Introducing sheep for agroecological weed management on banana plantations in Guadeloupe: A co-design process with farmers

CONTEXT: In Guadeloupe, the use of a persistent pesticide (chlordecone) contaminated one third of the island's agricultural soils, causing a major environmental crisis. In the aftermath, banana farmers significantly changed their management practices to decrease their pesticide use. With the support of research, farmers have tested and adopted various agroecological practices, such as planting cover crops and using vitroplants and fallow. However, the use of animals to decrease pesticide use on banana plantations has not yet been explored. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to co-design agroecological cropping systems that integrate animals as an alternative means to manage weeds. METHODS: The study was based on co-design workshops involving farmers, advisors and scientists, a survey of local practices of integrating animals within cropping systems, on-farm experiments with four farmers during which a total of 20 four-month-old male lambs were introduced within their cropping systems, and reflexive monitoring two and six months after the end of the experiments. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of sheep into cropping systems was the option deemed the most promising after three co-design workshops. Animals already were integrated into some banana-based farming systems in the study area, but this integration mainly consisted of cattle grazing on fallow land. The on-farm experiments highlighted that sheep made it possible to reduce the herbaceous cover on banana plantations by almost 60%. The growth performance of the lambs allowed by the herbaceous cover was within the range observed for this breed when reared on pastures (50–139 g/day). In this experiment, the lambs were not reared for meat, since the animals were, unsurprisingly, contaminated by chlordecone. The farmers appreciated that the practice enabled them to eliminate a labor-intensive activity (removing by hand the vines around the banana pseudo-stem) and radically reduce brush cutting. Piloted by a technical institution providing farmers technical support, initial changes in the broader socio-technical regime were observed. SIGNIFICANCE: This study highlights a co-design process of agroecological cropping systems involving agronomists, animal scientists, and farmers that led to an innovative, animal-based method of managing weeds within banana cropping systems with positive preliminary adoption outcomes as new farmers start using the practice. Inspired by similar efforts in vineyards, cereal and oil palm plantations, it is one of the first attempts to introduce sheep into banana cropping systems. The challenge is now to support this adoption at the territorial scale through possible cooperation between breeders and farmers, the training of farmers, and finding a means to ensure the safety of sheep.