Presentation of the actors

On this page, you will be able to learn more about the main actors on the controversy. The list is presented just below. Feel free to click on the actor you want to learn more about in order to see his detailed description.

AAPRESID – Chambres d’Agriculture – CIRAD – Conventional Farmers – CTIC – Rolf Derpsch – Dow Chemicals – Maurice Du Gardin – Earthworms – FAO – FNSEA – Alan Franzluebbers – Jérôme Grellier – INRA – French Ministry of Agriculture – Monsanto

Once you are reading the actor’s presentation, just click on their name if you want to learn more about him !

The Argentinian association AAPRESID is a paradigmatic example of what we call a Consortium, a body which is more than a reunion of farmers as it involves government programs, private sector participation with the largest agribusiness companies, and researchers. Its mission thus comprises the promotion of direct seeding to Argentinian farmers but also the production of scientific knowledge on the economic as well as environmental benefits of no-till. AAPRESID is the central actor on conservation agriculture in the country and is deeply linked with its impressive spread in the course of 20 years.
Level of implication : high

In France, the Chambres d’Agriculture, created in 1924, are the bodies that represent the interests of the agriculture sector to the public authorities. Their members are elected by the professionals they represent. The main mission of the Chambres d’Agriculture is to inform and assist farmers in adapting to the evolutions of the sector, including recently environmental issues. This mission of diffusion of new techniques was particularly important in the aftermath of WWII, when French agriculture faced the challenge of modernization. Nowadays, though, the question of conservation tillage is not regarded as an issue, let alone a priority, by the Chambres.
Level of implication : low

Rabah Lahmar is a scientist specialized in Conservation Tillage practice. He used to be the leading scientist of KASSA, a worldwide initiative aimed at building up a comprehensive knowledge-base on sustainable agricultural practices, assembling 28 partners from 18 countries in Europe, North Africa, South-East Asia and Latin America. According to KASSA findings, the lack of knowledge on conservation agriculture systems and the absence of institutional dynamic make it difficult and socio-economically risky for European farmers to give up ploughing which is a paradigm rooted in their cultural backgrounds.
Level of implication : high

In this category we include the vast majority of the world’s farmers which regularly use a plough (either mechanized or manual) to manage their land. Those farmers are very often unaware that an alternative to intensive tillage exists and they consider the plough as a necessary tool for agriculture, a belief reinforced by its use for millenia. Others know about reduced tillage or direct seeding but are reluctant to switch to these techniques, either because they believe tillage plays an irreplaceable role in the ventilation of the soil, or because they’re simply made risk averse by the costs of machinery and the possibility of decreasing yields in the period of adaptation.
Level of implication : low

The Conservation Technology Information Center is another instance of a Consortium, on the model of AAPRESID, but for the United States. It is a non-for profit organization and a public-private partnership. It is partly funded by government agencies, housed on the campus of Purdue University, and members of Monsanto or John Deere are among its Board of Directors. That makes it a hub on the American conservation agriculture scene.
Level of implication : high

Rolf Derpsch is a researcher specialised in No-Till – he was among the first to start researching the no-tillage technology in Latin America in 1971 and is currently the author/co-author of 68 publications on the subject. He has worked for the German Agency for Technical Cooperation for 35 years before becoming a no-till consultant to countries including Bolivia, South Africa and North Korea. He has been recognised with several international awards for helping develop no-till.
Level of implication : high

The Dow Chemical Company is the second-largest chemical manufacturer in the world. Dow observed that the current glyphosate cropping system upon which the majority of conservation farmers rely is being threatened by the increasing development of glyphosate-resistant weeds. Dow will launch a new product in 2013 called Enlist Weed Control System with the aim of sustaining the long-term effectiveness of the current conservation system with the destruction of glyphosate-resistant weeds.
Level of implication : medium

