Agroforestry systems can be managed to maximise environmental benefits. These traditional management costs could be included as an option within the agri-environmental measures proposed by the draft RDR. Regulation 2237/03 Chapter 5 sets levels and conditions for subsidies to nut plantations. It sets minimum densities (125/ha for hazelnuts, 50/ha for almonds, 50/ha for walnuts, 50/ha for pistachios, 30/ha for locust beans) but indicates that payments to nut trees orchards will NOT be made if these are intercropped. This condition is reflected in national legislation, but is an unreasonable condition provided that SPS is not claimed. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

146 NERC Report The 1998 EU Forest Strategy emphasised Agroforestry in the context of: sustainable and multifunctional management of forests including optimisation of agroforestry systems (p15); research to concentrate on diversification (nonwood uses, agro-sylvo-pastoral systems)..(p16); maintenance of traditional management of silvopastoral systems with high levels of biodiversity which may be lost of these areas area abandoned (p23); the importance of agroforestry for carbon sequestration (p23) Yet agroforestry is hardly mentioned in national forestry strategies, or current EU or national rural development strategies, or in the recent publication on Sustainable Forestry and the European Union. The SAFE project has produced 4 key policy proposals. Proposal 1: Agroforestry systems refer to an agriculture land use system in which highstem trees are grown in combination with agricultural commodities on the same plot. The tree component of agroforestry systems can be isolated trees, tree-hedges, and low-density tree stands. An agroforestry plot is defined by two characteristics: a) at least 50% of the area of the plot is in crop or pasture production, b) tree density is less than 200/ha (of stemsgreater than 15 cm in diameter at 1.3 meter height), including boundary trees. Proposal 1: A definition of agroforestry is suggested that includes isolated trees, treehedges and low-density tree stands, which clearly distinguishes between agroforestry and forestry. Proposal 2: The total area of an agroforestry parcel should be eligible for the Single Payment Scheme Proposal 2: This proposal is compatible with existing Regulations, removes the contradiction between the two pillars of the CAP on rural trees (farmers will no longer be stimulated to remove trees to get CAP payments), and simplifies controls, and therefore saves a lot of European money Proposal 3: Agroforestry systems should be backed by the Rural Development Regulation (RDR, CAP second pillar) Proposal 3: The draft RDR for includes a welcome and innovative Article 41 that introduces support for the establishment of new agroforestry systems. It could be supplemented: a) to include maintenance costs for agroforestry planting in the same way as in Article 40 for forest plantations; b) to support the eligibility of existing agroforestry systems for improvement and environmental payments. Proposal 4: The EU Action Plan for Sustainable Forest Management (2006) should emphasise the need to maintain or increase the presence of scattered trees in farmed landscapes (agroforestry) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

147 NERC Report Proposal 4: The 1998 EU Forest Strategy refers to agroforestry several times, but it was not mentioned in the Commissions recent review of implementation of the Strategy. This omission could be corrected in: a) the proposed Action Plan for Sustainable Forest Management (2006), b) The EU Rural Development Policy Document (2006). Task 9.4 Co-ordinate the establishment by user participants in 3 countries of silvoarable plots as a social experiment. Replanting of dead trees and maintenance of crops have continued in the social agroforestry plantings in Netherlands, Germany and Greece. These are described in the WP9 report, and were presented at the final SAFE workshop in Zurich in November Significant difficulties during the reporting period. Synthesis of recent changes in grants and subsidies and their impact on agroforestry (Deliverable 9.2) were produced later than expected. This is partially because many countries are still defining their interpretation of rules for the Single Payment Scheme. It is hoped that these synthesis can be continued beyond the end of the SAFE project, partially through the activities of end-user-groups in each of the member countries. Results of the SAFE project will be presented at the annual meeting of the Farm Woodland Forum (with which all UK members SAFE project are associated) on 29/6-1/7 at the University of Wales Conference Centre at Gregynog, Powys, Wales. The theme of this workshop is Ecosystem Services of Farm Trees, and the SAFE presentation will focus on EU agri-environmental payments. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

148 University of Leeds Report 8 Contractor 4: University of Leeds 2. Scientific team and time spent on the WPs Name Telephone Fax Dr D J Pilbeam d.j.pilbeam@leeds.ac.uk Dr L D Incoll l.d.incoll@leeds.ac.uk Dr F Agostini francesco.agostini@adas.co.uk Ms F Reynolds f.h.reynolds@leeds.ac.uk Mr C Wright c.wright@leeds.ac.uk Dr M P Eichhorn m.p.eichhorn@leeds.ac.uk David Pilbeam is leader of Participant 4, and is also coordinator of WP3. He is a senior lecturer at the University of Leeds. Lynton Incoll has retired from a senior position at the University (Principal Research Officer) during the course of the SAFE project, but has still contributed to the project during the year. Francesco Agostini was a postdoctoral research fellow employed full time on the SAFE project from April 2002 until December This employment finished earlier than contracted, due to Dr Agostini moving to new employment. Because of the strengthening of the Euro against stirling during the course of the SAFE project funds allowed for a replacement for Dr Agostini, and instead of employing a research fellow for the three months remaining on Dr Agostini s contract it was possible to give a contract for five months to allow for the replacement to have extra time to become familiar with the project. The replacement was Markus Eichhorn, who commenced work on 24 th May Dr Eichhorn was employed full time on the project until 12 th November Experimental Officer Fiona Reynolds did not work on the project during the six months, but Experimental Officer Chris Wright, based at the School of Biology s Field Research Unit, worked on the project during that time. 1. Partner number, name and address of the participating organisation Partner 4, UNIVLEEDS, UK Address: School of Biology, University of Leeds, Woodhouse Lane, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. 3. Time spent on the different workpackages during year 4 (months). Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP1 0 D Pilbeam L Incoll F Agostini F Reynolds C Wright M Eichhorn Total Total SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

149 University of Leeds Report 4. Contribution to workpackages 4.1 WP1 Silvoarable modelling strategies Completed in year one. 4.2 WP2 European silvoarable knowledge The WP2 objectives in the Technical Annex are: O2.1 To collate the information gained in earlier studies including EU projects that would be relevant to silvoarable systems and could fill gaps in the research of SAFE. O2.2 To collect historic data from existing systems required for validating the plotscale yield model and economic evaluation. A survey of modern silvoarable agroforestry systems and a literature search on extinct systems were carried out in year one (Milestone 2.1, see first annual report). The Leeds participants contributed to this by providing details of such systems in the UK. They subsequently organised the rewriting of the report into a more consistent style, and with additional material in year 3. In the current reporting period further amendments, particularly in adding more quantitative information, were carried out. A large part of this work involved adding maps showing the locations of sites of silvoarable agroforestry in Europe, so that anyone looking at the report on the website would be able to see where precisely each site is. Dr Incoll carried this out for all the UK sites included in the database. The maps used were originally part of the Michelin series, but these did not give sufficient resolution to show how to access each site, so they were replaced with maps from Ordnance Survey. This was completed in month 42. Dr Eichhorn also added further references to the database of publications on silvoarable agroforestry in the temperate zone that was largely completed in year 3. The largest part of the time spent during this reporting period was in taking the information in the survey of extant silvoarable agroforestry systems in Europe and converting it into a suitable format for publication in a scientific journal. This included adding further quantitative information on the extent of existing silvoarable agroforestry systems in Europe and illustrations. The finished paper was submitted for publication to the journal Agroforestry Systems in November Results and deliverables Improvement to the report on current silvoarable systems in Europe (delivered originally in year one, improvements in place in month 36, further modifications month 42). Provision of a database of publications on silvoarable agroforestry in the temperate zone (month 36, some additions month 39). A scientific paper on existing and historical silvoarable agroforestry practices in Europe was submitted to the Journal Agroforestry Systems in month 40. This was based on contributions by Eichhorn,, M. P., Paris, P., Herzog, F., Incoll, L. D., Liagre, F., Mantzanas, K., Mayus, M., Moreno, G., Papanastasis, V. P., Pilbeam, D. J., Pisanelli, A. and Dupraz, C. 4.3 WP3 Silvoarable experimental network UNIVLEEDS (David Pilbeam) leads this workpackage. David Pilbeam and Chris Wright were active in this workpackage during the reporting period. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

150 University of Leeds Report During earlier reporting periods we: Managed field experiments at our experimental site, carrying out measurements of tree growth, crop growth, meteorological conditions according to agreed protocols. Collected data on leaf fall and hemispherical photography from the Leeds experimental site for model parameterisation. Finalised the structure of the SAFE database. Processed data from the organisers of the experimental sites, checked it and forwarded it in an agreed format to P1 for inclusion in the SAFE database T3.1: Collect data from existing experiments as required by the modelling activity a) Working towards managing field experiments in a sound and concerted way with unified protocols for field measurements See Year 1 and Year 2 reports. b) Working towards providing data from field experiments in a standardised format for model parameterisation and testing See Year 1 and Year 2 reports. c) Collection of data from the Leeds experimental site During the time of the SAFE project the Leeds site was managed with crops standard to a cereal rotation in the UK. In the 2002/3 cycle oilseed rape was grown as a break crop, in the 2003/4 cycle winter wheat was grown. Details of the cultivation were given in the 36 month report, but harvest of the crop did not occur until into the current reporting period. Tree growth in the 2003 summer season was measured in March 2004, and for the 2004 summer season will be measured in February The 2003/4 winter wheat crop was harvested on August The 2004 harvest period in the UK was affected by high rainfall, and harvest was extremely difficult. Some of the ears had germinating grains present, and heavy rain had beaten down the crop. Harvest was achieved by making one pass up each alley with a plot combine, and weighing the total grain harvested over a set distance. Differences between the two control plots were high, because of the amount of lodging of the crop, so that the control yield with which to make a comparison is not particularly accurate. It can be seen from Table 1 that yields of the crops were barely affected by the presence of the trees for the first four years after planting. Indeed, for two of the first four years yields of crops were actually slightly higher under the trees than in the control areas. After this time there were significantly lower yields of crops under the trees (by ANOVA, P=0.05), except for in 1999 (when yields were not significantly less). By 2003 yields were probably much lower in the alleys, although the harvested crop was not weighed as pod shatter of oilseed rape makes it a very difficult crop to obtain meaningful results for. The 2004 harvest was inaccurate, due to the harvest difficulties referred to above, but appeared to show a reduction in crop yields under the trees to less than 50% what was obtained in the control areas. This is below the threshold at which a farmer would continue to grow crops in a commercial silvoarable agroforestry system. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

151 University of Leeds Report Table 1. Crop yields at the Leeds Experimental Site from 1992 to (Sowing and harvest dates given as day of year and year). Year of harvest Crop 2004 Winter wheat * not harvested due to pod shatter Sole crop yield (t ha-1) Silvoarable yield (t ha-1 cropped area) 1992 Spring barley 1993 Peas Winter wheat 1995 Winter wheat 1996 Winter barley 1997 Spring mustard 1998 Winter wheat 1999 Winter barley 2000 Winter wheat 2001 Winter wheat 2002 Winter barley 2003 Winter oilseed rape * * * Ratio of silvoarable to control yield The growth of the trees can be seen in Table 2a (for trees grown alongside alleys that were continuously cropped) and in Table 2b (for trees grown alongside alleys that were continuously fallow during the course of the experiment). It can be seen that by 2004 the growth of the trees was noticeably higher alongside the continuously fallow alleys, with timber volume at that time being 32% higher. The trees adjacent to fallow alleys were taller (significantly so from 1994, by ANOVA, P=0.05) and had greater diameter than trees adjacent to alleys that have been continuously cropped since planting (significant by ANOVA, p=0.05, from 1995). This was due to a much larger increment of growth in the trees next to the fallow alleys in summer For every season since that time the increase in timber volume relative to the volume at the start of the season has been slightly higher for the trees next to cropped alleys than for the trees next to the fallow alleys. In order to assess the productivity of the silvoarable plots it is possible to calculate Land Equivalent Ratios. This is a common calculation in experiments on intercropping two annual crops, but within the SAFE consortium has been controversial as it has not been used extensively before to compare yields of mixed annual and perennial crops. If LER is calculated as an annual value (LER =(crop yield per intercropped hectare/ yield of sole crop per hectare) + (timber increment per season of intercropped trees per hectare/ timber increment per season of trees by fallow alleys per hectare)) the results for the Leeds Experimental Site are as shown in Table 3. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

152 University of Leeds Report It can be seen that LER values are higher than 1.0 throughout the time of cropping, reaching a maximum of 1.58 for the harvest in This indicates that the productivity of timber and annual crops together is higher than the production of either would be on their own. Table 2a. Leeds tree data: height, diameter at breast height and estimated timber volume of four poplar hybrids in the continuously-cropped arable treatment at the Leeds experimental site at Bramham from planting on 27th March 1992 to 31st March (Values are means, n = 60) Day of year Year of measurement Height (m) Diameter at breast height (cm) Calculated cylindrical volume (m3) Estimated form factor Estimated timber volume (m3/tree) Estimate Form Factor calculated from J M Christie, Yield Models for Forest Management, HMSO, London, Table 2b. Leeds tree data: height, diameter at breast height and estimated timber volume of four poplar hybrids in the continuously-fallow arable treatment at the Leeds experimental site at Bramham from planting on 27th March 1992 to 31st March (Values are means, n = 60). Day of year Year of measurement Height (m) Diameter at breast height (cm) Calculated cylindrical volume (m3) Estimated form factor Estimate Estimated timber volume (m3/tree) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

153 University of Leeds Report Table 3. Annual values of LER (based on annual crop yield and annual increment in timber volume) for the Leeds Experimental Site. Year LER The LER values indicate that this is an efficient production system, which would be of benefit both in terms of carbon sequestration per land area and in terms of maximising production per land area so allowing farm land to revert to natural ecosystems. However, it should be pointed out that the Leeds system is an experimental system set up for scientific measurements. It would never be established for commercial agriculture as the tree spacings have been set out to give a tree density similar to those found in farm woodland blocks of poplar, and would not be suitable for agronomic operations on a commercial farm. The Leeds site is part of the UK silvoarable network, three sites with the same experimental design and growing the same crops each year. One of the other sites in the network, Cranfield University, is part of the SAFE consortium. During the 2003/4 cycle both the other sites discontinued cropping, leaving the Leeds site as the only one with a crop growing in 2003/4. This was because that work was funded from a different grant, which reached its conclusion early in The measurements of tree height and diameter that will be made in winter 2005 at Leeds will give data for fourteen years of tree growth with continuous cropping, and will also give a comparison with trees grown beside continuously fallow alleys over that time. No crop has been planted in the current winter period, and the alleys will be put into set-aside in spring Tree growth will continue to be measured annually until felling in years time. d) Implementation of database of consortium experiments See year 3 report At the SAFE experimental sites specific information needed to parameterise the biophysical model will be collected See year 3 report Results and deliverables The database of consortium experiments was compiled and posted on the SAFE website in month 28 (D3.2). An introduction to this database has also been posted, and it comprises the Handbook to the European Experimental Resource (D3.1). Measurements of tree phenology, tree heights and tree diameters at breast height have been made at the Leeds site. Hemispherical photography of the trees after leaf fall was carried out in year Future work During the course of the SAFE project it was noticeable that the aspect of the Leeds experimental plots was gradually changing from purely agricultural to more woody as the trees matured. The plots are within 400 metres of a small area of woodland in which the tree sparrow Passer montanus, a bird species of farm and woodland, is present. This is a species that has shown a large population decline in the UK since the 1960s, with the number of territories now estimated to be down to 110,000. It is on the Red list. Because the experimental plots appeared to be developing into a suitable habitat for this species 9 SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

154 University of Leeds Report nesting boxes were erected on trees in the plots not used for measurements. In the 2004 summer season three of these boxes were occupied by Passer montanus breeding pairs. It is intended that bird nesting boxes will continue to be put out on the trees until they reach maturity in years time. A paper on Data Management for Decision Support Systems in Agroforesty is still being prepared. The Leeds group will contribute to the UK final SAFE conference in June Other work The Leeds group has provided parameters for poplar growth in the Yield-sAFe model. They have also provided annual data on tree and crop growth (annual height, diameter at breast height, timber volume, timber volume per hectare for trees grown with continuous cropping and trees grown with continuous fallow; crop yield per hectare for crops in alleys and control plots) for a paper describing the model, and have helped with the writing of the paper. The Leeds group provided information on ranges of environmental conditions tolerable to Populus species to Dr Riccardo de Philippi for use in modeling areas suitable for poplar growth in WP8. The Leeds group have provided information for the production of Deliverable 9.3 Report on Major Silvoarable Systems of Interest in Europe. 6. Significant difficulties or delays experienced during the reporting period None 7. Dissemination An interview with David Pilbeam on silvoarable agroforestry recorded at the Leeds Experimental site was broadcast on The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4 on 21 st August Eichhorn,, M. P., Paris, P., Herzog, F., Incoll, L. D., Liagre, F., Mantzanas, K., Mayus, M., Moreno, G., Papanastasis, V. P., Pilbeam, D. J., Pisanelli, A. and Dupraz, C. Silvoarable agriculture in Europe past, present and future prospects. Paper submitted to Agroforestry Systems in November De Filippi, R., Reisenauer, Y., Herzog, F., Dupraz, C., Gavaland, A., Moreno, G. and Pilbeam, D.J. (2004). Modelling the potential distribution of agroforestry systems in Europe using GIS. Poster presented (by R. de Filippi) at 18 th International Conference for Informatics for Environmental Protection, CERN, Geneva, 21 st - 23 rd October SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

