Research project Agroecological Transition of the European Dairy Farming System
General introduction
To what extent can the agro-ecological transition in European dairy farming become more feasible, in order to improve water management, increase protection against global warming, reduce the need to use pesticides and antibiotics and, in general, strengthen resilience of the farms involved? This is the central question in the research project TEDY.
The sustainability and resilience of European and Flemish dairy farming is coming under pressure because of increasingly difficult climate, environmental and business conditions, and because of stricter legislative frameworks. At the same time, this sector must continue to ensure food security and strive to keep its competitiveness and profitability high.
Concretely, the objective of the European project is to provide European and thus also Flemish conventional and organic dairy farmers with an interactive toolbox, consisting of technical, economic and ecological information, in order to facilitate and accelerate a more agro-ecological management.
Research approach
The toolbox focuses on a number of themes related to the agro-ecological transition: strengthening resilience of dairy farms, improving water management, climate adaptation, reducing impacts from pesticide and antibiotic use. Each time we look at which measures have a far-reaching positive impact on agriculture and the natural systems. The project further strengthens the complementarity between cattle farming and arable farming and will thus close the nutrient cycles. TEDY also focuses on improving ecosystem services, biodiversity and favorable biological interactions between different components in the agricultural system and the environment.
Relevance/Valorization
The agroecological transition is expected to strengthen the resilience of Flemish dairy farms. It aims to improve ecosystem services, biodiversity and favorable biological interactions between different components in the agricultural system and the environment.
Financing
VLAIO
