SOERE-PRO Observation

The network of In Natura PRO sites forming part of IR AnaEE comprises four sites for studying the environmental benefits and impacts of PRO recycling on cultivated ecosystems: 3 INRAE sites, 1 CIRAD site (https://valor-pro.hub.inrae.fr/presentation-de-l-observatoire-soere-pro). Four other sites (trials in progress or in resilience) also structure this network and contribute to its richness. This network was created in the early 2000s and integrated into ANAEE in 2012, under the impetus of Sabine Houot, DR EcoSys. Today, scientific coordination is provided by Florent Levavasseur IR, accompanied by Pierre Benoit, DR, and Christophe Montagnier, IE, for technical coordination. This infrastructure is particularly important for collaborations between the two EcoSys clusters on a national and European scale.

The scientific objectives of the PRO sites are to quantify the long-term effects of returning fertilizing materials from waste or PRO (organic residual products) to the soil. These practices enable the recycling of the nutrients and organic matter they contain, thus contributing to the circular economy of territories by replacing fertilizers, contributing to carbon storage and stimulating soil biology.  However, PROs can carry contaminants that can accumulate and be transferred to other agrosystem compartments, including the air. For more than 20 years, chronicles of data and samples have been acquired and made available to the scientific community interested in these issues.  These sites are monitored in partnership with socio-economic players in the field (Veolia, SEDE, etc.). EcoSys is in charge of monitoring the QualiAgro site in Ile-de-France, set up in 1998 on a farmer's farm (2018 highlight of the AgroEcoSystem department).