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POLYFARMING
Demonstration of a new agro-silvo-pastoral land use to improve farm profitability in mountain areas
Creaf leader
The objective of the project is to demonstrate the interest of a new multifunctional agro-silvo-pastoral system integrated as a cost-effective management alternative to the problem of the abandonment of multifunctional agriculture in Mediterranean mountain areas and the environmental (degradation of soils, vulnerability to climate change, risk of fire, loss of biodiversity…) and socioeconomic (territorial inequalities, inefficient use of the territory) problems that this abandonment is creating.
The implementation of this new system is based on:
- Adapting several promising techniques for improving the structure, fertility and capacity of water retention of the soil, for which in Europe, however, there is no experience of their application in productive projects.
- Defining a new way of interrelating these different techniques to the scale of farm that allows an improved land use with the following components:
- Integrated forest management that allows the use of the by-products of the forest (as remains of both thinning and cleaning of understory) as a basic resource for the rest of the farm activities and, in particular, the improvement of soil organic matter;
- Management of cattle through programmed intensive grazing, becoming an important tool for the management of other activities (understory cleaning, fruit trees management, improvement of fertility);
- Multiple management of fruit trees with the production of grasses to complete the needs of livestock;
- Self-sufficient management of mountain orchards using forest resources.
The project focuses on putting up a pilot farm where the proposed agro-silvo-pastoral system will be implemented and will be valued at a real scale. This implementation at the farm level, together with a design intended to facilitate the demonstration of these techniques, are essential points to reach the collectives of farmers and owners who have to ensure its replicability in the territory. To facilitate this goal, the project proposes also the adequacy of a space for practical courses on the field, the execution of counseling to other farms on the surroundings, and the completion of an application guide and videos explaining the process of development and daily management.