Maurice Du Gardin is the managing director of MG International – Bertini France, a company that specializes in supplying French agriculture with machinery suited for direct seeding. As there are currently no French manufacturers, he imports his products from Argentina since 1994. Currently, 120 machines have been sold in France. On this emerging market, his job also includes spreading the word about conservation tillage. He is convinced that direct seeding will be the future of agriculture and considers himself a pioneer, as he tries to elicit greater demand from the farmers rather than simply meet existing demand.
Level of implication : high

Earthworms are put forward by no-till promoters as an essential actor for the success of conservation agriculture. They are the ones that replace the ventilation of the soil traditionally allowed by tillage, by digging galleries linking the different layers of the soil, and ensuring that water doesn’t remain in surface but gets to the roots of the crops. Earthworms are decimated by the plough but they proliferate in untilled soils. Their presence is measured in kilograms or tons per square meter.
Level of implication : high

Food and Agriculture Organization is an agency of the United Nations. Its main goal is to defeat hunger. It serves both developed countries and developing countries. It helps countries to improve agriculture, forestry and fisheries to ensure the food security and nutrition. On the issue of conservation tillage, FAO is monitoring the global adoption of Conservation Agriculture to maintain and encourage sustainable agricultural production. It can be considered the main proponent of CT at the international level, partnering up with the World Bank and international research initiatives to conduct experiments and implement programs around the world.
Level of implication : medium

The Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles (FNSEA) is the most powerful union for the agriculture sector in France. It is often labelled a lobby, as it has a certain influence on governmental actors. Among its former Presidents are a former Minister of Agriculture and the current President of the FAO. The FNSEA seeks a “reasoned agriculture” that would take into account environmental concerns and redefine the place of farmers in society. Yet it doesn’t promote conservation tillage nor does it pay much attention to the topic, and it is even accused by no-till promoters of protecting the current model of intensive tillage.
Level of implication : low

Alan Franzluebbers is an ecologist with the US Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service in Watkinsville GA. His research program focuses on soil organic matter management for development of sustainable agricultural systems. He serves as co-lead of the Croplands Research Group of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, of which the INRA is also a member.
Level of implication : high

Jérôme Grellier is a farmer in Repéroux, Deux-Sèvres, and a member of BASE, a Brittany-based network of more than 700 farmers implementing conservation tillage as well as researchers. BASE’s aim is to participate to the improvement of sustainable agricultural practices. Those practices involve soil protection through the significant reduction of tillage and direct seeding, associated with the use of cover crops as a permanent natural cover.
Level of implication : high

The French National Institute of Agronomical Research is the second of its kind in the world. It seeks to improve scientific knowledge about the soil and its fertility and claims to be “at the heart of the challenges of development” and responding to the challenges that society faces. It is one of the main partner institutions of the government. Recently, it contributed to the establishment of a geographical classification of soils in France, in a joint effort with other research organisms like ADEME or IRD united under the Group of Scientific Interest – Soils (GISSOL). Although there are many researchers and programs studying the questions of cultural systems and soil dynamics, no one seems to be specifically in charge of the question of conservation tillage.
Level of implication : medium

In France, like in most other countries, the government includes a Ministry specifically dedicated to the application of national agricultural policies involving feeding, land management, fishing, forestry… However, the government’s policies are implemented in the framework of the Common Agricultural Policy, defined every 5 years at the European level. In recent years, the Ministry has started to integrate environmental motivations in its actions. But it does not promote conservation tillage as the research conducted by organisations like INRA, CIRAD or Arvalis show little evidence of a perennial environmental benefit.
Level of implication : low

Monsanto is the world’s second largest producer of genetically engineered seed and the first producer of herbicide glyphosate, marketed under the name of Roundup. Roundup is according to Monsanto one of the most important technologies to advance conservation tillage. Farmers who use conservation tillage techniques can, still according to Monsanto, conserve more water because the reduced land tillage increases soil moisture, so less irrigation is needed. Monsanto considers biotechnology to be the main factor for the increased adoption of conservation tillage by farmers.
Level of implication : medium