| Titre : | Circular nutrient management in agriculture for environmental and economic resilience within the EcoFoodSystem |
| Auteurs : | H. Chabbah |
| Type de document : | Thèse, Mémoire, Master |
| Année de publication : | 2025 |
| Format : | 63 p. |
| Note générale : | Master 2 Thesis. Economics. Programme: Mediterranean farming system design for a sustainable food-system [MIDAS]. Co-accreditation University of Montpellier, Institut Agro Montpellier, CIHEAM-IAMM. |
| Langues : | Anglais |
| Langues du résumé : | Anglais ; Français |
| Catégories : |
Catégories principales 06 - AGRICULTURE. FORÊTS. PÊCHES ; 6.4 - Production Agricole. Système de ProductionThésaurus IAMM SYSTEME DE PRODUCTION ; SUBSTANCE NUTRITIVE ; PERFORMANCE ECONOMIQUE ; BELGIQUE |
| Résumé : |
Today, agricultural systems face a growing pressure to guarantee food security and support sustainability, in a context of natural resources depletion and global climate change. Circular nutrient management provides a promising approach for resolving these interconnected issues.
Circular nutrient management enhances soil fertility through the capture and recycling of nutrients, which translates to stabilized crop production and minimum dependence on imported synthetic fertilizers. This provides resilience against external shocks like volatility in fertilizer prices. It also contributes to the preservation of ecosystems by reducing waste, pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. This study assesses nitrogen (N) fluxes and economic performance in a context of gas price volatility (68% correlation with nitrogen costs) across three different production systems in Wallonia, Belgium: Business-as-Usual (BAU), Vegan (VEGAN), and Integrated Crop-Livestock (ICLS). Using the GRAFS (Generalized Representation of Agro-Food Systems) framework, on an 8-year rotation, we quantified nitrogen inputs, outputs, losses, nitrogen surplus (Input-Output), nutrient output/input ratio (O/I, nutrient use efficiency), and circularity indicators expressing how many times a nutrient input cohort completes a full cycle (CyCt). Results indicate that the ICL System achieves the highest nitrogen use efficiency (NUE=0.79) and the lowest nitrogen surplus (42.1kgN/ha/year), by recycling manure and reducing nitrogen costs to 9.1% of production costs. The BAU system, while generating the highest gross margin thanks to intensive cash crops, causes the largest nitrogen surplus (69.4 kg N/ha/year) and loses 17.7% of its gross margin as a response to fertilizer price volatility. The VEGAN system, even with a high NUE (0.76), shows low circularity (CyCt 0.26) and faces a gross margin loss of 41.5% due to its heavy reliance on external inputs. In sum, the Integrated Crop Livestock System improves nutrient circularity, boosts resilience to input market volatility, and can provide economic stability due to the diversity of revenue sources, as long as there is a policy that supports farmers. |
| Nature du diplôme : | Mémoire (Master 2 MIDAS) |
| Université de soutenance : | CIHEAM-IAMM |
| Ville de l'université de soutenance : | Montpellier (France) |
| Cote : | Réservé lecteur CIHEAM |
| Directeur de Thèse : | Belhouchette H. |
| Membres du Jury : | Belhouchette H.; Bindelle J.; Kleftodimos G. |
Accueil
Sélection de la langue
Adresse
ÉQUIPE
Nous contacter
Informations pratiques
contact
