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Do you know what an arthropod is? Or a woodlouse?
These little creatures are part of the organic matter in our soils. Without them, there’s no soil aeration, no minerals, no fertility.
It’s often forgotten, but soils are the foundation of agriculture. Without fertile soil, there’s no food, no life. Yet few of us realize that soil fertility is built up over millions of years. And that it is therefore a non-renewable resource.
In this episode of “2040, I’m going!” Claire Asfeld takes us on a tour of the Lilan farm, a place of experimentation and innovation in agroecology. Claire grew up in Paris, surrounded by historic buildings. However, after studying biology, she was irresistibly drawn to agronomy and then agriculture. Today she runs this farm, where she welcomes you with a sunny laugh. At Lilan, working with the land and the notion of production diversity are key words. Financed by private funds, the project gives us the space to test and experiment with new models that respect the soil and the rhythm of life.
Pascal Boivin explains how to recognize healthy soil, the general state of Switzerland’s soils and the challenges posed by our current agricultural model.
And as always, we’ll end with a trip into the future: what if we were to relearn how to take care of our soil? What would it look like in 2040? What would have changed? Claire Asfled talks to us about canopies, education and making the most of the richness of the soil …. via accounting.
Bon voyage to 2040!
Interview: Chantal Peyer
Production: Sébastien Sommer
References
- The Lilan farm
- Resulterre pilot project launched in the canton of Geneva
- Conference by Pascal Boivin : what is soil quality? How to assess it?
- Federal Office for the Environment: soil protection measures
- Arte, Roots, de la terre mère au sol vivant, documentary by Pierre Girard, 2022.
Further information
Want to find out more about this topic? Here are some recommendations from Nora and Corinne, booksellers at Payot Genève:
– L’agroécologie peut nous sauver : entretiens Marc Dufumier & Olivier Le Naire Dufumier, Actes sud.
– Permaculture : guérir la Terre, nourrir les hommes : la ferme du Bec Hellouin Perrine et Charles Hervé-Gruyer, Actes sud.
– Transforming your worldview with permaculture: ethics, design and initiatives Jessie and Andrew Darlington, Jouvence nature.
Support
The “2040, j’y vais!” podcast was made possible thanks to the support of the Giovannini Foundation, the city of Fribourg, the city of Meyrin, HEKS, One Planet Lab and Services Industriels de Genève.
