In the Landes region, part of the department is facing a problem with access to water. Many farmers are supplied with running water. Part of the department consists of sandy soils, which have disadvantages: they do not retain water, leach fertilisers and have low CEC. Sandy soils are easy to work, but they require a continuous supply of organic matter. Added to this is climate change, with increasingly dry years and the need to manage water resources. The project has three objectives:
– Water. Improve the soil’s ability to retain water. Reduce crop water stress. Achieve results that will enable better management and distribution of the resource. The addition of organic matter and minerals should make this possible. – Fertility: improve organic matter levels to increase the soil’s production capacity. The addition of chabazite and montmorillonite will limit leaching, improve nutrient release and increase cation exchange capacity. – Reproducibility: have a well-followed protocol and data that can be analysed to determine the relevance of the experiment. A protocol that can be reproduced, particularly for the purchase of organic and mineral materials.
Consequently, this project proposes to test the impact of adding green waste compost, with or without chabazite and montmorillonite, in order to improve water and nutrient retention. These amendments will be tested for annual crops in open fields, greenhouse crops and cover crops.