155 Cranfield University Report 9 Contractor 5: Cranfield University Partner 5 Institute Group Cranfield University (CRAN, UK) Cranfield University, Silsoe, Bedfordshire, UK MK45 4DT Institute of Water and Environment Scientific team Principal Investigators Name. Tel Fax Dr Paul J. Burgess P.Burgess@cranfield.ac.uk Dr Robin B. Matthews R.B.Matthews@cranfield.ac.uk Mr Anil Graves A.R.Graves@cranfield.ac.uk Mr Pascal Pasturel P.Pasturel.s03@cranfield.ac.uk Mr Ian Seymour I.L.Seymour@cranfield.ac.uk Time spent on the different work-packages Time spent on the different work-packages months Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP6B WP7 WP8 Total Technical annex Modified (CMC1) Year Year Year Paul Burgess Anil Graves Terry Thomas Sub-total (37-42) Total (1-42) Permanent staff contribution from AC partner 2 Sub-contractor Contribution to work-packages WP6B. Minimal biophysical integrated model: Yield-sAFe (Workload 3.3 person months) The final six months were particularly challenging in terms of Cranfield University s inputs to the project. A key activity, not originally scheduled, has been our on-going and active involvement in the development and calibration of the Yield-sAFe model within work-package 6B. This was necessary to provide the validated biophysical dataset that was needed for the economic analyses within work-packages 7 and 8. At the start of the SAFE project in August 2001, the plan was that the Hi-sAFe model would provide such data. However in October 2003 at the CMC meeting in Orvieto, it became apparent that the Hi-sAFe model would be unable to produce yield data for a full tree rotation. It was therefore decided that a simplified biophysical model called Yield-sAFe would be developed and calibrated by Wageningen University. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

156 Cranfield University Report During 2004, Cranfield University had encoded the Yield-sAFe model into a Microsoft Excel worksheet. This combination of the biophysical model with the economic model was to allow an integrated assessment of the profitability of different forestry, agriculture and silvoarable systems at a plot-scale. The integrated model was called Plot-sAFe. A working version of this model with a written description of the model was made available in September 2004 (Burgess et al. 2004). On the basis of the calibrations undertaken by Klaas Metselaar and Karel Keesman of Wageningen University, and reference yields established during workshops in Spain, France and the Netherlands, Anil Graves (CRAN) and João Palma (FAL) calculated timber and crop yields for each of the 44 land units examined in the up-scaling exercise (Table 1). These biophysical datasets were sent to selected consortium members on 23 October Table 111: Description of the 44 different land units and the respective assumed tree species and crop rotation Site Unit Rad Soil Soil depth Tree Crop rotation (%) type (cm) species Spain Alcala LU1 97 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/fallow Alcala LU2 86 Medium 50 Oak Wheat/wheat/fallow Torrijos LU1 101 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/fallow Torrijos LU2 100 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/fallow Ocana LU1 100 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/fallow Almonacid LU1 97 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/fallow Almonacid LU2 83 Fine 140 Oak Five years of sunflower/wheat/fallow Cardenosa LU1 93 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/wheat/fallow Cardenosa LU2 101 Fine 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/wheat/fallow Fontiveros LU1 99 Coarse 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/wheat/wheat/fallow Fontiveros LU2 98 Coarse 140 Pinus Wheat/wheat/wheat/wheat/fallow Olmedo LU1 100 Coarse 140 Pine Wheat/sunflower/fallow Olmedo LU2 100 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/sunflower/fallow Olmedo LU3 99 Coarse 140 Oak Wheat/sunflower/fallow Campo LU1 99 Coarse 140 Pine Wheat/wheat/wheat/fallow Campo LU2 99 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/wheat/wheat/wheat/fallow Paramo LU1 100 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/wheat/sunflower/fallow Paramo LU2 100 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/wheat/sunflower/fallow Paramo LU3 101 Medium 140 Oak Wheat/wheat/wheat/sunflower/fallow France Champdeniers LU1 100 Fine 80 W. Wheat/wheat/sunflower/wheat/oilseed/sunflower cherry Champdeniers LU2 100 Medium 120 Walnut Wheat/wheat/sunflower/wheat/oilseed/sunflower Chateauroux LU1 102 Fine 80 Walnut Wheat/wheat/oilseed/wheat/oilseed/sunflower Chateauroux LU3 102 Medium 120 Walnut Wheat/wheat/oilseed Chateauroux LU2 102 Fine 40 W. Wheat/wheat/oilseed/wheat/oilseed/sunflower cherry Chateauroux LU4 100 Fine 40 W. Wheat/wheat/oilseed/wheat/oilseed/sunflower cherry Fussy LU1 101 Fine 40 W. Wheat/oilseed cherry Fussy LU2 103 Medium 80 Poplar Wheat/wheat/oilseed Fussy LU3 102 Fine 120 W. Wheat/oilseed cherry Sancerre LU1 103 Fine 40 W. Oilseed/wheat/sunflower/wheat/wheat/wheat/oilseed cherry Sancerre LU3 101 V fine 120 W. Oilseed/wheat/sunflower/wheat/wheat/wheat/oilseed cherry Sancerre LU4 100 Coarse 80 W. Oilseed/wheat/sunflower/wheat cherry Sancerre LU2 102 V fine 140 Poplar Oilseed/wheat/sunflower/wheat/wheat/wheat/oilseed Champlitte LU1 103 Medium 140 W. Wheat/wheat/oilseed cherry Champlitte LU2 103 Md-fine 35 Walnut Wheat/wheat/wheat/wheat/wheat/grain maize Dampierre LU1 98 Medium 140 W. Wheat/wheat/grain maize SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

157 Cranfield University Report cherry Dampierre LU2 97 Fine 35 W. Wheat/wheat/wheat/grain maize cherry Dampierre LU3 95 Md-fine 60 Poplar Wheat/grain maize Vitrey LU1 103 Medium 60 W. Wheat/wheat/oilseed cherry Vitrey LU2 103 Md-fine 60 Poplar Wheat/wheat/grain maize Netherlands Balkbrugg LU1 100 Coarse 140 Poplar Forage maize Bentelo LU1 100 Coarse 140 Walnut Wheat/wheat/forage maize Scherpenzeel LU1 100 Coarse 140 Poplar Forage maize On 4 November 2004, the biophysical results were also presented by Anil Graves at the project workshop at Zurich. At this workshop a number of concerns were raised concerning both the parameterisation and the outputs from the model. The principal concerns were: That the predicted timber volume of trees at a wide spacing (particularly in the 50 trees ha -1 treatment) was too high relative to those in the forest stands. Unfortunately no one was able to present data to show whether this was actually the case. The procedure of only changing the water-use-efficiency values to calibrate the output of the monoculture crop and tree yields resulted in overestimates of water-use in sites with low productivity. The critical soil tension value beyond which crop growth was predicted to decline had been erroneously fixed at a pf value of 2.3 (-200 cm; -20 kpa). At or shortly after the Zurich workshop, it was proposed that these concerns could be addressed in the following ways: The choice of a constant light extinction coefficient of 0.8 for the tree was agreed to be too high. Instead, particularly at low levels of tree leaf cover, the light extinction coefficient would be reduced. It was agreed that maximum and minimum limits should be set on the water-use-efficiency values, and the calibration of the model to reference yields at each site could also be achieved by modifying other factors such as the harvest index and a management factor. A more realistic value for the critical soil water tension for crop growth would be used at a selected pf value between 2.9 (-800 cm; - 80 kpa) and 3.3 (-2000 cm; kpa). During November and December 2004, following the above recommendations and after making initial assessments of the changes, Anil Graves and Paul Burgess made modifications to the Yield-sAFe model. Between 2 and 3 December 2004, a visit to Silsoe was made by Karel Keesman and Wopke van der Werf (Wageningen University) to discuss and agree these changes. The changes made to the model are reported by Burgess et al (2005) in Deliverable 6.4. Following these changes a new complete dataset of tree and crop yields was recalculated by Anil Graves for the 20 land units in France. These results were circulated to selected consortium members on 11 January The datasets for the 19 land units in Spain were recalculated and circulated by João Palma (FAL). Christian Dupraz and Fabien Liagre, on examining the French results, again expressed some concerns on 12 January These were: SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

158 Cranfield University Report they considered that some of the values for the land equivalent ratio were too high. although the relative individual timber volumes at low densities had been reduced, they felt that the predicted individual timber volumes for the widely-spaced trees that were still too high at some sites. Again no data were available to establish whether this was correct or incorrect. the initial rates of timber production for wild cherry and walnut were considered to be too low. This is despite the fact that the reference growth curves were calibrated against established measurements for these species. Eventually after substantial discussion, it was agreed that the Yield-sAFe predictions for forestry, arable and the 113 trees ha -1 silvoarable system should form the basis for the economic analysis of the landscape test sites in Spain, France and the Netherlands. The same procedure would also be used for an analysis of the network sites. Because of a concern that the 50 trees ha -1 datasets may overestimate tree size, it was also agreed that these predictions would only be used provisionally. The full dataset for the Landscape Test Sits was therefore written up by Paul Burgess, Anil Graves (CRAN) and João Palma (FAL) and circulated as an initial draft of Deliverable 6.4 on 10 February WP7. Economic modelling at a plot-scale (Workload 2.8 person months) WP8. Scaling up to the farm and region (Workload 2.7 person months) Following agreement on the Yield-sAFe modelling procedure and the biophysical dataset for the landscape test sites on 12 January 2005, it was finally possible to undertake an economic analysis of silvoarable agroforestry at a plot-scale. Work-package 7 is divided into five-tasks. During the last six months of the project and following agreement on the biophysical dataset, the focus of Cranfield University s work has been on tasks 7.4 and 7.5. These tasks relate to the use of the biophysical dataset to identify the most profitable agroforestry systems at the selected network (Task 7.4) and landscape test (Task 7.5) sites. Task 7.4: Identification of agroforestry profitability for the network sites Anil Graves and Paul Burgess used the Plot-sAFe model to develop the bio-physical datasets for the plot-scale analysis at the network sites. An initial draft of Deliverable 7.2 was produced by Anil Graves and Paul Burgess and circulated to selected consortium members on 24 February Task 7.5: Identification of agroforestry profitability for the landscape test sites Anil Graves and Paul Burgess have worked closely with João Palma to develop the biophysical data-sets needed for the farm-scale analysis. An initial draft of Deliverable 8.2 was produced by Anil Graves, Paul Burgess and João Palma and circulated to selected consortium members on 10 February SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

159 Cranfield University Report References Burgess, P.J., Graves, A.R., Metselaar, K., Stappers, R., Keesman, K., Palma, J, Mayus, M., & van der Werf, W. (2004). Description of the Plot-sAFe Version 0.3. Unpublished document. 15 September Cranfield University. 52 pp. Burgess, P.J., Graves, A.R., Metselaar, K., Stappers, R., Keesman, K., Palma, J., Mayus, M. & van der Werf, W. (2005). Parameterisation of the Yield-sAFe model and its use to determine yields at the Landscape Test Sites. Unpublished report. Cranfield University. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

160 Cranfield University Report 10 Sub-contractor to CRAN : BEAM Institute BEAM (Wales) Ltd, Gwynant, Cadnant Road, Menai Bridge, Anglesey Principal Investigators LL59 5BU, UK Name. Tel Fax Mr Terry Thomas Terry.H.Thomas@virgin.net During the last six months of the project, Terry Thomas attended and contributed to the scientific workshop and CMC meeting in Zurich (3-6 November 2004). WP1 WP2 WP3 WP7 WP8 Technical annex Total first year Total second year Total third year Month Total (1-42) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

161 CNR-IBAF Report 11 Contractor 6: CNR-Porano Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 6 (CNR Porano) C.N.R., Istituto di Biologia Agro-ambientale e Forestale (former Istituto per l Agroselvicoltura) Viale G. Marconi, 2; I Porano (TR), Italy 2. Scientific team 2.1. Principal Investigators Name Tel Fax Pierluigi Paris +(39) (39) P.Paris@ibaf.cnr.it Francesco Cannata +(39) (39) F.Cannata@ibaf.cnr.it Guido Bongi +(39) 075/ (39) 075/ G.Bongi@iro.pg.cnr.it Andrea Pisanelli +(39) (39) A.Pisanelli@ibaf.cnr.it Giuseppe Olimpieri +(39) (39) G.Olimpieri@ibaf.cnr.it P. Paris, CNR research scientist, is the contract manager for CNR-IBAF in the SAFE Project. During the reporting period he was involved in WP3, 4 and 2; F. Cannata, CNR research manager, has a long experience in research management, agroforestry systems and rural development; although he was involved with 0 man/month in the SAFE Project, he had been offering a valuable help with his experience. G. Bongi, CNR first researcher, is a plantphysiologist, mostly involved in studying interactions between trees and crops in silvoarables in WP4 and 5. A. Pisanelli was contracted by CNR with SAFE funds till May 2004, as researcher, for working on social and economical aspects of silvoarables in WP 2 and 9. During the reporting period A. Pisanelli continued the collaboration within the SAFE Project, but without being paid by the Project itself. G. Olimpieri is a senior technician in charge of the technical and scientific management of the experimental fields of the CNR-IBAF at Biagio. During the last year 2 university students were involved in the SAFE research activities. They are both finishing the Laurea (5 years of university study) curricula in the Faculty of Agronomy. The first student is Anna Perali, Laurea Course in Agricultural Science, at the Università di Perugia. She is preparing for her Thesis a CD Rom in.htlm on current silvoarable commercial plots for WP2. The second student is Alfredo Ecosse, Laurea Course in Forestry Science at Università della Tuscia di Viterbo. He finished a Thesis on silvoarable experimental plantations for WP3. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

162 CNR-IBAF Report 3.Time spent on the different workpackages Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP1 0 Total Pierluigi Paris Francesco Cannata Guido Bongi Andrea Pisanelli Giuseppe Olimpieri Contribution to workpackages: 4.1. WP2: European Silvoarable Knowledge Two main tasks were carried out during the reporting period: Preparing a communication at a IUFRO Conference, for presenting the results of the national survey of farmers view of silvoarable agroforestry systems; Preparing a CD Rom on extant Italian silvoarable plots that were surveyed during the formers years of the SAFE Project IUFRO Presentation After the completion of the survey of farmers view of silvoarable agroforestry systems and the data analysis, the main results of the study were presented at the 7th IUFRO Extension Working Party Symposium Communication strategies for multiple partner involvement in forestry extension. The CNR-IBAF, in collaboration with IUFRO and FAO, organised the conference in Orvieto and Rome (Italy, 27th September 1st October 2004). The symposium was a great opportunity for exchanging research experiences among 40 scientists coming from different countries around the world and covering the all continents. The power point presentation of the horal communication is attached to this report as Annex_WP CD Rom. In collaboration with the student Anna Perali, Univeristà di Perugia, Laurea Course in Agricultura Scienze, a CD Rom in.htlm format was prepared on the extant silvoarable commercial plots that was surveyed within the SAFE Project during the first year of the activity of the project. This CD Rom is part of the student s final dissertation on the current status of agroforestry systems in Italy. The student will defend the dissertation in April The CD Rom is in Italian and after the mentioned date will be published on the website of the C.N.R. I.B.A.F.. The CD Rom is attached to this report as Annex_WP2.2. as.zip file. In order to lunch the CD Rom, files have to be extracted by the zip format and then click on the file named home.htlm. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

