Josiane Ménassieu

Bio: Josiane Ménassieu is an academic researcher from École Normale Supérieure. The author has contributed to research in topics: Agriculture & Food prices. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications receiving 194 citations.

Agronomy for sustainable agriculture. A review

Abstract: Sustainability rests on the principle that we must meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Starving people in poor nations, obesity in rich nations, increasing food prices, on-going climate changes, increasing fuel and transportation costs, flaws of the global market, worldwide pesticide pollution, pest adaptation and resistance, loss of soil fertility and organic carbon, soil erosion, decreasing biodiversity, desertification, and so on. Despite unprecedented advances in sciences allowing us to visit planets and disclose subatomic particles, serious terrestrial issues about food show clearly that conventional agriculture is no longer suited to feeding humans and preserving ecosystems. Sustainable agriculture is an alternative for solving fundamental and applied issues related to food production in an ecological way (Lal (2008) Agron. Sustain. Dev. 28, 57–64.). While conventional agriculture is driven almost solely by productivity and profit, sustainable agriculture integrates biological, chemical, physical, ecological, economic and social sciences in a comprehensive way to develop new farming practices that are safe and do not degrade our environment. To address current agronomical issues and to promote worldwide discussions and cooperation we implemented sharp changes at the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development from 2003 to 2006. Here we report (1) the results of the renovation of the journal and (2) a short overview of current concepts of agronomical research for sustainable agriculture. Considered for a long time as a soft, side science, agronomy is rising fast as a central science because current issues are about food, and humans eat food. This report is the introductory article of the book Sustainable Agriculture, volume 1, published by EDP Sciences and Springer (Lichtfouse et al. (2009) Sustainable Agriculture, Vol. 1, Springer, EDP Sciences, in press).

Long-term effects of organic amendments on soil fertility. A review

Abstract: Common agricultural practices such as excessive use of agro-chemicals, deep tillage and luxury irrigation have degraded soils, polluted water resources and contaminated the atmosphere. There is increasing concern about interrelated environmental problems such as soil degradation, desertification, erosion, and accelerated greenhouse effects and climate change. The decline in organic matter content of many soils is becoming a major process of soil degradation, particularly in European semi-arid Mediterranean regions. Degraded soils are not fertile and thus cannot maintain sustainable production. At the same time, the production of urban and industrial organic waste materials is widespread. Therefore, strategies for recycling such organic waste in agriculture must be developed. Here, we review long-term experiments (3-60 years) on the effects of organic amendments used both for organic matter replenishment and to avoid the application of high levels of chemical fertilizers. The major points of our analysis are: (1) many effects, e.g. carbon sequestration in the soil and possible build-up of toxic elements, evolve slowly, so it is necessary to refer to long-term trials. (2) Repeated application of exogenous organic matter to cropland led to an improvement in soil biological functions. For instance, microbial biomass carbon increased by up to 100% using high-rate compost treatments, and enzymatic activity increased by 30% with sludge addition. (3) Long-lasting application of organic amendments increased organic carbon by up to 90% versus unfertilized soil, and up to 100% versus chemical fertilizer treatments. (4) Regular addition of organic residues, particularly the composted ones, increased soil physical fertility, mainly by improving aggregate stability and decreasing soil bulk density. (5) The best agronomic performance of compost is often obtained with the highest rates and frequency of applications. Furthermore, applying these strategies, there were additional beneficial effects such as the slow release of nitrogen fertilizer. (6) Crop yield increased by up to 250% by long-term applications of high rates of municipal solid waste compost. Stabilized organic amendments do not reduce the crop yield quality, but improve it. (7) Organic amendments play a positive role in climate change mitigation by soil carbon sequestration, the size of which is dependent on their type, the rates and the frequency of application. (8) There is no tangible evidence demonstrating negative impacts of heavy metals applied to soil, particularly when high-quality compost was used for long periods. (9) Repeated application of composted materials enhances soil organic nitrogen content by up to 90%, storing it for mineralization in future cropping seasons, often without inducing nitrate leaching to groundwater.

Annual intercrops: an alternative pathway for sustainable agriculture.

Abstract: Intercropping, the agricultural practice of cultivating two or more crops in the same space at the same time, is an old and commonly used cropping practice which aims to match efficiently crop demands to the available growth resources and labor. The most common advantage of intercropping is the production of greater yield on a given piece of land by making more efficient use of the available growth resources using a mixture of crops of different rooting ability, canopy structure, height, and nutrient requirements based on the complementary utilization of growth resources by the component crops. Moreover, intercropping improves soil fertility through biological nitrogen fixation with the use of legumes, increases soil conservation through greater ground cover than sole cropping, and provides better lodging resistance for crops susceptible to lodging than when grown in monoculture. Intercrops often reduce pest incidence and improve forage quality by increasing crude protein yield of forage. Intercropping provides insurance against crop failure or against unstable market prices for a given commodity, especially in areas subject to extreme weather conditions such as frost, drought, and flood. Thus, it offers greater financial stability than sole cropping, which makes the system particularly suitable for labor-intensive small farms. Besides, intercropping allows lower inputs through reduced fertilizer and pesticide requirements, thus minimizing environmental impacts of agriculture. However, intercropping has some disadvantages such as the selection of the appropriate crop species and the appropriate sowing densities, including extra work in preparing and planting the seed mixture and also extra work during crop management practices, including harvest. The selection of an appropriate intercropping system for each case is quite complex as the success of intercropping systems depend much on the interactions between the component species, the available management practices, and the environmental conditions. Plant breeding can contribute determinedly to increase of productivity of intercropping systems by investigating and exploiting the genetic variability to intercrop adaptation. This paper provides an overall view and evaluation of annual intercropping, summarizing its main advantages supported by a number of key examples from the literature which point out its great value in the context of sustainable agriculture.

