Context

Crop-livestock integration is a theoretical ideal for sustainable agriculture. However, the number of European crop-livestock farms has decreased due to multiple factors (e.g. agricultural policies and work constraints). Crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level (e.g. through grain-manure exchanges) is a relevant option to address these limiting factors. However, this integration within farmer groups is challenging because it requires collective redesign to address organizational issues.

Objective

We developed a participatory approach that includes the serious game Dynamix to support the co-design of scenarios of crop-livestock integration among farms.

Methods

The approach consists of six steps: (1) initial group meeting to define the problem; (2) farmer interviews to identify motivations and collect technical and economic farm data; (3) scenario co-design meeting using the serious game Dynamix, including a spatially explicit board game and a simulation model; (4) multicriteria evaluation of these scenarios at the individual farm and group levels using the simulation model included in Dynamix; (5) group meeting to discuss the results; and (6) monitoring of selected scenario implementation. We applied this methodology with two groups of farmers in southwestern France.

Results and conclusions

In the two groups, crop farmers wanted to diversify their cropping systems and use manure to improve soil quality. Livestock farmers were interested in local and non-GMO feed for their animals. The scenario they selected included i) inserting cereal-legume mixtures into crop rotations on crop farms to be sold to livestock farms and ii) transferring manure from livestock farms to crop farms. In this scenario, the predicted overall gross margin increased more for livestock farmers (median = 29.90 €/ha) than for crop farmers (median = 6.60 €/ha). Nitrogen balance management was improved: crop farmers decreased their use of mineral fertilizer by 2.8–17.4 kg/ha/year; livestock farmers decreased their feed inputs improving local feed self-sufficiency. However, farmers' workload and management complexity increased, with 22–54 h of additional work per farmer per year. Compared to other scenarios, trade-offs between individual farm and group benefits resulted in greater local autonomy in inputs but lower autonomy in decision-making. In the two groups, discussions improved trust, which is a key ingredient for transitioning to integration beyond the farm level.

Significance

Our study is the first to use a standardized participatory approach based on a serious game to support the complex issue of crop-livestock integration beyond the farm level. Applying the approach to a case-study revealed its strong potential. It can easily be scaled-out to other agricultural contexts.

中文翻译：

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一种基于严肃游戏 Dynamix 的参与式方法，用于共同设计农场间农畜一体化的场景

语境

农牧结合是可持续农业的理论理想。然而，由于多种因素（例如农业政策和工作限制），欧洲农作物-畜牧养殖场的数量有所减少。农场层面以外的作物-畜牧业整合（例如通过粮肥交换）是解决这些限制因素的相关选择。然而，农民群体内部的这种整合具有挑战性，因为它需要集体重新设计以解决组织问题。

客观的

我们开发了一种参与式方法，其中包括严肃的游戏 Dynamix，以支持农场之间农畜整合场景的共同设计。

方法

该方法包括六个步骤： (1) 初步小组会议来定义问题；(2) 农民访谈以确定动机并收集技术和经济农场数据；(3) 使用严肃游戏 Dynamix 的场景协同设计会议，包括空间显式棋盘游戏和模拟模型；(4) 使用 Dynamix 中包含的模拟模型在单个农场和群体级别对这些情景进行多标准评估；（5）小组会议讨论结果；(6) 监控选定的场景实施。我们将这种方法应用于法国西南部的两组农民。

结果和结论

在这两组中，种植农希望使他们的种植系统多样化并使用肥料来改善土壤质量。畜牧业者对其动物的本地和非转基因饲料感兴趣。他们选择的方案包括：i）将谷物-豆类混合物插入农作物的轮作中，然后出售给牲畜农场；以及 ii）将粪便从牲畜农场转移到农作物农场。在这种情况下，畜牧业者（中位数 = 29.90 欧元/公顷）的预计总毛利率增长幅度要高于种植业者（中位数 = 6.60 欧元/公顷）。氮平衡管理得到改善：农户减少了 2.8-17.4 公斤/公顷/年的矿物肥料使用量；牲畜养殖者减少了饲料投入，提高了当地饲料的自给自足。但是，农民的工作量和管理复杂度增加，每个农民每年额外工作 22-54 小时。与其他情景相比，个体农场和群体利益之间的权衡导致当地在投入方面具有更大的自主权，但在决策方面的自主权较低。在这两个小组中，讨论提高了信任度，这是过渡到农场层面以外的整合的关键因素。

意义

我们的研究是第一个使用基于严肃游戏的标准化参与方法来支持农场层面之外的农牧一体化的复杂问题。将该方法应用于案例研究揭示了其强大的潜力。它可以很容易地扩展到其他农业环境。