163 CNR-IBAF Report The attached version of the CD Rom is not yet the final version and some corrections and implementations have yet to be done. One is citing, on the document itself, that the CD Rom was realised within the SAFE Project WP3. Silvoarable experimental network Aim. To collect current biophysical and economic data from the Institute existing silvoarable experiments in central Italy, and to provide them in a unified protocol to be included in the Database of Silvoarable Experimental Network, as required by the modelling activity. During the reporting period, three main tasks were carried out: Completing the measurements into two silvoarable experimental plantations of walnuts, included into the SAFE Experimental Network, and whose characteristics were widely described in former project reports. Both plantations were intercropped with clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) during the season (Photo 2. Preparing the Tesi di Laurea (final dissertation) of the student Alfredo Ecosse, and entitled Sistemi Silvoarabili: interazioni in impianti adulti tra il noce e differenti colture consociate in due stagioni vegetative (Silvoarable Systems: interactions between adult walnut trees and different crops during two growing seasons). The dissertation was completed in January 2005 and will be defended on 28 February 2005, at University of Tuscia, Viterbo (Italy) Concluding procedures for publishing a paper on the International Journal Agroforestry Systems Photo 2. Clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.) was used as intercrop in both the CNR silvoarable experimental plantations at Biagio (Orvieto, Tr-Italy). According to our final results, clovers are ideal intercrops in modern silvoarable systems, because clovers do not compete towards young trees for water and soil nutrients, as well their yield is not depressed by adult trees for light competition Experimental Measurements The following measurements were conducted during the reporting period in the two walnuts experimental silvoarable plantations at Biagio, (Orvieto, TR-Italy): Growth of walnut trees; SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

164 CNR-IBAF Report Meteo data of the year 2004; On walnut trees: DBH, total height, bole height, crown diameter and phenology of leaf shedding. The first three parameters were measured on December 04, when tree had concluded their stem growth; crown diameter was measured on September 04, when shoots had stopped their elongations; leaf shedding was performed from September to December 04. Part of the above mentioned data were analysed and they are presented in the paragraph Meteo data. Meteorological data were recorded with a local meteo-station during the reporting period and they were acquired. Meteorological data as average monthly temperatures and monthly rainfall are presented in the paragraph Laurea final dissertation. This document is attached to the report as Annex_WP3.1.. Experimental work was carried out in the two walnut silvoarable plantations mentioned in paragraph The dissertation document is in Italian and its extended abstract in English is reported hereafter along with the most important data (as figures). In Italy the rural compartment is currently undergoing dramatic changes. New land use systems are sought in order to find solutions to main productive problems such as agricultural surpluses, good quality timber shortage, alternative uses of marginal lands, along with increasing environmental problems of natural resources, such as global climatic changes, biodiversity erosion and pollutants accumulation. Among the new proposed land uses systems, plantation forestry deserves attention for its environmental and productive benefits. Many regulations of the European Union (Reg. 1094/88 also called forestry set aside ; Reg. 2080/ 92 for the reforestation of the agricultural lands) have implemented plantation forestry in the member countries in the last decades. New agroforestry systems, within the cultural models of the modern plantation forestry, may affect significantly the sustainability of the forest plantations, increasing their multifunctional and integration with other economical activities. Agroforestry systems have been very common land uses systems in Italy as well in all over Europe. These systems are still present in many areas, even if a residue of much wider ancient systems (e.g.: coltura promiscua of Juglans regia in Campania, piantate padane in northern Italy; cereals intercropping in olive groves in central and southern Italy). Silvoarable systems, the intercropping of arable crops among widely spaced tree rows, could find a special role within plantation forestry. This because silvoarable plantations could be more profitable than forest plantations; additionally the first system can be much more environmental friendly than the second one, decreasing soil erosion, nitrogen leaching and forest fires. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

165 CNR-IBAF Report Photo 3. Young tree of walnut intercropped with lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) and mulched with plastic film along tree line. This photo was taken in 1993, one year after tree planting, in the silvoarable experimental plantation of Biagio 1 (Orvieto, Tr-Italy), with two walnut genotypes (French hybrid NG23 and a common walnut half sib family). Intercroppedmulched hybrid walnut trees in 2004 reached a stem height similar to clean cultivatedmulched tree (see Table 112). Common walnut, intercropped and mulched, had stem growth rates lower that clean cultivated-mulched trees (Table 113). However, the used genotype of common walnut showed not a perfect adaptability to site conditions of the experimental site. Much better results were obtained for intercropped common walnut trees of the variety Feltrina (see Table 114)(from Northern Italy) in the other adjacent silvoarable experimental plantation (Biagio 2) The choice of the right genotype for common walnut is a crucial factor for a successful establishment and development of the plantation. Since the early 90s in the experimental fields of the Istituto di Biologia Agroambientale e Forestale (IBAF) of Porano, Italian National Research Council, research activity has been carrying on silvoarable systems with walnuts (Juglans spp.) trees intercropped, since planting time, with typical crops of peninsular parts of Italy, such as wheat and fodder crops. Walnut trees were either mulched (with plastic film) or unmulched during the first years sinc planting time () This was in order to make it easier weed control close to the tree base, as well to reduce possible intercrop competitions towards young trees. The present Thesis of Laurea was developed in collaboration with the IBAF-CNR and within the European Project S.A.F.E. (Silvoarable Agroforestry for Europe) ( ), which includes a consortium of European Institutions and with the coordination of the INRA, Montpellier, France ( The main general objective of the thesis investigation is studying the interrelations between adult walnut trees and two intercrops, wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and clover (Trifolium incarnatum), during two growing season (2003 and 2004) in two experimental walnut plantations established in 1992 and 1994, respectively, in the hilly area of Monti Vulsini (Orvieto, Italy), an area of volcanic origin and with a meso-mediterranean climate (Photo 4; Table 112). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

166 CNR-IBAF Report Photo 4. Winter view (January 05) of one of the two experimental silvoarable plantations of walnuts at Biagio (Orvieto, Tr-Italy). The climate of the area is sub-humid Mediterranean, with average annual precipitation of 850 mm, and two months of summer drought (July and August). These conditions are optimum for walnut in Italy for timber production. Monthly rainfall (mm) Biagio 2003: Total rainfall mm; Average temperature C Monthly rainfall 2003 (mm) Average Temperature 2003 ( C) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Monthly temperature ( C) Monthly rainfall (mm) Biagio 2004: Total rainfall 1263 mm; Average temperature 11.4 C Monthly rainfall 2004 (mm) Average temperature 2004 ( C) Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Monthly temperature ( C) Table 112. Thermo-pluviometric diagram at Biagio (Orvieto-TR, Italy) during the last two years. One of the limiting factors for intercrops in adult silvoarable plantations is light that may be highly in shortage due to the shade of the large tree crowns. Therefore, it is important to select shade tolerant intercrops and also to be able to predict crop yield depression according to tree age and spacing. With this aim, measurements were carried on wheat and clover yields and growth, and these parameters were related to the main tree growth parameters (DBH, H, crown diameter, leaf phenology, basimetric area-g), as well with the solar radiation (PAR) intercepted by tree foliage (with hemispherical photos). In general, the results are highly promising in favor of the silvoarable plantations of walnut, with stem growth of intercropped trees similar to that of forest plantations, especially taking particular attention to the selection of walnut genotype that must be adapted to the local pedo-climatic conditions (Table 113; Table 114). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

167 * CNR-IBAF Report Stem H. (m) DBH (cm ) 20 n.s CC-mulched AF-mulched Biagio 1-Hybrid Walnut n.s DM-crop yield (t ha -1 ) Lucerne W.Wheat Clover CC-Mulched AF-Mulched Stem H. (m) DBH (cm ) C C-M ulched ** AF-m ulched Biagio 1-Com mon W alnut ** DM-crop yield (t ha -1 ) Luc erne W.Wheat Clo ver CC-Mulched A F-Mulched Table 113. Biagio 1, Orvieto (Tr). Total stem height (Stem H) and diameter (DBH) of hybrid and common walnut for CC-mulched and AF-mulched since planting time. Vertical bars represent ± s.e.m.. ** = highly significant difference for p 0.01 (t.test). n.s = not significant difference. Stem H (m) Biagio 2-Common walnut Years Mulched-clover Grassing-dow n Clover Clean-cultivation A A B B Table 114. Biagio 2, Orvieto (Tr). Total stem height (Stem H) of the common walnut from 1992 to The four different lines represent the different thesis. Vertical bars represent ± s.e.m. Different letters mean significantly differences for p 0.01 (L.S.D. Test). Comparing the collected data with former ones, current results show the importance of the management of the tree-crop interface, and also the changes of tree-crop interactions SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

168 CNR-IBAF Report according to the intercrop. Clover resulted less competitive than wheat towards walnut young trees and also much less affected by walnut shading in adult plantations. Therefore clover can be used as intercrop with large-adult trees whose shade do not hinder clover yield, contrary to what observed for wheat (Table 115). Net crop yield (t ha -1 ) Biagio (W he at) Common New AF Hy brid New A F mulched mulched Sole crop Net crop yield (t ha -1 ) Biagio (Clover) Common New AF Hybrid New AF mu lc hed mu lc hed Sole crop Table 115. Biagio 1, Orvieto (Tr). Net crop yield of wheat (2003) and clover (2004) intercropped with walnut. Vertical bars represent ± s.e.m This because clover growth occurs mostly before walnut trees completed the full emission of leaves in spring (Table 116). On the contrary, wheat is a late crop, whose harvesting occurred a month later than walnut full leaves emission (Table 116). Furthermore, clover is also useful for soil erosion protection, and doesn t depress tree growth in comparison with H crop (cm) Biagio 1: W alnut & w heat, /3 1/4 9/4 15/4 23/4 29/4 6/5 13/5 20/5 28/5 3/6 17/6 24/6 8/7 Date (dd/m onth) Threshing of Wheat H.intercrop H Sole c rop BB Common Walnut B B Hy brid W alnut 3,5 3,0 2,5 2,0 1,5 1,0 0,5 0,0 Tree Ph. I. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

169 CNR-IBAF Report Biagio 1: W alnut & clover, 2004 H crop (cm) /3 1/4 8/4 8/4 21/4 28/4 6/5 26/5 3/6 15/6 22/6 29/6 8/7 Date (dd/m onth) Mowing of Clover H.interc rop H Sole c rop BB Hy brid Walnut BB Common Walnut 3,5 3,0 2,5 2,0 1,5 1,0 0,5 0,0 T ree Ph. I. Table 116. Biagio 1, Orvieto (Tr). Relationship between hybrid and common walnut buds break and herbaceous crop height (intercrop and sole crop). Vertical bars represent ± s.e.m. grassing down with endemic grass sward (Table 114). These observations were enforced by those ones with hemispherical photos, which showed consistent relations between the PAR, available underneath walnut crowns, and intercrop yield depressions (in comparison to the sole crop) according to the two different crops. Intercropped wheat decreased significantly its yield with increasing tree size (see Table 118 in the paragraph 4.4). Intercropped clover yield was unaffected by tree size (see Table 119, in the paragraph 4.4). Furthermore, the plantation basimetric area (G) may be a very useful parameter for a first estimation of light competition of walnut trees towards intercrops, according to tree growth and spacing. There was a significant negative linear regression between G and wheat yield depression underneath tree shade. The higher is G and the lower is the yield of the intercropped wheat. G increases with increasing tree stem dimensions (because there is a linear positive relation between stem DBH and crown diameter (Table 117), but G decreases with increasing tree spacing. According to our simulation, optimum tree spacing in walnut silvoarable systems could be 10 x 14m. With this spacing and with stem growth rates of 1 cm/year, intercropped wheat yield depression never drops to 50% of reference yield before walnut harvesting time. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

170 CNR-IBAF Report D crown (m) Biagio 1 y = 0,2789x + 1,6655 R 2 = 0,7173 ** y = 0,3437x + 0,5299 R 2 = 0,8431 ** DBH (cm) Hybrid Walnut Common Walnut Table 117. Biagio 1, Orvieto (Tr). Relationship between crown average diameter (D crown) and stem diameter at breast height (DBH) of walnut. ** = highly significant for p As general conclusion, considering the data of the study sites, indications are that walnuts silvoarable systems could have individual tree growth rates similar to that of forest plantations, and yield of intercrops may be unaffected by tree shading according to crop type (warm versus cool season crops) and tree spacing (close versus open plantations). These indications are valid for sites with pedo-climatic conditions being optimum for walnut, and using walnut genotypes well adapted to the site conditions Paper in press During the reporting period CNR-Italy Partner concluded all the final steps for publishing the following paper: Paris P., Pisanelli A., Todaro L., Olimpieri G., Cannata F., Growth and water relations of walnut trees (Juglans regia L.) on a mesic site in central Italy: effects of understorey herbs and polyethylene mulching. Agroforestry Systems (in press) This paper was already mentioned in the former SAFE report as accepted by the journal s editor after minor revisions. During this last semester we had performed the requested revisions and reviewed the print proof, that is attached to this report as Annex_WP WP4 Above ground interactions During the reporting period we carried out activities in the experimental fields 1 and 2 of Biagio (see WP3 report), concerning in analysing data already recorded or measuring the leaf shedding of walnut trees in the period September-December Walnut leaf shedding data of the year 2004 were collected according to the common SAFE protocol for tree leaf phenology. These data have not yet analysed. Formerly collected data were analysed and put in relation with the growth of intercrops (as plant height) during the years 2003 and These data are shown in the paragraph as Table 116. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

171 CNR-IBAF Report More in general extent, in conclusions to our research activity concerning the above-ground interactions between trees and intercrops for light competition, we observed that with the narrow tree spacing (6 x 7 m) of one experimental walnut plantation (Biagio 1), the wheat yield was negatively affected by increasing tree size (Table 118); on the contrary, clover yield was not affected by increasing tree size (Table 119); this because clover is a cool season crops whose growth occurred much before walnut full leaves emission (Table 116). 120 Biagio 1-Grow ing season 2003: W heat WHEAT Decreasing wheat yield with increasing tree size % of crop reference yield y = -7,0056x + 94,982 R 2 = 0,392* y = -8,3879x + 107,88 R 2 = 0,6492** G (m 2 ha -1 ) Hybrid w alnut Common w alnut Table 118. Biagio 1, Orvieto (Tr). Relationship between walnut stem basimetrical area (G) and decreasing production of intercropped wheat in comparison with sole wheat. * = significant for p 0.05, ** = highly significant for p Biagio 1-Growing season 2004: Clover CLOVER Constant clover yield with increasing trees size % of crop reference yield y = -2,1044x + 88,661 R 2 = 0,0517 ns y = 1,8445x + 77,88 R 2 = 0,0527 ns G (m 2 ha -1 ) Com m on Walnut Hybrid walnut Table 119. Biagio 1, Orvieto (Tr). Relationship between walnut stem basal area (G) and intercropped clover yield in comparison with sole clover. G is function of tree stem diameter (DBH) and tree spacing; being tree spacing constant, as in most of our experimental plots, G varies with DBH or tree size. n.s = not significant. Similar results were obtained for the relationship between intercropped clover yield and the stand basal area (G), or tree size, in the experimental plantation Biagio 2 during the year 2004 (data not shown in this report). It must be stressed out that in Biagio 1 silvoarable plantation we used a tree spacing of 6 x 7m that is definitively too low for adult silvoarable plantations. This tree spacing was used just for experimental reason, in order to have treatments replications within a reasonable experimental area. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

172 CNR-IBAF Report 4.4. WP9 EU guidelines This report summarizes the current status of silvoarables systems in Italy and how this was affected by recent regulations of the Common Agricultural Policies (CAP) of the European Union. According to the research activity carried out during the past months within the WP2, the current status of silvoarable system in Italy is reported in Table 120. In most cases the area covered by each of the listed systems is not reported in official statistics and the values in the table are the results of personal estimation of the authors of this report. Specific research was activated at ISTAT, Istituto Nazionale di Statistica, the main Italian reference for statistics in agriculture and forestry. Unfortunately this investigation was not successful, because silvoarable systems are completely denied. Silvoarable system Area (ha) Source Intercropped olive groves 200,000 p.e. Arable lands with scattered oaks (also with Cork oak in Sardinia Island) 180,000 p.e. Hybrid Poplars plantations 12,500 Lapietra al et Walnut groves 5,000 p.e. Table 120. Main extant silvoarable systems in Italy. P.e.: personal estimation. In Table 121, pictures of those systems are reported along with their geographic distribution. Some system are very local and linked to very peculiar site and socio-economic conditions, other systems are more common all over the national territory (and over). Local systems are the intercropped cork oak system that is mostly present in Sardinia Island, where cork oak has its climatic optimum; also the walnut system is local and mostly present in Campania Region, where site conditions are extremely good (volcanic flat soil, warm-humid climate). Common systems are the oaks systems, the olive system (just for the peninsular part of Italy) and the hybrid walnut plantation systems (in the Po Valley). Scattered walnut in cropland can be found all over Italy. Indifferently whether local or common systems, they all have had a strong decline during the second half of the XX century, because of the modernisation of agriculture and the linked socio-economic changes. An example of those declines is presented in Table 122 for walnut silvoarable system in Italy. Till a recent past the species was much common in the Italian countryside and the prevalent form of management was the intercropping of widely spaced trees with vegetables, tobacco and fruit trees, in very fertile areas, and scattered trees in cropland of wheat or fodder crops in less fertile areas. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

