2012/01/01 by Éric Pottier, Audrey Michaud, Pottier, Eric +7
Social Sciences · #Biodiversity #Biodiversité #Forage value #Forage yield #French Urban and Social Studies #Permanent grassland #Prairies permanentes #Production #Typologie #Typology #Valeur alimentaire
paper · doi:10.17180/993x-2985
openalex publication_date 2012/01/01 · openalex created_date 2022/08/27 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Permanent grasslands contribute more than 30% of the French agricultural area. The agricultural, economic and environmental issues of the management of these grasslands are numerous and crucial. Their positive impacts on soil, air and water quality, biodiversity and landscapes are largely recognized. However it is clear that their acreage has continued to decline for many years. If the causes are primarily the changes in farming systems, another reason is the lack of knowledge of the rural advisors on the potential of these surfaces often considered difficult to manage, sensitive to the variations of climate, and with a poor forage yield. To improve knowledge about their potential with regard to these ssues, a 4-year national study designed to provide benchmarks for the rural advisors was launched in 2008. The main objective was to provide relevant information on diagnosis and management of the permanent grasslands. More than 40 research teams, extension services and universities spread over the whole French territory were involved in a survey of more than 1300 field plots scattered in 80 farms. 190 plots selected among a large set of 1300 grasslands were intensively studied during two years, and provided more than 4000 forage samples. This large study produced extensive references on permanent grassland features, for a wide range of plain and mountain context, regarding management, forage production and feed value, and environmental value of French permanent grasslands. It has enabled the definition of a typology, restricted to 19 types, which today is a simple tool kit, useful in agrienvironmental diagnosis. All the results obtained in this study were published in a book entitled: "the permanent grassland: references for valorizing their diversity”