Context and challenges

Agriculture in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur is atypical. It is marked by its diversity and the presence of permanent crops (viticulture, arboriculture, crops under cover, etc.), natural meadows and a lesser representation of large-scale crops. For nearly 10 years, the region has been in the lead for organic farming, with 18.8% of cultivated agricultural land, compared to 8.5% at the national level.

Regional agriculture consumes more energy per hectare than the national average, which highlights the high dependence of farms on fossil fuels, in connection with their specificity (heating of greenhouses for horticultural production and tomatoes in winter, need for cold during the vinification of rosé, conservation in cold rooms…).

Finally, Mediterranean soils are among the poorest in organic matter, an aggravating factor of drought and desertification.

Today, the most important challenge for the agricultural sector is to reduce environmental impacts while maintaining an economic activity. Many farmers are engaged in a responsible approach, looking for sustainable solutions, for a resilience to climate change.

Objectives and solutions

In order to support farmers in the energy and ecological transition, Geres works with the actors of the profession along several lines:

• Raising farmers’ awareness of the impacts of their activity: energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, and air pollution generated by the burning of crop residues, poor manure use and mineral fertilization
• Reduce energy consumption: to heat greenhouses, for machinery, to keep crops cold…
• Measuring the energy performance of agricultural tools and advising farmers to reduce greenhouse gases
• Develop bridges between the agricultural world and local authorities, for local agriculture, via the implementation of a circular economy of bio-waste (green and food waste)
• Disseminate best practices to regional farms, through a network of agricultural professionals committed to the transition

Beneficiaries

• 15 farmers and riding schools and 2 agricultural high schools involved in reducing air pollution
• 10 farmers and 2 agricultural high schools supported on the 4/1000 experiment
• 6 pilot farmers tested different bioclimatic greenhouse models
• 5 farmers, 3 communities and 3 demonstration sites use a bioclimatic greenhouse
• 3200 farmers who have completed their self-diagnosis online
• 10 institutional partners

Technical partners

• Organizations involved in the IRAEE: Bio de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Regional Chamber of Agriculture, Maison Régionale de l’Elevage, Filière Cheval Sud, CRIPT PACA (agricultural education), Solagro, Lycée agricole de Carpentras
• Partner structures for the dissemination of bioclimatic greenhouses: Agrithermic research office, Groupe de Recherche en Agriculture Biologique (GRAB)
• Partner structures for the valorization of green waste in agriculture: Regional Chamber of Agriculture, Bio de Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, CIVAM, Gesper