173 CNR-IBAF Report Those silvoarable walnut systems rapidly declined as for many other systems incorporating trees into farmland. Most of these trees were valuable hardwoods (Fraxinus, Acer, Prunus) that have completely disappeared from croplands. Valuable timber is currently in strong shortage on the Italian market, and industries import large volume of tropical timbers. Among the reasons of the silvoarable systems decline there are also the European CAP and the national agricultural and forestry policies. These highly supported crops production with generous subsidies, and farmers, in order to maximise crop yield and harvesting of grants, eradicated most of the scattered trees into agricultural fields. In many cases these trees are protected by several laws (with environmental and panoramic issues), but this was not sufficient to stop the decline of agroforestry systems, because no new young trees are planted or grow naturally. Table 121. Pictures showing the main silvoarable systems in Italy and their distribution within the nation territory (blue arrows). Local systems are in yellow, whereas more general systems are in red. The red straight lines separates the continental part of Italy, with a sub-continental climate, from the peninsular par, with various degree of Mediterranean climate. Farmers avoid any regeneration of trees into farmland because the area covered by each tree is subtracted by the total cropland area, decreasing the crops subsidies (see Table 123). Furthermore, no subsides were never activated by the CAP for scattered trees into cropland. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

174 CNR-IBAF Report Area (ha)/ Fruit (x100 Kg) silvoarable pure Total Area Nut production Table 122. Decline of multipurpose (fruit and timber) cultivation of common walnut in Italy during the second half of the XX century. Silvoarable groves were the major management system for this tree species. Table 123. Different systems for calculating cropland surface due to the area occupied by trees in silvoarable systems. Calculation systems differ according to administrative Region, tree species and variety. Cropland reduction is calculated dividing the current number of trees over the value indicated in the last column (n /ha). Example with 40 olive trees ha-1, cropland is reduced of 1700 m 2 per ha for low vigorous variety in Lazio. Tree species Admin. Region Tree variety Limit of tree density per ha (n /ha) Olive tree Lazio Low vigorous 230 ha -1 High vigorous 150 ha -1 Common walnut Cork oak Campania Sardegna The only silvoarable system with double summed tree and crop subsidies is the intercropped olive system (see Table 124). In this case, in Italy, till the last CAP Reform, crops subsidies were managed on a surface basis (per ha), and olive subsidy according to total olive production. The area covered by olive tree is subtracted to the crop area, according to rules applied by each administrative Region and olive tree variety. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

175 CNR-IBAF Report Table 124 Main production of extant silvoarable systems in Italy, European subsidies and future trend of systems according to the current Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the European Union. Legend: Products in bold have been subsidized by CAP * for cork oak. Silvoarable Systems Crops Tree component Products Fuelwood Timber Fruit Laws for protection Subsidies for crop area reduction Current status for double grants Future trends Olive system Oaks systems Poplar X X Yes No Yes Stable x Cork* X Yes No No Slow decline x X No No No Rapid declining system Walnut systems x X X No No No Rapid declining Since this January, the new CAP reform is in force in Italy. This reform is called Single Farm Payment (SFP), and European agricultural subsides are not anymore linked to the crop type and its yield; new subsidies will be devoted to the farmer on an hectare basis and according to an average value calculated using the past subsides. In this case, scattered trees into the cropland will be anymore subtracting crop area for European subsides. Although that, most of the farmers will continue to avoid new trees growing within their cropland. For these farmers trees depress most of the crop yield unless trees can produce marketable products like olive trees. According to this, the future trend is stable just for the olive silvoarable systems, and declining for the remaining systems (Table 124). For the oaks systems the only way to invert the negative trend would be subsidising trees planting into cropland. This support should be based mostly on the environmental benefits of having scattered oaks trees into farmland. These environmental benefits (soil erosion protection, nutrient leaching reduction, biodiversity improvement) have not been fully investigated by the SAFE Project (by FAL Unit-Zurich, Switzerland) and deserve further investigation. For the silvoarable systems with timber trees (hybrid poplars and walnuts) the trends is a rapid decline, according to the current situations. Two strategies deserve attention to reverse the negative trend. One should be producing convincing examples demonstrating their higher profitability in comparison to pure plantations and pure crop. The SAFE Project constructed simulation models to compare profitability of silvoarable systems in comparison to pure forest or crop systems. Unfortunately simulations results of SAFE models are not yet available. In any case, according to our experimental results (see WP3 in this report) the indications are that walnuts silvoarable systems could have individual tree growth rates similar to that of forest plantations, and yield of intercrops may be unaffected by tree shading according to crop type (warm versus cool season crops) and tree spacing (close versus open plantations). These conclusions are in favour for a good profitability of silvoarable systems with timber trees. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

176 CNR-IBAF Report A second possibility for reversing the decline of silvoarable systems would be supporting tree planting, at low density, into croplands without stopping subsides for crops. This second options should be considered also in consideration of the past results of European regulations for tree planting in alternative to surplus crops (EU Reg. 2080/ 92). Unfortunately, in Italy results of the plantations established with this regulation were not always very successful. This was because farmers devoted to tree planting just the worse land, where tree establishment is very difficult. Supporting tree planting according to agroforestry schemes (intercropping with crop) would certainly stimulating farmers to plant trees into good cropland, where trees like poplars, walnuts, cherry and other valuable hardwoods can grow well and produce good quality wood that is strongly in shortage on the European market. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

177 University of Extramadura Report 12 Contractor 7: University of Extramadura Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 7 : School of Forestry, University of Extremadura (UEX, Spain) Centro Universitario, University of Extremadura (UEX) 10600, Plasencia, Spain Scientific team and time spent on the WPs Principal Investigators Name Gerardo Moreno Fernando Pulido Pilar Rubio Abelardo García Julio Hernández Juan C. Giménez Mercedes Bertomeu Elena García Cubera María Jesús Montero Parejo gmoreno@unex.es nando@unex.es pilar@unex.es abgarcia@unex.es juliohb@unex.es jcfernan@unex.es bertomeu@unex.es ecubera@unex.es cmontero@unex.es Time spent on the different workpackages during the third year Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP10 Total Gerardo Moreno 0, ,5 0,2 0,5 1 6,7 Fernando Pulido Juan Carlos Giménez 0,3 0,3 Mercedes Bertomeu 0,3 2 0,3 2,6 Julio Hernández 0,0 María Jesús Montero 0,2 1 1,5 1,5 0,2 4,4 Elena Cubera 1 3,5 4,5 Maite Bellido 2 2 Subcontrators Eduardo de Miguel 0,3 0,3 SubTotal (VIII/03 VII/04) 0 3,0 4 4,5 6 0,8 2,4 1, ,8 Total (VIII/01 VII/04) 0 7, ,3 0,8 3,5 5, ,4 Foreseen person-months in Technical Annex Difference (next 6 months) 0 +2, ,3 +0,8 +0,5 +3, Contribution to workpackages SUMMARY In this third year we have focused our effort on the divulgation and publication of the preliminary results of our contribution in the SAFE project. We have elaborated 6 scientific publications to be published in international journal (Annex 1) and we have participated in an International Congress on Sustainable Forest Management, with two communications (Annex 2). Moreover, we have participated in national/regional workshops for discussion of the current situation of Agroforestry in Spain and the perspectives with the new CAP. We have also prepared a four-page pamphlet to support the divulgation of Agroforestry practise SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

178 University of Extramadura Report in Spain (Annex 3). Presently we are working in the organization of the national end-users meeting, which will be carried out next 11 th march in Madrid. In addition, we have collaborated with responsible of the WP7 and WP8 to run and to analyse results of the Yield-sAFe, for Spanish experimental farms and LTSs (Landscape Test Sites). These results will be delivered in the Report on the plot-economics of European silvoarable systems (Deliverable 7.2) and in the Report on Economic feasibility of silvoarable agroforestry in target regions (Deliverable D8.2). We have also prepared a document about the taxation of agroforestry systems in Spain: Forestry, Agroforestry and Taxation issues in Spain (Annex 4). Finally, UEX team has participated in the Final Scientific Meeting of the SAFE Project and the CMC meeting both Zurich, October Elena Cubera made two working visits to INRA-Montpellier in February and July (a brief description of her activity is given in annex 5). PERSON-MONTHS Time spent on the different work packages during the third year Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP10 Total Gerardo Moreno 0,2 0, ,1 0,1 0,5 3,4 Fernando Pulido 0,5 0,5 Mercedes Bertomeu 0,2 0,2 Elena Cubera 2 2,0 Juan Carlos Moreno 1 1,5 2,5 Eduardo de Miguel 0,5 0,5 (Subcontractors) SubTotal (VIII/04 I/05) 0 0,2 0, ,3 0, ,1 Total (VIII/01 I/05) 0 7,5 14, ,3 0,8 3,8 5, ,5 Foreseen person-months in Technical Annex Difference 0 + 2,5 + 2, , ,3 + 0,8 + 0,8 + 3, ,5 WP2. European silvoarable knowledge We have just collaborated on the preparation of the paper entitle Silvoarable systems in Europe past, present and future prospects, submitted for its publication in the scientific journal Agroforestry systems. This paper is included in the report of Partner 4 (University of Leeds); it is not included in our report to avoid redundancy. On the other hand, in this period has been published the paper El árbol en el medio agrícola in Foresta (nº 27: 70-76), a national journal specialized in forestry (This paper was already included, as manuscript, in the third year report). WP3. Silvoarable experiment work In this period UEX have prepared a synthesis of the most prominent results of the four experimental farms. From here, we are preparing a paper to be published in a special issue 13 These working visits are mentioned here because it was not included in the previous report, the third year report. On the other hand, the participation of Gerardo Moreno in the First World Agroforestry Congress was reported in the third year report, but the costs are included in this last report. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

179 University of Extramadura Report of the Agroforestry systems journal, which will include a selection of papers presented in the International Congress Silvopastoralism and Sustainable Management, carried out in Lugo Spain, April 2004 (see the third year report). A first draft of this paper is here included (Annex 1.2). A. Publications Gerardo MORENO, José Jesús OBRADOR, Eustolia GARCIA, Elena CUBERA, María Jesús MONTERO, Fernando PULIDO and Christian DUPRAZ Competitive and Facilitative interactions in dehesas of C-W Spain. First draft of a paper to be published in a special issue of the Agroforestry systems journal. (Annex 1.2). WP4. Above-ground interactions UEX has continued with some of the experiments initiated in previous years and commented in previous reports. In short, we can resume these activities in the following list: 1. To measure the physiological status of the tree (sap flow velocity, water potential and photosynthesis) in function of the land use and tree density (study still in course). 2. To determine the fruit (acorn) production (Finished). 3. Emergence and survival of seedlings (Finished). On the other hand, we have written three papers (Annex 1.3 to 1.5). Here, we just list the title of this works. Publications Gerardo MORENO, José Jesús OBRADOR, Abelardo GARCÍA How trees determine soil nutrient distribution in intercropped dehesas: consequences for crop production. Paper submitted to Agroforestry Systems. (Annex 1.3). María Jesús MONTERO and Gerardo MORENO Light distribution in scattered-trees open woodland in Western Spain. Paper submitted to Agroforestry Systems. (Annex 1.4). Fernando PULIDO et al Acorn production and regeneration of holm oak dehesas as influenced by under-storey management. Working document for three future papers to be submitted to the journals Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology and Agroforestry systems. (Annex 1.5). WP5. Below-ground interactions UEX has continued with some of the experiments initiated in previous years and commented in previous reports. In short, we can resume these activities in the following list: To go on with soil water dynamic measurements (study still in course). We have followed up with the experiments to study the root dynamic of poplar and holm-oak, in order to parametise the cellular root model developed Rachmat Mulia and Christian Dupraz in the context of the SAFE project (study still in course). On the other hand, this year we have presented two communications to International Congress (Annex 2.1 and 2.2) and we have written a paper (Annex 1.6). Communications to Congress SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

180 University of Extramadura Report Gerardo MORENO and José Jesús OBRADOR Consequences of dehesa land use on nutritional status of vegetation in Central-Western Spain. International Symposium Forest soils under global and local change: from research to practice, which was carried out in Bordeaux (France) in September (Annex 2.1). Elena G and Obrador JJ Consequences of dehesa land use on nutritional status of vegetation in Central-Western Spain. International Symposium Forest soils under global and local change: from research to practice, which was carried out in Bordeaux (France) in September (Annex 2.2). Publication Gerardo MORENO and José Jesús OBRADOR Soil nutrient content and nutritional status of holm-oaks in dehesas of C-W Spain. Paper submitted to Annals of Forest Science (Annex 1.6). WP8. Scaling-up to the farm and the region In this period UEX has revised some economical and physical data collected to run YieldsAFe, Plot-sAFe and Farm-sAFe models for different situations in Spain (9 LTSs selected in the WP 8). This task has been made in close collaboration with Anil Graves and Paul Burgess (Cranfield University), and Joao Palma (FAL), who is implementing the models. Therefore, results of economic simulations for Spanish scenarios are presented in the Report on the ploteconomics of European silvoarable systems (Deliverable 7.2) and in the Report on Economic feasibility of silvoarable agroforestry in target regions (Deliverable D8.2), both reports prepared by CRAN and FAL partners. Therefore they are not included in our report to avoid redundancy. WP9. European guidelines for policy In these last six months, UEX has prepared a report about the taxation of agroforestry systems in Spain: Forestry, Agroforestry and Taxation issues in Spain (Annex 4). This report is an addendum to the document Eligibility of Silvoarable Systems for Government Financial Support, which was presented in the third year report, in the annex 9.2. In addition, we have participated actively in the promotion of the discussion of the present situation of Agroforestry in Spain and the implications of the new CAP, with special attention to the consequences of the single payment scheme and the proposal Rural Development Regulation ( ). UEX was presenting SAFE results and promoting the agroforestry practice in the following meeting: Workshop on Silvoagricultura, cultivo e inversión, Soria, October Organized by CESEFOR-Junta de Castilla y León. Participation of Gerardo Moreno as invited speaker: Funcionalidad, manejo y estado actual de la Silvoagricultura.Congreso PAC, Modelo Agrario Europeo y Sociedad. Cáceres November. Organized by Junta de Extremadura y Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca. Participation of Gerardo Moreno. Technical meeting Especies Forestales Productoras de Madera de Calidad, Aguilar de Campoo (Castilla-León), November Organized by Federación ADEMPA. Participation of Gerardo Moreno as invited speaker: Silvoagricultura, otra forma de hacer agricultura, otra forma de hacer agricultura.workshop Las medidas de Desarrollo Rural de la PAC y la conservación de la naturaleza en Extremadura, Jarandilla de la Vera, de December Organized by the Instituto de Desarrollo Rural Sostenible IDRiSi. Participation of Gerardo Moreno as invited speaker SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

181 University of Extramadura Report National meeting for the forestation program (National and Regional Administrations in charge of the aforestation programs). Ciudad Real, 15th February. Participation of Gerardo Moreno as invited speaker: Perspectivas para la Silvoagricultura en Europa. Finally, we are preparing the end-users meeting, which will be next 11 th march in Madrid, and around 100 are attended. In this meeting results of the SAFE project will be presented and the policy aspects affecting agroforestry in Spain and Europe will be discussed. Sub-contracted work to FGN The major contribution of FGN has been to provide a silvoarable plot to carry out the most part of the experiments of the project. In this moment they are collaborating in the organization of the end-users meeting, in Madrid, where they have its main offices. Exploitation and dissemination activities In these last six months we have concentrated important effort on the dissemination of the result of the SAFE project. We have participated in five (national/regional) meetings (quoted in WP 9), with the participation of end-users and the agriculture and forestry administration, presenting and discussing the opportunities for a new Agroforestry in Spain, and the following challenges with the new CAP. In addition, we have edited a four-page pamphlet describing the main characteristics of the agroforestry systems arising from the results of the SAFE project (Annex 3). This pamphlet has been distributed all around Spain through farmer and forester associations and national and regional administrations. Apart of the dissemination of the results for end-users and stakeholders, we have made a scientific dissemination of our results in an international congress in Bordeaux (France), in September 2004 with two communications (Annex 2), and we have prepared 6 papers, which are being sent to different scientific journal (Annex 1). In this period has been also published three paper that were already included in the third year report as manuscript, thus they are not included now to avoid redundancy. These papers are: Cubera E., Montero M.J. and Moreno G Effect of land use on soil water dynamics in dehesas of Central-Western Spain. In: Schnabel S. and Ferreira A. (eds) Advances in GeoEcology 37: Sustainability of Agrosilvopastoral systems Dehesas, Montados-. Catena Verlag, Reiskirchen, Germany, pp Montero MJ, Obrador JJ, Cubera E and Moreno G (2004) The role of dehesa land use on tree water status in Central-Western Spain. In Advances in GeoEcology 37: Sustainability of Agrosilvopastoral systems Dehesas, Montados-. Eds. S Schnabel and A Ferreira. pp Catena Verlag, Reiskirchen. Obrador-Olán, J.J., García-López, E., & Moreno, G. (2004). Consequences of dehesa land use on nutritional status of vegetation in Central-Western Spain. In Advances in GeoEcology 37: Sustainability of Agrosilvopastoral systems Dehesas, Montados-. Eds. S Schnabel and A Ferreira. pp Catena Verlag, Reiskirchen. List of annexes ANNEX 1. Publications produced by UEX group and in collaboration with other SAFE members in the period August 2004-January SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

