What data are available to describe cropping systems at the regional level?
Résumé
European agriculture is undergoing a rapid evolution that challenges agronomic research to scale from field to landscape. In particular, the undergoing processes (e.g. urbanization or land abandonment) and the multiple ecosystems services provided by agricultural areas are requiring to broaden the research at the regional level. Since some decades, the European Union is promoting the collection of agricultural data to evaluate the farmers’ eligibility for subsidies and to assess the Common Agricultural Policy performances. Part of these datasets are being increasingly used beyond their administrative functions, as for the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) and the Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS). Starting from a bibliometric analysis of the scientific literature using these datasets, we will discuss two examples of their application for characterizing cropland and cropping systems. Our aim is to discuss the relevance of these datasets as tools to improve the monitoring and management of agroecosystems at the regional level.
