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Annual Report: CIRAD 2007

Overseeing transformations of rural areas

Olympe—decision support software for farmers

The Olympe software package has been adapted for various contexts in developing countries, especially for farms that crop trees such as cocoa © C. Lanaud/CIRAD

The agroeconomic performance of farms varies when their cropping systems are diversified. The performances of existing and innovative systems should be assessed under a broad range of different socioeconomic and agroecological settings in order to gain further insight into farmers’ strategies and to be able to effectively advise them. The Olympe software package, which CIRAD has tailored to the specific features of plantation agriculture in tropical regions, simulates the functioning of these systems and their potential.

Prototyping innovative crop management systems advised by experts

Prototyping crop management sequences has served to design and assess the performance of a cotton crop management sequence for late sowing © J.Y. Jamin/CIRAD

In a shaky macroeconomic setting, societal requirements regarding agriculture are complex and can be fulfilled through rapid shifts in farming techniques. Farmers and decisionmakers must therefore have access to solutions tailored to specific situations and that have been achieved through integrated approaches. The crop management system prototyping method was developed by CIRAD and partners to meet this challenge

GAMEDE: a global model to assess farm operations

A dairy farm on the Cafres plain in Réunion © J. Vayssières/CIRAD

Cattle production is an essential activity in developing countries, but also has negative effects: biodiversity loss, pollution and greenhouse gas emission. Dense livestock farm concentrations and daily farming practices often aggravate these effects. Scientists and professional stakeholders thus require models of these systems that integrate all decisions made by farmers on a daily basis. CIRAD has built such a model on the basis of dairy farm operations in Réunion. It simulates all farm activities and concomitant flows.

Streamlining our approaches to family farming

Active family members are increasingly opting for pluriactivity, to cope with the changing situation, especially the lack of land: trading, handicrafts, processing and small animal farming © P. Dugué/CIRAD

Agriculture is changing as a result of environmental modifications and new market conditions. Farming techniques and structures are being transformed to keep pace with these changes. There has also been a renewal of research strategies, which must now focus on all stakeholders of these new activity systems.