182 University of Extramadura Report ANNEX 2. Relation of communications presented to international and national congress by UEX group in the period August 2004-January ANNEX 3. Pamphlet on Agroforestry. ANNEX 4. Report Forestry, Agroforestry and Taxation issues in Spain. ANNEX 5. Report of the working visit of Elena Cubera to INRA-Montpellier. ANNEX 1 Publications (August 2004-January 2005) ANNEX 1.1. Gerardo Moreno El árbol en el medio agrícola in Foresta, 27: ANNEX 1.2. Gerardo MORENO, José Jesús OBRADOR, Eustolia GARCIA, Elena CUBERA, María Jesús MONTERO, Fernando PULIDO and Christian DUPRAZ Competitive and Facilitative interactions in dehesas of C-W Spain. First draft of a paper to be published in a special issue of the Agroforestry systems journal. (Annex 1.2). ANNEX 1.3. Gerardo MORENO, José Jesús OBRADOR, Abelardo GARCÍA How trees determine soil nutrient distribution in intercropped dehesas: consequences for crop production. Paper submitted to Agroforestry Systems. (Annex 1.3) ANNEX 1.4. María Jesús MONTERO and Gerardo MORENO Light distribution in scattered-trees open woodland in Western Spain. Paper submitted to Agroforestry Systems. (Annex 1.4) ANNEX 1.5. Fernando PULIDO et al Acorn production and regeneration of holm oak dehesas as influenced by under-storey management Working document for three future papers to be submitted to the journals Ecology, Journal of Applied Ecology and Agroforestry systems. ANNEX 1.6. Gerardo MORENO and José Jesús OBRADOR Soil nutrient content and nutritional status of holm-oaks in dehesas of C-W Spain. Paper submitted to Annals of Forest Science A last paper it is included in the report of Partner 4 (University of Leeds). M.P. Eichhorn, P. Paris, F. Herzog, L.D. Incoll, F. Liagre, K. Mantzanas, M. Mayus, G. Moreno, V.P. Papanastasis, D.J. Pilbeam, A. Pisanelli and C. Dupraz 2004 Silvoarable systems in Europe past, present and future prospects, submitted for its publication in the scientific journal Agroforestry systems. ANNEX 2 Communications (August 2004-January 2005). Gerardo MORENO and José Jesús OBRADOR Consequences of dehesa land use on nutritional status of vegetation in Central-Western Spain. International Symposium Forest soils under global and local change: from research to practice, which was carried out in Bordeaux (France) in September (Annex 2.1). Elena G and Obrador JJ Consequences of dehesa land use on nutritional status of vegetation in Central-Western Spain. International Symposium Forest soils under global and local change: from research to practice, which was carried out in Bordeaux (France) in September (Annex 2.2). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

183 FAL (Swiss federal research station fur agroecology and agriculture) Report 13 Contractor 8: FAL Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 8 : FAL (Switzerland) : Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture, Evaluation of Ecological Measures, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046 Zurich, Switzerland Institute: Swiss Federal Research Station for Agroecology and Agriculture, Evaluation of Ecological Measures, Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046 Zurich, Switzerland Partner 8: Eidgenössische Forschungsanstalt für Agrarökologie und Landbau (FAL, Switzerland) SCIENTIFIC TEAM Principal investigators Name Tel Fax Dr. Felix Herzog Felix.Herzog@fal.admin.ch Dr. Yvonne Reisner Yvonne.Reisner@fal.admin.ch Joao Palma Joao.Palma@fal.admin.ch Riccardo De Filippi Riccardo.Defilippi@fal.admin.ch TIME SPENT ON THE DIFFERENT WORKPACKAGES Time spent on different workpackages months Name WP1 WP2 WP3 WP4 WP5 WP6 WP7 WP8 WP9 WP1 Total 0 Technical annex Modified (CMC1) Year Year Year Felix Herzog Yvonne Reisner Joao Palma Riccardo De Filippi Total month Total (month 1-42) Contribution to Workpackages WP1. Silvoarable modelling strategies (2.0 person-months) WP1 was completed during the first year. WP2. European silvoarable knowledge (2.0 person-months) During the months of the project, FAL was not involved in WP2. WP6. Biophysical integrated plot modelling (1.0 person-month) FAL helped to calibrate the plot model for the trees and for the crops. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

184 FAL (Swiss federal research station fur agroecology and agriculture) Report WP7. Economic modelling at the plot scale (2.0 person-month) FAL submitted weather data (precipitation, temperature, radiation) and the soil characteristics for each Land Unit in each LTS. These are input-parameters to run the YieldsAFe-model (Excel-Version) and calculate the yields for crops and trees. Also the calculation of the farm size in relation to the Land Units was done by FAL. FAL contributed to the modelling development and solving technical problems. João Palma went in December 2004 for 2 weeks to Cranfield University to work on the models. WP8. Scaling-up to the farm and the region (48.0 person-months) T8.1. and T8.2: Selection of landscape test sites (LTS) and acquisition and digitising of the spatial data needed 1) Work at the level of LTS In the months of the project all work for T8.1. and T8.2 were finished. The environmental assessment (methodology and some results) at the level of the LTS is still in progress. At the IALE Congress 2005, a poster about the integration of environmental and economic assessment at landscape scale will be presented (Palma et al., 2005). The assessment of soil erosion, nitrate leaching, and carbon sequestration are dependent on results of YIELD-SAFE and FARM-SAFE. Because there are still some difficulties for calibration of the biophysical model, the assessment of the environmental indicators will be finished until July To discuss the Triple Quadrant Approach to calculate nitrate leaching, Joao Palma visited Herman van Keulen (Wageningen) in November ) Defining target regions for silvoarable agroforestry for Europe (for five tree species Populus ssp., Pinus pinea, Juglans ssp., Quercus ilex, Prunus avium) This part of the project is finished. The paper Target regions for silvoarable Agroforestry in Europe was submitted to the Journal Ecological Engineering (see Reisner et al., 2005). WP9. European guidelines for policy implementation (5.3 personmonths) The regional scenario testing resulting from WP8 will enter the policy analysis and recommendations elaborated in WP9. Interactive maps at the regional scale (examples) and at the European scale, which visualise the result of different policy scenarios, will be developed as a component of the Agroforestry Policy Game (Deliverable 9.3). Meetings, FAL participated: FAL organised the CMC 6 (6 th Consortium Management Committee) in Zurich: Novvember FAL organised the final scientific meeting in Zurich, November FAL visited WU as working visit at the end of November 2004 (to discuss the triple quadrant approach for the assessment of nitrate leaching) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

185 FAL (Swiss federal research station fur agroecology and agriculture) Report FAL visited Silsoe (CRAN) in December 2004 to solve some technical problems in the modelling and for the calibration of the models to use in the 19 LTS: SAFE reference list of FAL for the months and for the year 2005 De Filippi, R.; Reisner, Y.; Herzog, F. (2005): Data availability and use of GIS to support agroforestry policies in Europe. 6th Geomatic Week on high resolution sensors and their applications, Conference in Barcelona. 8th February 11th February De Filippi, R.; Reisner, Y.; Herzog, F.; Dupraz, C.; Gavaland, A.; Moreno, G.; Pilbeam, DJ. (2004): Modelling the potential distribution of agroforestry systems in Europe using GIS. In 18th conference EnviroInfo 2004, Geneva, 21th October 23th October Palma, J,; Bregt, A.; Bunce, R.; De Filippi, R.; Herzog, F.; Van Keulen, H.; Mohren, G.; Reisner, Y. (2004): Assessing the environmental effects of agroforestry at the landscape scale. Ecological Engineering. In prep. Palma, J.; Graves, A.; Bregt, A.; Bunce, R.; Burgess, P.; Garcia, M.; Herzog, F.; Mohren, G.; Moreno, G.; Reisner, Y.; de Fillippi, R. (2005): Landscape Integration of Economic and Environmental Indicators to Assess Silvoarable Agroforestry in Spain. European IALE Congress 2005 on Landscape Ecology in the Mediterranean: Inside and outside approaches. Portugal Faro, March 29 - April 2, Reisner, Y.; Herzog, F. and De Filippi, R. (2004): Target regions for silvoarable Agroforestry in Europe. Ecological Engineering. submitted. Reisner, Y.; Palma, J.; Herzog, F. (2004): Assessing the feasibility of silvoarable agroforestry at different spatial scales. GfÖ Conference, Giessen, Germany, September Future work Conferences: European IALE Congress 2005 (International Association for Landscape Ecology) 29 March - 2 April 2005 in Faro, Portugal. Oral presentation. Title: Landscape Integration of Economic and Environmental Indicators to Assess Silvo-Arable Agroforestry Options in Spain (Palma, J.; Graves, A.; Bregt, A.; Bunce, R.; Burgess, P.; Garcia, M.; Herzog, F.; Mohren, G.; Moreno, G.; Reisner, Y.; de Filippi, R.). 6th Geomatic Week on high resolution sensors and their applications, Conference in Barcelona. 8th February 11th February Oral presention of Riccardo De Filippi about Data availability and use of GIS to support agroforestry policies in Europe. Significant difficulties or delays experienced during the reporting period The delays in the establishment, parametrisation and quality checks of the biophysical model made it virtually impossible for us to fulfil our commitments. In an exceptional effort of all people involved (not only FAL contractor but also the partners and other contractors involved in WP8 which is co-ordinated by FAL) we managed to provide some results. It will not be possible, however, to analyse and interpret them as carefully as we should until the project will be over. Some of this work will be continued beyond the end of the SAFE project, but the outcome will only be available later. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

186 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report 14 Contractor 9: APCA Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 9 : APCA (FRANCE) Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture 9 avenue George V Paris, France Scientific team and time spent on the WPs Principal investigators Name. Tel Fax Fabien Liagre liagre@ensam.inra.fr Thomas Borrell* borrell@ensam.inra.fr Pierre Savy pierre.savy@apca.chambagri.fr Nathalie Galiri nathalie.galiri@apca.chambagri.fr Arnaud Petit arnault.petit@apca.chambagri.fr Thierry Fellmann thierry.fellmann@apca.chambagri.fr * Student Time spent on the different workpackages during the last period WP 1 WP 2 WP 7 WP 8 WP 9 Total Fabien Liagre Thomas Borrell Pierre Savy Nathalie Galiri Arnaud Petit Thierry Fellmann Total 6 months Time spent on the different workpackages during the 42 months WP 1 WP 2 WP 7 WP 8 WP 9 Total Technical annex Total First year Total Second year Total Third year Total Fourth year Total 42 months Contribution to workpackages WP2 European silvoarable knowledge (10 person-month) Improving the database of extant silvoarable systems Fabien Liagre, with the help of Isabelle Lecomte has finished the database of extant silvoarable systems during this last period. This database, written in Access software, helps the user to locate all the traditional and modern silvoarable systems in the different countries of the Programme. Each site, identified by specific data and photo, is defined by a range of maps which help to locate the area. (see WP2 report for more information). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

187 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Study of farmers reaction about agroforestry During the last 6 months, Fabien Liagre made the whole analysis of the data from each partner. He finished the deliverable 2.3 (ex 8.3). In France, all the results from the interviews have been presented in each target region. Three local meetings have been organised in Prahecq (Poitou-Charentes), Orleans (Centre) in December 04 and in February 05 in Besançon (Franche Comté). These meetings were the opportunity to discuss all the results with the technicians who helped to create the sample and the farmers who were interviewed. The results we observed for France were quite surprising. In very productive region (Centre) or on the contrary, in region where it s difficult to maintain the agricultural area face to the forest development (Franche Comté), the reaction of the farmers was very enthusiastic to the silvoarable idea (see Table 125). If many farmers pointed out all the technical difficulties, they showed a deep interest to be informed about the potential of these systems 80% wanted to be contacted again. 60% Number of Farmers (%) 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Centre Franche Comté Poitou- Charentes Enthusiastic Interested Undecided Against Total Table 125: Are the French farmers interested in creating some silvoarable project? A third of them said that it could be an option in a short term future. And 12 % seemed to be really motivated. Even if the percentage of interested farmers in creating some silvoarable projects is less important than in the European study, almost 30% of the French farmers said they would think about it. In the Region Centre, we found a large number of farmers against this possibility. On the contrary, we have more possibilities to find an interested farmer in Poitou- Charentes. This result was a strong surprise for the Chambers of Agriculture. We realised an opinion poll with all the persons of the Agriculture Chambers who worked in the Farmer s reaction study. Almost 50 questionnaires were sent to them to sound up their opinion about the farmers reaction. And we received 25 answers. In conclusion, a few technicians were able to forecast these results. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

188 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report % Answers Interested % Undecided % Against % Technicians Forecast Farmers AnswersRéponses Agriculteurs Table 126: Technicians forecast about the answer of the farmers according to their interest in creating or not a silvoarable project. If the technicians share the same interest as the farmers concerning the possibilities of development of agroforestry, they nonetheless think that this option wouldn t interest so much the farmers. Before each regional meeting, we phoned to each farmer, two years after the interviews, to sound up again if they were thinking about a silvoarable project, if they had changed their mind about agroforestry (see Table 127). 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% Interested Undecided Against 10% 0% Interview Phone call Table 127: Evolution of the interest in creating a project in the farmers who have been interviewed in After 2 years, the farmers interested in creating a project are less important, although we have still 10 farmers who are still enthusiastic. Finally, only half of the interviewed don t imagine to plant trees in their cropping area, although some of them don t close the door to this eventuality In case of great subsidy, they can adopt their farming system! We must also underline that 7 farmers have initiated some discussions with their technicians to see how to set up their silvoarable plot for 2005 (2 in Poitou-Charentes, 2 in Centre and 3 in Franche Comté)! From these 7 farmers, 5 had said that they were interested, one that he SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

189 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report was undecided and the last one was against any project This last farmer changed his mind for some environmental goal. In fact, his village decided to protect their water catchment s area and to adopt some agro-environmental measures to maintain a good water quality. He proposed therefore himself a silvoarable measure. This programme will concern numerous farmers of this area. We can add that, again in this environmental approach, another farmer we interviewed could propose an agroforestry measure for the same reason in his village. The rest of the farmers who want to plant trees in their crop give some economical reasons (diversification and inheritance) or just want to improve the landscape. One of them told us during the interviews: Your system is fantastic! Sorry to tell you that, but if you don t succeed to change the European regulations to take into account the agroforestry specifications, you are an idiot! Sorry to tell you that!! To learn more about some interesting results about the WP2 interviews, see the WP2 report. To know which kind of actions APCA took to avoid to be considered as an idiots institute, see the contributions of APCA to WP9 WP7 Economic modelling at the plot scale (9.0 person-months) During the fourth year, Thomas Borrell and Fabien Liagre, in collaboration with Christian Dupraz - INRA, have realised all the technical and economical simulations for the French context. APCA participated to the redaction of the French chapter for the deliverable Plot economics of European silvoarable systems report leaded by the partner Chavet. APCA was also in charge of the redaction of the deliverable Optimum AF systems for different regions report - in collaboration with Christian Dupraz. Face to the late we observed in the results we should have received from Yield-sAFe, it was decided to go on our simulations using the Ler-Safe data to feed Farm-sAFe. All the results of our simulations have been presented to all the Chambers of Agriculture which have provided the economical data in the 3 regional meetings we named before. Main objectives The main objectives for APCA were: To provide economic data on representative farms of targeted areas for silvoarable dissemination in 3 areas of France, using existing national farm survey information (ROSACE network) To predict outputs at plot and farm scale of three different target French areas including a totally non-forested intensive cereal-growing area in the Paris basin To participate in the elaboration of economic model to realize the different scenarios (Farm-sAFe, Yield-sAFe and Ler-Safe) Data references and main hypothesis The forestry references The revolution duration, timber production and production techniques (initial density, prunings, thinnings, sward maintenance, and final density) were determined by expert knowledge, in accordance with available documentation. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

