Will French farmers adopt silvoarable agroforestry technology in the near future?

Correspondance: liagre@supagro.inra.frInternational audienceFarmers did not consider silvoarable agroforestry technology until 2001 in France due to regulations that excluded would-be agroforesters from the compensatory payment scheme for annual crops. This policy had a strong negative impact on traditional silvoarable systems in France during the 90s: farmers uprooted trees in fields to enlarge cropped areas that benefit from compensatory payments, and traditional systems such as poplar-maize or walnut-cereals were discarded. In 2001, after intense lobbying by farmer unions and conservation organisations, policy restrictions were dropped: intercrops are now no longer excluded from the crop payment schemes and grants are now available for planting trees in agroforestry designs. This has changed the scene for Agroforestry in France. A review of the current agroforestry policy issues in France will be presented. A survey of farmers was conducted in 2003 in three Provinces of France to test the reaction of French farmers to the agroforestry technology. The results are surprising. In 2004, major modifications of the European agricultural policy are expected: they may incite farmers to adopt more sustainable agricultural technologies, and will focus on diversification strategies. The challenge of the coming years is to achieve fair regulations that will allow agroforestry technology to play a significant role in Europe in the near future