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Agriculture: technology for soil conservation and regeneration

Soil conservation and its regeneration are now at the heart of the work of many farmers who see agroecology as a way to take better care of the soil.

By L.B.

Published on 10/26/2023 at 2:15 p.m.

Funded by the Region, the non-profit organization Greenotec (Environmental Research and Study Group of New Cultural Techniques) was created on the initiative and for the benefit of farmers motivated by the search for concrete solutions to problems. practices that they encountered on a day-to-day basis on their farm. “These farmers notably had losses of soil fertility and erosion problems,” explains François Dessart, agronomist and research manager at Greenotec.

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The work of the non-profit organization is based on 3 pillars. Firstly, there is extension aimed at farmers and the general public with a view to improving agricultural practices in general. “There are big erosion problems in Belgium and France, for example, and agroecology helps to provide solutions,” he adds. As a reminder, agroecology designs production systems that rely on the functionalities offered by ecosystems. For example, we are going to work much more with green manures and intermediate crops to renovate the soil and work with integrated control of crop pests. Another pillar of its action, experimentation. “We carry out agronomic trials with our 400 members and other research centers, in large crops (potatoes, cereals, beets, etc.)”. Finally, Greenotec also provides specific advice on farms.

Technological advances

Soil conservation and regenerative agriculture is based on several bases, such as having permanently covered soil or moving towards techniques that “disturb” soil life less.

In this context, the contribution of technology is undeniable. “There are essential and incredible tools which provide, down to the centimeter, information allowing us to map yields, diseases or to feed the plants,” continues François Dessart. “Robots are arriving on the market but it is far from being adopted yet. I am sure that, in a few decades, we will be there. We are moving, for example, towards robots like the sowing or weeding robot that are lighter and which compact the soil less,” he concludes.