Long-Term Effects of Organic Amendments on Soil Fertility

Abstract: Common agricultural practices such as excessive use of agro-chemicals, deep tillage and luxury irrigation have degraded soils, polluted water resources and contaminated the atmosphere. There is increasing concern about interrelated environmental problems such as soil degradation, desertification, erosion, and accelerated greenhouse effects and climate change. The decline in organic matter content of many soils is becoming a major process of soil degradation, particularly in European semi-arid Mediterranean regions. Degraded soils are not fertile and thus cannot maintain sustainable production. At the same time, the production of urban and industrial organic waste materials is widespread. Therefore, strategies for recycling such organic waste in agriculture must be developed. Here, we review long-term experiments (3–60 years) on the effects of organic amendments used both for organic matter replenishment and to avoid the application of high levels of chemical fertilizers. The major points of our analysis are: (1) many effects, e.g. carbon sequestration in the soil and possible build-up of toxic elements, evolve slowly, so it is necessary to refer to long-term trials. (2) Repeated application of exogenous organic matter to cropland led to an improvement in soil biological functions. For instance, microbial biomass carbon increased by up to 100% using high-rate compost treatments, and enzymatic activity increased by 30% with sludge addition. (3) Long-lasting application of organic amendments increased organic carbon by up to 90% versus unfertilized soil, and up to 100% versus chemical fertilizer treatments. (4) Regular addition of organic residues, particularly the composted ones, increased soil physical fertility, mainly by improving aggregate stability and decreasing soil bulk density. (5) The best agronomic performance of compost is often obtained with the highest rates and frequency of applications. Furthermore, applying these strategies, there were additional beneficial effects such as the slow release of nitrogen fertilizer. (6) Crop yield increased by up to 250% by long-term applications of high rates of municipal solid waste compost. Stabilized organic amendments do not reduce the crop yield quality, but improve it. (7) Organic amendments play a positive role in climate change mitigation by soil carbon sequestration, the size of which is dependent on their type, the rates and the frequency of application. (8) There is no tangible evidence demonstrating negative impacts of heavy metals applied to soil, particularly when high-quality compost was used for long periods. (9) Repeated application of composted materials enhances soil organic nitrogen content by up to 90%, storing it for mineralization in future cropping seasons, often without inducing nitrate leaching to groundwater.

From Nutrients to Nurturance: A Conceptual Introduction to Food Well-Being:

Abstract: The authors propose a restructuring of the “food as health” paradigm to “food as well-being.” This requires shifting from an emphasis on restraint and restrictions to a more positive, holistic understanding of the role of food in overall well-being. The authors propose the concept of food well-being (FWB), defined as a positive psychological, physical, emotional, and social relationship with food at both individual and societal levels. The authors define and explain the five primary domains of FWB: food socialization, food literacy, food marketing, food availability, and food policy. The FWB framework employs a richer definition of food and highlights the need for research that bridges other disciplines and paradigms outside and within marketing. Further research should develop and refine the understanding of each domain with the ultimate goal of moving the field toward this embodiment of food as well-being.

Precision nitrogen management of wheat. A review

Abstract: Conventional farming has led to extensive use of chemicals and, in turn, to negative environmental impacts such as soil erosion, groundwater pollution and atmosphere contamination. Farming systems should be more sustainable to reach economical and social profitability as well as environmental preservation. A possible solution is to adopt precision agriculture, a win–win option for sustaining food production without degrading the environment. Precision technologies are used for gathering information about spatial and temporal differences within the field in order to match inputs to site-specific field conditions. Here we review reports on the precision N management of wheat crop. The aims are to perform an investigation both on approaches and results of site-specific N management of wheat and to analyse performance and sustainability of this agricultural practice. In this context, we analysed literature of the last 10–15 years. The major conclusions are: (a) before making N management decisions, both the measurement and understanding of soil spatial variability and the wheat N status are needed. Complementary use of different sensors has improved soil properties assessment at relatively low cost; (b) results show the usefulness of airborne images, remote and proximal sensing for predicting crop N status by responsive in-season management approaches; (c) red edge and near-infrared bands can penetrate into higher vegetation fraction of the canopy. These narrowbands better estimated grain yield, crop N and water status, with R 2 higher than 0.70. In addition, different hyperspectral vegetation indices accounted for a high variability of 40–75 % of wheat N status; (d) various diagnostic tools and procedures have been developed in order to help wheat farmers for planning variable N rates. In-season adjustments in N fertilizer management can account for the specific climatic conditions and yield potential since less than 30 % of spatial variance could show temporal stability; (e) field studies in which sensor-based N management systems were compared with common farmer practices showed high increases in the N use efficiency of up to 368 %. These systems saved N fertilizers, from 10 % to about 80 % less N, and reduced residual N in the soil by 30–50 %, without either reducing yields or influencing grain quality; (f) precision N management based on real-time sensing and fertilization had the highest profitability of about $5–60 ha−1 compared to undifferentiated applications.