AIL for water quality project

The AIL for water quality project led by Pr Aurore Degré (TERRA - Agriculture is life), in collaboration with Pr Gilles Colinet, Dr Olivier Pigeon (CRA-W) and Greenotec has just obtained a funding from SPGE to the amount of 370,000 euros.

The Agriculture is life platform of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech - ULiège (Prof. Bernard Bodson and Prof. Jérome Bindelle) is developing a real-scale structuring experience towards new production systems targeting diversified food "diets" (zero phyto, flexitarien, végétalien, ...).

The objective of AIL for water quality is to quantify the impacts of these production systems on the quality of water resources.

Dual agriculture

For several years, agriculture has been moving towards intensifying its production to supply the industrial circuits that provide many jobs in Wallonia.

At the same time, in order to meet the needs and demands of some consumers, it must also diversify to supply short and local circuits. Indeed, more and more of these consumers are demanding environmentally friendly production methods: pesticide-free products, flexitarian, vegetarian and even vegan diets.

These developments require a rethinking of agricultural systems by proposing technical itineraries and rotations at field and territory level.

Currently, agricultural practices are one of the major pressures on the quality of both groundwater and surface water resources. Whatever the form of production, the preservation of these water resources must be taken into account in the design of these innovative systems.

For many years, different tools for managing political and administrative decisions have existed and are developing. For example, the Protect'eau supervisory structure focuses on advising farmers and monitoring good practices through the monitoring network. On the other hand, a regional modelling tool, EPICgrid, developed in Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech - ULiège, makes it possible to represent the majority practices implemented in the field and feeds the reflection through prospective scenarios including climate change. Recently, this model has been deployed to represent pesticides in addition to the nitrogen cycle.

However, to date, existing scientific knowledge and modelling only partially cover innovative technological routes.

The AIL for water quality project

The project will focus on two objectives: quantifying the fate of pesticides in the soil and the reduction of diffuse pollution.

Pesticides in the soil: what is their fate?

Currently, the absorption and degradation characteristics of molecules are provided by manufacturers. The available field measurements show that these parameters need to be adjusted. A better knowledge of the behaviour of the most impacting substances will make it possible to improve their management.

Diffuse pollution: how to reduce it?

Hydrological monitoring of 3 innovative production systems (animal-vegetable flow above ground; animal-vegetable flow in agro-ecological interactions and vegan system) will be installed on the fields of the Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech experimental farm. All three systems include long, pesticide-free rotations and use agro-ecological concepts to ensure their technical feasibility and economic profitability.