190 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report The densities correspond to the schedule of conditions of the French circular Forêts de production and to forestry organisms advises. Individual piece of timber at felling (m3/tree) density (trees/ha) initial final Volume at felling (m3/ha) Revolution duration (years) Good Land Bad land unit land unit medium unit Mean annual production (m3/ha/year) Good Land Bad land unit land unit unit medium Walnut ,17 1,89 1,67 Wild cherry 0, ,40 2,18 2 Poplar 1, ,79 13,64 12 Table 1: Densities, revolution duration and mean annual and total productions for walnut, wild cherry and poplar. With walnut, 2 thinnings of 50 trees/ha are realised at 1/3 and 2/3 of the revolution ; with wild cherry, 3 thinnings are realised at 1/3 (400 trees/ha), half (200 trees/ha) and 2/3 (50 trees/ha) of the revolution. Supports for afforestation on agricultural land vary in function of the region and of the tree species: as the poplar revolution is shorter, the PCPR is available for 7 years instead of 10. Type of farm (region) Hy-Lc (Centre) Ly-Lc (Poitou- Charentes) Walnut and wild cherry Establishment grant (4 first years) 50% of the costs 50% of the costs 0 PCPR farmer (10 first years) 240 /ha 300 /ha 0 Poplar Establishment grant (4 first years) 50% of the costs 50% of the costs 0 PCPR farmer (7 first years) 240 /ha 300 /ha 0 Hy-Hc (Franche- Comté) Table 2 : Regional supports for afforestation on agricultural land for walnut, wild cherry and poplar (year 2003). The PCPR is the Compensation Payment for the loss of agricultural income. Franche-Comté is a particular region. More than 50% of the area are already woodlands, thus afforestation is not encouraged: there is no support available for new forestry plantation. Everywhere in France, newly afforested plots benefit from an exemption from land tax: for 10 years with poplar, 50 years with walnut and wild cherry. In our simulations, this land tax is comprised between 30 /ha (Centre) and 39 /ha (Poitou-Charentes). Reference data in agriculture All arable data come from the Farm observatory ROSACE. Thanks to this typology of farms made by the regional Chamber of Agriculture, several types of farms are defined and described, each one corresponding to the mean of 5 to 10 farms selected by the Chambers experts. Each year, the economical inputs are re-calculated (yield, net margin, farm costs, labour and CAP payment). In addition, all the technical orientations and strategies of the farm are described. We selected 3 types of farm, which we shall now designate with 4 initials: Hy-Lc: High yields and Low fixed costs Hy-Hc: High yields but High fixed costs Ly-Lc: Low yields and Low fixed costs For each of them, the ROSACE typology indicates: SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

191 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report The cropping area of the farm, distinguishing tenant farming and property; The crop rotation in function of the quality of the soil (up to 3 Land Units: best, medium, worst); The mean yields, attributed to the medium Land Unit (for the best and worst Land Units, we respectively assumed an increase and a decrease of 10% of the mean yields); The variable costs, assignable fixed costs and fixed costs and labour. The prices of the products and sub-products (straws of the wheat) and the CAP payments of the farm Single Farm Payment, SFP). The selection of each type of farms, various partners from the Chambers of Agriculture have participated: Camille Laborie, who is in charge of ROSACE in APCA, Anne-Marie Meudre (Franche Comté), Catherine Micheluzzi (Poitou-Charentes) and Benoît Tassin (Centre). Hy-Lc Ly-Lc Hy-Hc Cropping area of the farm (ha) property tenant farming Total Fixed costs ( /farm) ,4 37, ,5 32, Typical rotation(s) (a) wheat wheat oilseed or (b) wheat oilseed wheat wheat sunflower wheat oilseed sunflower (a) wheat wheat wheat wheat wheat maize or (b) wheat wheat oilseed Crop Mean yield (t/ha) Gross Marg ( /ha) Net Marg ( /ha) area (ha) wheat 8 (straw ,0 2 t/ha) oilseed ,0 set aside ,0 6,5 wheat (straw ,3 2 t/ha) oilseed 3, ,1 sunflow 2, ,2 er set aside ,4 wheat 6,7 (straw ,8 2 t/ha) oilseed 3, ,1 maize 7, ,2 set aside ,4 Total Net Margin ( /farm) Table 3 : Main economic data and total net margin ( /farm) for every type of farm. Rotation (a) corresponds to the best land units, rotation (b) to the worst. Set aside is realised on 10% of the total farm area. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

192 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report The Net Margin is equal to the Gross Margin minus the fixed assignable costs (land tax and machinery costs). The Total Net Margin is equal to the Net Margin minus the fixed costs (rent of land, amortisation and maintenance of the buildings, social contributions, banking costs). Labour costs are not taken into account. The profitability threshold yield With the development of the trees, the crop yield decreases progressively. Below a certain level, the crop is not more profitable, above al near the tree area. For each crop of the three types of farm, the threshold yield was first determined according to the price of the product, the CAP payment and the variable costs, assignable fixed costs and a part of the fixed costs 14. As the results, in proportion of the mean yield of each crop, were roughly the same in the three farms, we fixed this proportion in order to facilitate the extrapolation to other types of farm. crop Mean yield in the farm Profitability threshold yield Mean yield in Hy-Hc Winter wheat 100 % 50 % 6,7 t/ha 3,35 t/ha Maize 100 % 70 % 7,5 t/ha 5,25 t/ha Oilseed rape 100 % 60 % 3,5 t/ha 2,1 t/ha Profitability threshold yield in Hy-Hc Table 4: Profitability threshold yield in proportion of the mean yield in the farm and example for the farm Hy-Hc The threshold yield is the same in every farm, whatever the land unit is. Thus it shall be reached more quickly in the worst land unit than in the best land unit. Main management features of the agroforestry systems For each type of farm, we simulated the introduction of 2 agroforestry designs in the 3 land units (best, medium, and worst): Plantation at 50 trees/ha, on 40 m spaced tree-lines; Plantation at 120 trees/ha, on 22 m spaced tree-lines. The tree strip is 2 m wide. The width of the intercropped alley is respectively of 38 m and 20 m, thus the maximum crop area represents 95% of the initial area at 50 trees/ha and 91% at 113 trees/ha. With walnut and wild cherry, an early thinning is realised when the timber volume reaches 0,1 m3 (around the years 10-13), therefore the final densities are different from the poplars one (see Table 5). 14 If the crop is abandoned on a part of the cropping area, we assume that the fixed costs should decrease a little; thus they must be taken into account in the calculation of this threshold yield. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

193 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Agroforestry Forestry Tree Density Timber Density Timber Tree RAproducts Productio Productio RAbiomass (trees/ha) volume (trees/ha) volume (m3/ha) (m3/ha) initial final (m3/tree) initial final (m3/tree) ,2 48 0,36 0,48 Walnut , ,66 0,86 Wild , ,22 0, ,8 120 cherry , ,42 0, ,8 90 0,3 0,3 Poplar , , ,66 0,66 Table 5: Initial and final densities, volume of an individual piece of timber and production in forestry and in the simulated agroforestry systems; tree Relative Area (RA)-biomass and tree RA-products The crops Relative Areas (RA) have been fixed for 3 hypothesis: optimistic, probable and pessimistic. The pessimistic hypothesis means that the LER-biomass is equal to 1. Therefore, the crop RA is equal to: (1 tree RA-biomass). The optimistic crop RA is determined according to 2 constraints: The crop RA must be inferior to the maximum intercropping area We also assumed to fix a ceiling for the LER-biomass of 1.4. Thus the crop RA is equal to: (1.4 tree RA-biomass). This ceiling of 1.4 was reached with walnut and poplar at 120 trees/ha, so the crop RA seems quite low with regards to the maximum intercropping area. We assumed a probable crop RA as the arithmetic average of the 2 previous values (pessimistic and optimistic) (see Table 6 and Table 7). Initial density (trees/ha) Width between tree lines (m) Width of the intercropped alley (m) Maximum intercropping area Pessimistic crop RA Probable crop RA Optimistic crop RA Walnut ,95 0,64 0,79 0, ,91 0,34 0,54 0,74 Wild ,95 0,78 0,85 0,93 cherry ,91 0,57 0,72 0,87 Poplar ,95 0,7 0,8 0, ,91 0,34 0,54 0,74 Table 6: Crop RA in function of the tree species, density and optimism level. Bold values are those which depend on the ceiling of 1.4 for the LER-biomass. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

194 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Initial density (trees/ha) Width between tree lines (m) Width of the intercrop ped alley (m) LER-biomass reached with the Pessim. crop RA probabl crop RA Optimist crop RA LER-products reached with the Pessim. crop RA probabl crop RA Optimist crop RA Walnut ,15 1,3 1,12 1,27 1, ,2 1,4 1,2 1,4 1,6 Wild ,07 1,15 1,1 1,17 1,25 cherry ,15 1,3 1,19 1,34 1,49 Poplar ,1 1,2 1 1,1 1, ,2 1,4 1 1,2 1,4 Table 7 : LER-biomass and LER-products in function of the tree species, density and hypothesis of optimism for the intercrop Bold values are those which depend on the ceiling of 1.4 for the LER-biomass. Economic hypothesis CAP payments In agriculture, the crops area benefits from the Single Farm Payment (SFP): it was calculated on the basis of the historical references of each farm, in accordance with the way France decided to implement the new CAP in In the basic scenario, we assumed that the intercrops are eligible to the SFP proportionally to the area of the plot that they occupy. It is the present situation in France. The rights corresponding to the tree area could be transferable to another eligible area which doesn t benefit from a payment right. In our simulations, we did not attribute them to new plots, considering therefore that these rights were lost for the farmer. Tree grants In our basic scenario, agroforest trees benefit from the same establishment payments as the forest trees: 50% of the costs of the 4 first years in Poitou-Charentes and Centre. It corresponds to the present situation, permitted by the circular Forêts de protection which relies on the line i of the French National Rural Development Programme. However an agroforest plot cannot benefit from neither the PCPR nor the exemption of land tax. In France, an agro-environmental measure called agroforest habitats can be contracted under certain conditions, but it still faces administrative difficulties and is not available in most of the departments, thus it was not taken into account in our simulations. Costs and prices Some key points have to be underlined: The cost of sward maintenance is higher in forestry than in agroforestry. In forestry, at the beginning of the revolution, sward maintenance is realised thanks to two grindings instead of one for the maintenance of the tree strip in agroforestry. The farmer makes all operations himself, except the marking out and plantation of the young trees. Both of these operations are charged 15 /h. The timber prices correspond to standing trees, thus neither the harvesting cost is taken into account. In a cash flow approach, the basic scenario doesn t include the labour cost for the farmer. While in a farming management scenario, we consider an hourly cost of 7,62 SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

195 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report /h (minimum salary in France). In this last approach, it s therefore possible to evaluate the efficiency of the farmer labour. As it seems impossible to anticipate the future evolution of prices and costs, we assumed constant values. For instance, a rise or a drop of timber value would respectively increase or decrease the tree revenue. Main results Labour impact for one silvoarable hectare temps de travail (h/ha/an) agriculture cultures intercalaires arbres agriculture cultures intercalaires arbres temps de travail (h/ha/an) année année Case 1: Plantation of 120 trees/ha Case 2: Plantation of 50 trees/ha Table 128: Labour evolution in the management of a silvoarable plot during the tree rotation, separating the crop from the tree labour. An essential condition for adopting agroforestry from the farmers point of view is that they don t want to devote more time to a new system. If the farmer planted more trees (case 1), he would need 1 to 1.5 days each year to maintain the trees. But in the second half of the rotation, the labour decreases progressively due to the fact that trees don t need more special maintenance and that the intercrop activity is reduced. If he plants fewer trees, the impact during the first years is poor. With the small density, the intercrop activity is longer, because the crop yield is not so affected by the trees. The labour requested in the second half of the rotation is therefore lower but very near from the initial scenario. Prediction of yield evolution Crop yield evolution Predicting the crop yield during the second half of the rotation is a perilous venture. If we know the behaviour of the intercrop during the first half thanks to experimental measures on existing plots, we asked the bio-economics model to predict the yield evolution. In our simulation, as we said, we used the LER-Safe prediction. We made the essential hypothesis that the LER must be include between 1 and 1.4. This condition helps us to determine a possible range of crop yield evolution, from the pessimist one to the optimist one (see Table 129). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

196 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Tree plantation Tree Harvest 100 Optimist 100 Crop yield (%) Intercrop Yield Pessimist Pure Crop Time Table 129: Evolution of the relative intercrop yield according to optimist or pessimist view about the tree competition. Case of one ha of wild cherry with an initial density of 120 trees/ha for a final density of 80 trees/ha. In this example of a plantation of wild cherry at 80 trees/ha (final density), which means a distance between the trees rows of 25m, the crop yield represent more than 90% during the first half of the tree rotation. According to the interaction level, the crop yield varies between 30 and 75 % of the pure crop yield of reference the year before harvesting the trees. The crop yield depends on different parameters: The parameters due to some initial choices: the crop nature (a sunflower will be more affected by the shadow of the adult trees than a cereal), the density of the plantation and the distance between the lines, choice of the land unit (a deeper soil will be more adapted),... The parameters depending on the capacity of the farmer: well pruned trees, tree root maintenance (root cutting), In our economical scenarios, we have tested the different level of interaction. Tree yield evolution As for the crop yield estimation, we put forward the hypothesis of different level of timber productivity. But for our simulations, we only use one prediction of timber production. To validate our approach, we use a very cautious estimation of production (see Table 130). Our results can therefore be considered as the minimum result we can get from our hypothesis. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

197 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Interval Basic scenario Pure plantation Optimist Pessimist Standing volume (m3/ ha) Time 0 Table 130: Range of timber volume evolution for an initial plantation of 120 wild cherry. The figure indicates of the cautious hypothesis of standing volume we used for our simulations (77 m 3 for 80 final trees). Cash flow impact To evaluate the impact of the project on the cash flow, we must distinguish first the investment cost and then the evolution of the annual cash flow depending of the crop yield evolution and the possible over cost to crop between the trees in comparison with a pure crop system. Initial investment The poor number of trees to plant in an agroforestry system reduces considerably the investment cost if we compare with a current afforestation cost on agricultural land. The tree cost is nonetheless higher. The owner will choose a better quality of the trees and will have to protect each one with a strong protection: each tree has a possible future value and demands a special attention. The total cost of a plantation (without subsidy) varies between 500 and 1000 euros/ha according to the tree specie (the walnut plantation being the most expensive). This cost represents between 20 to 60 % of the average cost in the case of common land afforestation (see Table 131). Afforestation Poplar 367 /ha 695 /ha /ha 120 trees/ha 50 trees/ha /ha Wild Cherry 267 /ha 469 /ha /ha Walnut 517 /ha /ha Table 131: Comparaison of the investment in agroforestry and forestry scenario, WITHOUT subsidy. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

198 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report In France, it s current to get a subsidy of 40 to 70% to cover the investment cost and the maintenance cost of the trees during the 4 first years (except in Franche Comté). Since 2004, the French Government decided to suspend all economic aids to the land afforestation, excepted for agroforestry. In our simulations, we decided to conserve this aid, to be able to compare between the two options (see Table 132). Afforestation Poplar 184 /ha 348 /ha 617 /ha 120 trees/ha 50 trees/ha 759 /ha Wild Cherry 134 /ha 235 /ha 817 /ha Walnut 259 /ha 517 /ha Table 132: Comparison of the investment in agroforestry and forestry scenario, WITH subsidy. Cash flow evolution Evolution of the cash flow at the plot scale The cash flow evolution will depend of the crop yield evolution and the LER level we have selected and the final density. For example, in the Table 133, we ve illustrated the cash evolution for two different densities but for a medium LER level to 85 % 80 to 90 % 50 trees/ha % Annual Gross Margin trees/ha Silvoarable Gross Margin Agricultural Gross Margin 30 to 60 % Plantation Time 0 Trees Harvesting Table 133: Evolution of the annual cash flow for a probable scenario with wild cherry (LER=1.07 for a density of 50 trees/ha and 1.15 for a density of 120 trees). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

