Dix ans de collaboration Recherche – Développement : le point de vue d’un conseiller agricole

Ten years of collaboration between Research and Development : point of view of an agricultural advisor

In the département of Ariège, the Haut-Couserans region is marked by important livestock-rearing and by large tracts of mountain lands devoted to pastures. To make up for the lack of winter feed, the farmers have asked the advisory services to devote their interest to 'forage production'. An advisory officer of the Development service describes all the work done since 1990 in collaboration with various organizations (Fourrages Mieux and later the Groupe Régional Fourrages Midi-Pyrénées, ITCF and INRA) : acknowledgement of the potential of natural grasslands when adequately fertilized, appropriate use of various diagnostic tools (nutritional indices of pastures, calendars of utilization of the forage areas, available volume of grass per animal, keys to characterize grazing and mowing practices, floristic approaches, etc.) with their specific aims, selection of appropriate harvesting methods so that the forage produced may keep a satisfactory quality… In his conclusion, the author regrets the approach was not made more intense, for lack of means, but he emphasizes the positive signs for the future.