199 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Being cautious in our forecast, we notice nonetheless that at half of the rotation, the gross margin still represent 80 to 90 % of the agricultural gross margin. We must underline that in our simulations, we ve considered that the crop payment area is reduced progressively by the tree area. In case of the silvoarable area was eligible in its totality, the impact on the cash would be sensible, above all in some regions where man get poor crop yield and where the crop payment is essential in the gross margin calculation (Franche Comté for example). Let s also underline the fact that in the INRA experimental plots, the LER reaches more 1.3 than 1.15 that we have chosen in our simulation with an initial density of 120 trees/ha. Evolution of the cash flow at the farm scale At the farm scale, one of the first questions of the farmer is about the importance of the area to plant. Does he have to plant on a big area? In several plots or in a single plot? There is no only one answer. According to the strategy of the farmer, a large range of scenarios is available. The choice will depend to the cash flow context and to know if the farmer can support a strong investment or not, and above all if he aims to decrease progressively his crop activity or not. The labour availability is also a strong parameter to decide which area to plant. According to our simulation and experimental experience, we often recommend not planting more than 10 % of the cropping area. In that case, the impact on the farm gross margin is less than 3 % in average on the first half of the tree rotation. A gradual plantation will allow a reduction of the cash flow impact (see Table 134). % of Farm Gross Margin without AF 435 % 175 Farm with 8% silvoarable area Farm with 100 % of cropping area % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% % of the tree rotation % of Farm Gross Margin without AF 178% 180% 191% 183% 175 Farm with 8% silvoarable area Farm with 100 % of cropping area % 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120% % of the first tree rotation a. Case of a single plantation b. Case of a gradual plantation Table 134: Comparison of the cash flow evolution when the farmer plants 8 % of his cropping area (50/50 Walnut/Wild cherry). We compare the option where the farmer would plant the silvoarable area in once time or if he decides to plant 2 % every 5 years during 20 years. A gradual plantation will also allow a soft distribution of the timber income in the time from the moment where the owner begins to harvest the first mature trees (case b). From this moment, the timber income is regular. In our example, he can harvest the trees every 5 years. In this context, the farm gross margin increase by 15 %. According to the importance of the plantation and of the species he planted, a farmer could increase his farm income between 10 to 100%. Of course, it can suppose a long term to wait for the farmer before the first tree harvest Profitability of a silvoarable investment Comparing a silvoarable scenario with agricultural scenario For our simulations, we have selected 3 kinds of farms: Farm with good crop yields and few fixed costs. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

200 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Farm with medium crop yields with few fixed costs. Farm with medium crop yields and high fixed costs. For each farm, corresponding to each region of the LTS of the WP8, we have run different scenarios according to: the tree density: 120 versus 50 for the initial density which corresponds to a final density of 80/40. the LER level: optimist, probable and pessimist the land unit: good/medium the 3 tree species: poplar, walnut and wild cherry 108 scenarios have been run in total (36 scenarios / LTS). The Table 135 shows a synthesis of the Agricultural Values for all these scenarios we have calculated for each specie according to the level of LER. % of realised simulations 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Walnut Wild Cherry Poplar Agricultural Value Index > 1,35 1,20-1,35 1,05-1,20 0,95-1,04 < 0,95 optimist probable pessimist optimist probable pessimist optimist probable pessimist Scenario for intercrop productivity Table 135: Profitability of the silvoarable scenarios according to the tree specie and the LER level. A first interesting result is that the silvoarable scenarios are at least as profitable as the agricultural scenario. Walnut timber is actually the most expensive timber on the market. For a same duration of rotation, the best results have been logically obtained with the walnut than the wild cherry. The period of harvesting time is a key parameter in the profitability calculation (see Table 136). SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

201 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report 2,00 1,80 1,60 1,40 1,20 1,00 0,80 0,60 0,40 0,20 0,00 Very Très well bien pruned Bien Well pruned formé Mal Badly formé pruned formé (50 ans) (60 ans) 40 years 50 years 60 years (40 ans) Table 136: Influence of the maintenance quality on the profitablity. A late in the pruning dates can put the harvesting date back by 10 or 20 years, above all for some sensitive specie such as the hybrid walnut. In this example, a late of 20 years means a reduction of 60% of the profitability in comparison of the agricultural profitability. Comparing a silvoarable scenario with a forestry scenario We compare also the case where the farmer was hesitating between a forestry investment rather than a silvoarable investment from a profitability point of view (see Table 137). 1,50 Agricultural Value Index of a silvoarable scenario of a pure plantation scenario 1,00 1,55 0,50 1,04 0,89 1,21 1,00 0,48 0,00 Poplar Walnut Wild Cherry Table 137: Comparison of the profitability of the silvoarable and afforestation scenario with the agricultural scenario. Silvoarable plantation of 120 wild cherry by ha characterized by a LER of 1,15. In this example, we explore the case of a probable LER of 1.15 in the silvoarable option. In almost all our simulations, the silvoarable options are more profitable than the forestry option. The forestry option may be more profitable in the case where the crop margin is very poor, above all if it s possible to plant some valuable species such as walnut for example. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

202 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report It s also interesting to notice that for the poplar, the silvoarable option could be a possibility to stimulate the poplar market. In France, the poplar area is currently decreasing because of the price fall of the timber (less than 45 /m3). Agroforestry could therefore be a possible strategy to reduce the market risks. Property holdings evaluation in agroforestry According to his age, a land owner who plants trees, will not necessary benefit from the harvest But, as a farmer told us, a farmer has three possibilities of income: the sale of his products, the stock variation and the possibility to make a capital gain. In this last option, a silvoarable plot is a capital which could be evaluated if necessary (inheritance, expropriation, etc). The land evaluation in agroforestry is the combination of the agricultural land evaluation and the future value of the trees (see Table 138) No commercial value with commercial value Euros by ha Age of the trees (years) Agriculture agroforestry Table 138: Evolution of the monetary value of the silvoarable land according to the age of the trees. In agroforestry, this value is the sum of the agricultural value plus the timber future value. If the young trees could have a future value, for example at 10 years old, they don t necessary have a commercial value in the sense that the landowner can not expect some income if he cut them. In this example of a wild cherry plantation, the capital evaluation may represent between twice and four time the agricultural land value according to the age of the trees. In the case of a walnut plantation, it may represent till 7 times this value 10 years before the tree harvesting. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

203 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Photo 5: In this plot of 4 ha, the wild cherries are 30 years old. The value of the standing volume is estimated to /ha, which represents the same value of the agricultural land. But the future value of this plantation is much higher and overpass the /ha. Main conclusions To invest in agroforestry represents a light investment in money and labour comparing with some new systems of diversification. In our simulations, the profitability reaches 10 to 50 % with walnut, and -5 to +15 % with wild cherry and poplar, comparing with the agricultural scenario. A regular calendar of plantation on a few surfaces is a good option for the farmer (labour and cash flow impact). 10 % represents between 2 and 3 % of reduction of the farm gross margin. But in the balanced period, the income increase of more than 15% (mixed plantation of walnut and wild cherry trees). The gross margin could double if the farmer plants progressively his whole cropping area. But in that case, it means a stronger impact on the initial cash flow and demands a consequent labour... If the best bio-physical option is to plant between 90 to 120 trees by hectare, the best economical option is to plant a lower density around 70 to 90 trees by hectare. This means a distance between the trees lines varying between 24 to 36 m. For more information, see Deliverable 7.2. Dupraz, C., Liagre, F. & Borrell, T. (2005) The Land Equivalent Ratio of a silvoarable agroforestry system. In preparation. Borrell, T. (2004) De l importance des interactions arbres-cultures sur les performances économiques de l agroforesterie tempérée. Mémoire de Diplôme d Agronomie Approfondie, ENSAM-INRA, Montpellier. 98 p + annexes WP8 Scaling-up to the farm and the region (14.0 person-months) APCA contribute to the realisation of the deliverable 8.1 in collaboration with Anil Graves and Joao Palma. APCA delivered all the data to A. Graves and J. Palma for their simulations. APCA spent also a large time to evaluate all the results obtained by Yield-sAFe for the French LTS, contributing by this task to the calibration of the model Yield-sAFe. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

204 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report For more information, see Deliverable 8.2. Graves, A.R., Burgess, P.J., Liagre, F., Dupraz, C. & Terreaux, J.-P. (in preparation) The development of an economic model of arable, agroforestry and forestry systems. To be published soon in Agroforestry Systems. WP9 European guidelines for policy implementation (8.4 person-months) French forestry and agricultural policies have been scrutinised for bottlenecks on agroforestry implementation, and possible conflicting rules between forestry and agricultural policy. This task was divided in two parts: Agroforestry and CAP policy Agroforestry and land status In each case, APCA has created some working groups with different partners from the agricultural and forestry field (administration and professional). Different solutions have been suggested. APCA has contributed to the design of a common framework for the implementation of a European agroforestry scheme based on the data from the models. APCA has organised 4 end-user conferences at the end of the project in France. APCA has also contributed to the organisation of the Brussels conference and participated to the Madrid end users conference. APCA spent a large time in the dissemination of the SAFE results in three different audiences: the Chambers of Agriculture, the French government and the farm and forest end-users. Agroforestry and CAP policy APCA made lobbying to support agroforestry in the CAP policy. At the European level, APCA defended the article 41 of the draft Regulation of Rural Development as member of the Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the European Union (COPA) and as councillor of the Social and Economical Committee (CSE). Arnaud Petit manage this lobbying action in the name of APCA to support the idea to finance the agroforestry plantation on agricultural land during the draft project evaluation by the CSE and COPA. At the national scale, APCA has defended the eligibility of the silvoarable plot in the CAP application. In the existent regulation, when a farmer plants a new silvoarable plantation, he must deduce the tree area from the eligible area of the plot. Luc Guyau, APCA president, sent a letter to the Agricultural Minister to demand a total eligibility of the silvoarable area (see Annex 1). APCA proposed 2 conditions to get this total eligibility: More than 50% of the plot should be devoted to an agriculture production The tree density must be under 200 trees by hectare This demand is now discussing in the Ministry of Agriculture. A future meeting with the Ministry and Professional Organisation is planned to discuss about the place of the isolated trees in the next policy. (See Annex ) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

205 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Suggestions of a land status for the agroforestry plot APCA initiated during the SAFE programme and above all in this last period a discussion about the definition of the land status in agroforestry. The French Ministry of Agriculture made a first draft inventory of the different silvoarable systems existing in France and proposed different solutions to be discussed. These solutions would be explored by APCA and its partners to make some proposals in the following months to be discussed with the Government and the Parliament. The objective is to define an official status to be included in the future Law of Agricultural Direction in Photo 6: In Vézénobres, the silvoarable status is a combination of the agricultural rate and forestry rate, according to each component area. In Annex, after resuming the different cases existing in agroforestry and the proposals of the French Ministry, APCA presents the principles way of solutions. Dissemination of the SAFE results 4 End-user conferences have been hold at the end of the programme, 3 in each region which has participated in the programme and one national conference in Paris in APCA. These conferences have been a success. Luc Guyau, president of APCA, has leaded the national meeting in APCA (in the centre, white shirt). One hundred persons coming from all France have attended the meeting. Christian Dupraz, Fabien Liagre and Thomas Borrell have presented the main results of the SAFE programme in each Regional Chamber of Agriculture. Photo 7: End-user conferences in France In each regional meeting, we invited all the technicians and farmers who have been approached for the interviews inside the WP2, and have contributed to give economical data SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

206 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report for the WP7 and 8. These meetings were also the opportunity to debate about the future of agroforestry in each region and to imagine how to go on the research development activities. Each of the 3 provinces has shown a strong interest to carry on this way. In Paris, on January 26th 2005, has taken place the national conference. Each Regional Chambers of agriculture and forestry institutes have been invited. APCA invited also the members of the different Ministry of Agriculture and Ecology. In conclusion of the conference, strong contacts with administration and professional have been taken to think about how to defend agroforestry in the new policies (CAP and status). APCA also decided to organise a national training courses for October 2005 (5 th to 7th) to train the extension services to the management of silvoarable projects. A special Agroforestry edition of the review Revue Des Chambres d Agriculture will be published at the end of This edition will present the main SAFE results. Different partners of the SAFE programme will participate to this edition. French prospect of the agroforestry development in a near future Evolution of the number of silvoarable projects During the last period of the SAFE Programme, APCA carried on a strong support the silvoarable projects in France. Many technicians have been involved to supervise the setting up of projects. The last estimations in France show that the silvoarable area of recent projects will overpass the 1200 ha in 2006 (see Table 139), which will concern more than 150 owners (see Table 140). If we include the older projects, the whole area will approach ha for more than 170 owners hectare Year Cumulated Existing In study First contact Table 139: Evolution of silvoarable area during the last 5 years in France (only recent projects are taken into account) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

207 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Number of actors Cumulated Existing In study Contact Table 140: Possible evolution of the silvoarable projects number in France for the next two years. Thanks to the policy reform in France and to the investment of APCA during these last three years, we assist to a development of agroforestry in France. This development is very encouraging for those who carried out this topic. We didn t count today the number of phone calls from farmers, land owners or technicians interested to know more about agroforestry. More than 20 articles in professional reviews or newspaper have been edited during the SAFE period. 5 farmers organisations have asked for a specific training in But this success of agroforestry in France supposes to organise its development. Each project holder must receive right technical and practical information to set up his project in good conditions. On the other hand, the diversity of goals underlined by these project holders induces some new questions to the Research Development which induces also more means for the Research teams. After the SAFE project Research Development Programme Different partners from the Research Development have proposed a national programme to organise the development of Agroforestry in France. 17 French Départements participated to this proposal. The goals of the programme would be: To create a national end-user association To create a network of demonstration plots in each province To create a research development unit, associating INRA, professional organisms and education institutes. To give all kind of information to each silvoarable actor in France SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

208 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report APCA is quite optimistic to receive the agreement from the French Rural Development Agency to set up this programme. A co-financing has been submitted to the Agricultural Ministry and to the Ecology Ministry. This programme is leaded by the Consultancy Agroof Développement and under the scientific coordination of INRA Montpellier, with the collaboration of 16 Chambers of Agriculture and APCA and 2 others endusers organisms. The objective of the national network of experimental plots (in green) is to complete the existing research network (in orange), mainly based in the South of France. But several provinces have wished recently to participate also in a near future to this network (in purple). INRA-APCA Agreement After the national end-user conference in Paris, APCA opened the discussion with INRA to think about a future collaboration, with the signature of a possible agreement in 2005 to go on the work realised during the SAFE programme. Face to the end-user demand, APCA wishes a stronger participation of the Chambers of Agriculture in some Research Development programme. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

209 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Annex 1: Letter of Luc Guyau sent to the Minister of Agriculture to defend the eligibility of Agroforestry in the new CAP policy in France. A l attention de Hervé GAYMARD Ministre de l Agriculture, de l alimentation, de la pêche et des affaires rurales Paris, le 21 septembre 2004 Objet : Propositions concernant l agroforesterie dans le cadre de l application des accords du Luxembourg et de la proposition de règlement européen concernant le soutien au développement rural Monsieur le Ministre, L agroforesterie connaît un écho de plus en plus favorable auprès des agriculteurs et des collectivités territoriales. Une récente étude que nous avons menée auprès des céréaliers des régions Centre et Poitou-Charentes montre que l agroforesterie intéresse plus de 30 % des personnes interrogées. De quelques projets recensés en 2001, nous devrions atteindre la centaine de projets pour la période 2005/2006. Ainsi, pour 2005, plus de 1000 ha de parcelles agroforestières sur terres agricoles seront mises en place en France. Ce développement s explique notamment par le fait que l agroforesterie améliore la valeur patrimoniale et les performances agro-environnementales des exploitations tout en maintenant le revenu réel de l agriculteur. Le projet de règlement européen du 14 juillet 2004 prévoit de soutenir l agroforesterie, notamment par l article 41, inspiré des actions de recherche développement, menés conjointement par l INRA et les Chambres d Agriculture. Nous nous félicitons donc de cette prise en compte. Nous apportons seulement quelques propositions d amendement sur l écriture de certains articles, dans l annexe ci-jointe. Cependant, l application des accords de Luxembourg risque d hypothéquer le développement de l agroforesterie, si l on admet au niveau français que l emprise des arbres est soustraite de la surface éligible aux droits. Or, considérant : que l agroforesterie est réversible et ne constitue donc pas un boisement de terres agricoles, que la plupart des avantages environnementaux procurés par les parcelles agroforestières (biodiversité, paysage, protection climatique, protection des sols et des eaux) ne sont pas rémunérés, que les superficies d emprise en jeu sont faibles au regard de la mise en œuvre de contrôles complexes que la France a acquis une avance reconnue dans ce domaine au niveau européen, Nous souhaiterions que l activation des droits à prime soit réalisée sur la totalité de la parcelle agroforestière et que l emprise des arbres sur les parcelles agroforestières soit comptabilisée dans le calcul des 3 % de surfaces enherbées (cf. annexe ci jointe). En espérant que ces propositions retiendront toute votre attention, je vous prie d agréer Monsieur le Ministre, l expression de mes sentiments respectueux Luc Guyau, Président de l APCA SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

210 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Annexe 2 : Proposition de modification du règlement européen concernant le soutien au développement rural (proposition du 14/07/04) L axe 2 du RDR au titre de l aménagement de l espace comporte deux sous-sections : 1. Les mesures axées sur l utilisation durable des terres agricoles 2. Les mesures axées sur l utilisation durable des terres sylvicoles La sous-section 2 comprend la mesure de soutien à l agroforesterie sur terre agricole. Cette rédaction est ambiguë. En effet, cette mesure qui soutient l agroforesterie sur terre agricole se situe dans la sous-section des mesures forestières. Afin d éviter toute confusion, il est proposé de distinguer les deux types de systèmes agroforestiers et d intégrer une mesure de soutien à l agroforesterie sur terre agricole dans la première sous-section et une mesure de soutien à l agroforesterie sur terre forestière dans la deuxième sous-section. Cette distinction demande une modification des articles 34 et 41 ainsi que l introduction d une nouvelle mesure donnant lieu à un nouvel article. Modification de l article 34 Il est ajouté un point vi à l article 34 a). La rédaction de l article 34 a) serait la suivante (modifications proposées en gras) : Article 34 L aide prévue au titre de la présente section concerne les mesures suivantes : a) Mesures axées sur l utilisation durable des terres agricoles grâce à : i) des paiements destinés aux exploitants agricoles pour les handicaps naturels en zone de montagne; ii) des paiements aux exploitants agricoles situés dans des zones présentant des handicaps, autres que ceux des zones de montagne; iii) des paiements NATURA 2000; iv) des paiements agroenvironnementaux et en faveur du bien-être animal; v) un soutien aux investissements non productifs. vi) un soutien à la première installation de systèmes agroforestiers sur des terres agricoles. b) Mesures axées sur l utilisation durable des terres sylvicoles grâce à : i) un soutien au premier boisement de terres agricoles; ii) un soutien à la première installation de systèmes agro-forestiers sur des terres forestières; iii) un soutien au premier boisement de terres non agricoles; iv) des paiements NATURA 2000; SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

211 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report v) des paiements environnementaux forestiers; vi) un soutien à la restauration du potentiel de production sylvicole et à l'introduction de mesures de prévention; vii) un soutien aux investissements non productifs. Le point a vi) donne lieu à nouvel article. Proposition d article pour l agroforesterie sur terres agricoles Dans la sous-section 1 (Conditions relatives aux mesures en faveur d une utilisation durable des terres agricoles), on ajoute un nouvel article rédigé comme suit : Article 39 Première installation de systèmes agroforestiers sur des terres agricoles 1. Le soutien prévu à l article 34, point a) vi), est accordée aux exploitants agricoles qui mettent en place des systèmes agroforestiers combinant des systèmes d agriculture extensive et des systèmes de sylviculture. 1. L aide couvre les coûts d'installation. 2. Par «systèmes agro-forestiers», on entend les systèmes d utilisation des terres qui combinent la croissance d arbres et l agriculture sur les mêmes terres. 3. Les sapins de Noël et les espèces à croissance rapide cultivées à court terme ne sont pas admissibles au bénéfice de cette aide. 4. Le soutien est limité aux plafonds fixés à l'annexe I. Modification de l article 41 (qui devient 42) L article 41 de la sous-section 2 (Conditions relatives aux mesures en faveur d une utilisation durable des terres sylvicoles), concerne la mesure en faveur de l agroforesterie sur terres forestières. Il convient d adapter le contenu actuel de l article. Proposition de rédaction : Article 42 Installation de systèmes agroforestiers sur des terres sylvicoles 1. Le soutien prévu à l article 34, point b) ii), est accordée aux exploitants agricoles qui mettent en place des systèmes agroforestiers combinant des systèmes d agriculture extensive et des systèmes de sylviculture. L aide couvre les coûts de l aménagement. 2. Par «systèmes agroforestiers», on entend les systèmes d utilisation des terres qui combinent la croissance d arbres et l agriculture sur les mêmes terres. 3. Les sapins de Noël et les espèces à croissance rapide cultivées à court terme ne sont pas admissibles au bénéfice de cette aide. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

212 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report 4. Le soutien est limité aux plafonds fixés à l'annexe I. Annexe 3 : Propositions concernant l agroforesterie dans le cadre de l application des accords du Luxembourg Etat actuel Le document de travail AGRI/2254/2003 recommande que le seuil pris en compte pour caractériser une parcelle arborée soit de 50 tiges par ha. Au-delà, la parcelle devient inéligible au titre du PU sauf dérogation pour des motifs agro-environnementaux. Il est également spécifié dans le règlement 1782/03 que l agriculteur perd ses droits à paiements pour les surfaces mises en cultures pérennes (article 51). Néanmoins le premier principe de l article 8 du règlement d application 796/2004 spécifie qu «une parcelle boisée est considérée comme une parcelle agricole aux fins du régime d aide «surfaces» sous réserve que les activités agricoles visées à l article 51 du règlement (CE) n 1782/2003 ou, le cas échéant, que la production envisagée puissent se dérouler comme elles se dérouleraient sur des parcelles non boisées situées dans la même zone.» Proposition Compte-tenu que : L agroforesterie répond aux 4 objectifs fixés par les conditions de bonne pratique agricole et environnementale, à savoir : Protection contre l érosion des sols grâce au maillage des lignes d arbres enherbées, Maintien de la matière organique sous le double effet de l enherbement et de la décomposition du feuillage et des racines annuelles Maintien de la structure des sols Niveau minimum d entretien, assuré par les animaux dans les zones sylvopastorales. Et que d autre part, l agroforesterie répond aux enjeux définis par les directives européennes sur l environnement, en particulier les directives concernant la préservation de la qualité de l eau (directive 91/676) et a la directive sur le bien-être des animaux (directive 98/58) Il est proposé que : Nous souhaiterions que l activation des droits à prime soit réalisée sur la totalité de la parcelle agroforestière. Pour cela, la parcelle agroforestière devra respecter les normes usuelles en agroforesterie, à savoir que la parcelle doit être majoritairement agricole (culture ou pâture) et que la densité d arbres soit comprise entre 50 et 200 arbres par ha. Les arbres double-fin, cultivés pour le bois et pour leur production fruitière, sont éligibles à condition que la hauteur de bille soit supérieure à 2 m et nette de tout point de greffage sur cette hauteur. Conformément à la réglementation, l exploitant ne pourra cumuler différentes aides sur cette surface. Soit il opte pour la déclaration de la surface dans le cadre du RPU, soit il opte pour une déclaration de surface en verger. Dans ce dernier cas, la parcelle n est SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

213 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report plus éligible aux droits à prime mais peut prétendre aux aides vergers (ex aides aux fruitiers à coque). Remarque : L introduction d arbres à faible densité ne modifie pas le montant global des primes reçues par l exploitation. Dans cette démarche, il n y a aucune possibilité de transgresser les textes d application afin de percevoir davantage de primes : un projet agroforestier n augmente ni ne diminue le niveau global de paiements perçus par l exploitation. Eco-conditionnalité Parmi les dispositions que la France a prises au titre de la conditionnalité des aides, figure l obligation d implanter des bandes enherbées ou un couvert d intérêt environnemental sur une surface équivalente à 3 % de leur surface SCOP. La largeur des bandes doit être comprise entre 5 et 10 m. Proposition Il est proposé que les lignes d arbres enherbées plantées dans les parcelles agroforestières puissent être comptabilisées dans le calcul des 3 %. Dans ce cas, une dérogation est demandée afin que la largeur des lignes d arbres en agroforesterie puisse se situer sous le seuil des 5 mètres demandés dans le cas des bandes enherbées. Annexe 3 : Normes agroforestières françaises Une parcelle agroforestière doit techniquement satisfaire les deux critères suivants : 1. Entre 50 et 200 arbres/ha répartis sur l ensemble de la parcelle 2. Plus de 50 % de la surface de la parcelle cultivée. Cette culture intercalaire doit pouvoir être effectuée dans des conditions comparables à celles des parcelles non arborées de la région. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

214 APCA (Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture) Report Annex 4: APCA proposal for the consideration of agroforestry in the CAP See document word: APCA proposal CAP.doc Annex 5: Land Status for agroforestry See document word: French agroforestry status by APCA.doc SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

215 University of Thessaloniki Report 15 Contractor 10: University of Thessaloniki Name and address of the participating organisation Contractor 10 : University of Thessaloniki (GREECE) Assemblée Permanente des Chambres d Agriculture, 9, Avenue Georges V PARIS, France Department Politiques Territoriales et Stratégie Environnementale (Land Management and Environmental Strategies Branch) Scientific team and time spent of the WPs Principal investigators Name Tel Fax Vasilios Papanastasis Contribution to workpackages Workpackage 2: European silvoarable knowledge Start date: Month 37 (01 August 2004) Completion date: Month 42 (31 January 2005) Current status: Active Partner responsible: Vasilios Papanastasis, AUTH Person months of WP2: 0.5 INRA WU NERC LEEDS CRAN CNR UEX FAL APCA AUTH Total Technical Annex 14 Month Month Month Month Month Month Month Total 42 Months 14 Objectives Objectives AUTH will study Greek traditional silvoarable systems in order to collect technical and economic data about the productivity and viability of these systems. They will include structural data about intercropping systems in the area. The farmers awareness and adaptability of agroforestry. Work carried out in the reporting period Completion of survey on still living silvoarable systems SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

216 University of Thessaloniki Report The survey on still living silvoarable systems at selected sites around Greece was completed during the reporting period. Corrections were made in the database of these systems and additional information such as photos and maps for the surveyed systems were provided. The Greek team also contributed to the preparation of the paper Silvoarable agriculture in Europe past, present and future that describes the still living silvoarable systems around Europe. A review paper for agroforestry systems in Greece prepared by the Greek team was presented to the 4th Pan-Hellenic Rangeland Congress held in November at Volos, Greece. This presentation was based on the survey of still living agroforestry systems at the Askio Municipality and on the preview work related to these systems. The paper is in Greek with English summary which is attached. The paper is going to be included in the proceedings of the Congress. Future Actions After the end of the project a proposal for the detailed survey of agroforestry systems in Greece will be submitted for funding to the Ministry of Rural Development and Food (the new name for the Ministry of Agriculture). AGROSILVOPASTORAL SYSTEMS IN GREECE K. Mantzanas, E. Tsatsiadis, I. Ispikoudis and V.P. Papanastasis Laboratory of Rangeland Ecology, Aristotle University, P.O. Box 286, Thessaloniki, Greece. konman@for.auth.gr Summary Agrosilvopastoral systems traditional and new occur in several parts of Greece and play an important role in local economy. They also play a very important ecological role because they prevent soil erosion and surface runoff while they improve the landscape and conserve the biodiversity. They separate to several types according to tree species. Over the last decades, these systems have been substantially reduced due to several reasons including both extensification and intensification. A measure for the preservation of these systems could be a national survey. For this reason the area of Askio Municipality was selected as a study case. Several combinations of trees and crops were identified in that survey conducted during the last three years. The main tree species were oaks, walnuts, poplars, and fruit trees. The understorey crops consisted mainly of cereals (wheat, barley, corn), lucerne, tobacco and vegetables. Crops are used for livestock feeding directly (grain, hay) or indirectly (grazing). In the latter case, animals use these areas in the critical periods of the year such as the summer and early autumn (after the crop harvest). Key words: Trees, crops, grazing, reasons for reduction, survey Workpackage 9: Developing European guidelines for policy implementation Start date: Month 37 (01 August 2004) Completion date: Month 42 (31 January 2005) Current status: Active Partner responsible: Vasilios Papanastasis, AUTH SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

217 University of Thessaloniki Report Person months of WP9: 2 INRA WU NERC LEEDS CRAN CNR UEX FAL APCA THES Total Technical Annex 2 Month 1-6 Month 7-12 Month Month ** Month Month * Month * Total 42 Months -5.5 * from wp8, ** from wp Objectives WP9 will produce a synthesis report on Silvoarable Agroforestry in the context of economic and social changes to agricultural and forestry policies being implemented in Agenda 2000 (e.g. 1257/99), and provide guidelines to Member States and Autonomous Regions on the potential uptake of agroforestry systems. It will describe the effect of subsidiarity on farmforestry practices, and use the socio-economic model to investigate the potential effects on agroforestry uptake of different legal structures, financial incentives and market price levels. CURRENT TASKS Local, regional, national and European policies will be reviewed in relation to agroforestry. The information collected will be analysed and suggestions will be formulated in collaboration with other partners. The final document on agroforestry policy will be reviewed to address the issues of Mediterranean countries, and to promote the use of traditional silvoarable systems if these systems have proved to be of a productive or environmental value WORK CARRIED OUT IN THE REPORTING PERIOD Policy aspects After reviewing the EU regulations related to agricultural policy and the environment considerable time was spent to meet people and discuss the promotion of silvoarable agroforestry and agroforestry in general. Since agroforestry is not included explicitly in any of the relevant regulations, several Greek authorities were contacted to discuss how this land use practice can be accommodated so that traditional silvoarable systems are maintained and preserved and new ones are established. SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

218 University of Thessaloniki Report The question that arose was whether silvoarable practices should be considered as part of the good agricultural and environmental practices. The SAFE project was presented at the 4 th Panhellenic Rangeland Congress held in November of 2004 at Volos, Greece. The various scientists attending the congress followed with real interest and enthusiasm the presentation for the agroforestry systems and the work done at the Municipality of Askio. The preparation of the end-users national conference started last August. The idea was to hold it in the framework of the international fair ZOOTECHNIA in order to be attended by several officers, politicians, scientists and farmers. Contacts were made with the various Services of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, involved with agricultural and forestry policy. Invitations for attending the conference were sent to various Organisations and Institutes around Greece such as the Municipalities of the Kozani prefecture, Forest offices, Research Institutes, non governmental organisations, the Ministry of Rural Development and Food in Athens, Universities and Technological Institutes as well as farmer unions and individual farmers. A press release was sent to all major newspapers, TV channels and radios in order to advertise the conference. Additionally, Mr A. Christidis, officer of the European Commission was invited to give a presentation about the new European Rural Development Regulation and the involvement of agroforestry systems (Article 41). The other speakers were Prof. V. Papanastasis, who introduced the silvoarable systems and the SAFE project; the coordinator of the project (Dr C. Dupraz), who presented the results of the project; As. Prof. I. Ispikoudis, who analysed the historical and cultural perspectives of silvoarable systems in Greece; Dr K. Mantzanas, E. Tsatsiadis and E. Mpatianis, who presented the extant silvoarable systems in Greece and the work done in Askio; and finally Mrs A. Logothetou from the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, who presented the agri-environment measures and codes of good agricultural and environmental practices. A dossier was prepared with the pamphlet of traditional and new silvoarable systems of Askio, the translation in Greek of the info paper at the European Research Magazine and a proposal for forming a Greek agroforestry forum, which was given to all the participants. Overall, 150 participants attended the workshop and a lengthy discussion was held concerning the future of silvoarable systems in Greece Community agroforestry plots The exceptionally dry summer period resulted in a number of dead trees in the three experimental plots established last year. Specifically, the first plot (Siargas ) intercropped with maize did not have any dead trees due to drought because it was irrigated during the summer period (July-October 2003 and 2004). It had only 2 dead trees out of the 43 planted destroyed by the harvest machine (Figures 1 and 2). The second plot (Tsatsiadis ) intercropped with wheat had 3 dead trees and 7 trees with dead leaves out of the 28 planted (Figures 5 and 6). They were replaced in November of 2004 with trees from the Forest Service nursery of Thessaloniki. Finally, the third plot (Strebas ) intercropped with wheat had 27 dead trees and 12 trees with dead leaves out of the 63 planted (Figures 3 and 4). They were also replaced in November of Detailed information for the experimental plots is given in tables 1-3. Table 1. Siargas experimental plot SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

219 University of Thessaloniki Report Owner: Farmer: Crop Ploughing Seeding Fertilization Herbicide application Irrigation Yield Antonios Siargas Antonios Siargas Maize Date November 10, 2004 Depth Date Quantity Basic Surface Date Herbicide Quantity Dripping Table 2. Tsatsiadis experimental plot Owner: Antonios Tsatsiadis Farmer: Aristides Tremmas Crop Barley Ploughing Date November 2004 Depth m Seeding Date November 2004 Quantity 300 kg/ha Fertilization Basic November 2004, type , quantity: 300 kg/ha Herbicide Surface Date With seeding application Herbicide Dablitine Quantity 1 kg per tone of seeds Irrigation No Yield Table 3. Strebas experimental plot Owner: Ioannis Strebas Farmer: Athanasios Zois Crop Barley Ploughing Date November 2004 Depth m Seeding Date November 2004 Quantity 300 kg/ha Fertilization Basic November 2004, type , quantity: 300 kg/ha Herbicide Surface Date With seeding application Herbicide Dablitine Quantity 1 kg per tone of seeds Irrigation No Yield SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

220 University of Thessaloniki Report Figure 1. Siargas experimental plot (August 2004) Figure 2. Siargas experimental plot (January 2004) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

221 University of Thessaloniki Report Figure 3. Strebas experimental plot (August 2004) Figure 4. Strebas experimental plot (January 2004) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May

222 University of Thessaloniki Report Figure 5. Tsatsiadis experimental plot (August 2004) Figure 6. Tsatsiadis experimental plot (January 2004) SAFE Final Progress Report Volume 3 May