About

Salam Med is developing a digital tool to support farmers in the choice of the most appropriate agronomic practices and forage crops at field scale in a Mediterranean silvopastoral context. The tool will offer a range of suitable option from a given input including soil, climate and land management indicators.

The objective is to offer to farmers and practitioners a user-friendly tool to design tailored solutions for the improvement of the pastoral value of grasslands in a Mediterranean silvopastoral system.

This technology may be used potentially in any context, providing that suitable databases are available on the local available agronomic options for the improvement of the grassland pastoral value.

A digital tool like this required continuous update of the database of suitable options (eg species and varieties available on the local market) and of the software vs the operating system (e.g iOS or Android). The adoption of the tool requires careful testing to avoid potential misuses.

Index

From the app developers, the possibility to sell the app or gain funds from the sponsors. From the app users, the potential increase in production and rduction of production costs vs business as usual practices.

The proposed technology is based on a logical framework to support farmers’ decisions in choosing suitable forage crops and agronomic practices. In the Sardinian Salam Med LL, we are testing perennial legumes in a silvopastoral context. The area is a mosaic of activities including pastoral farms, corkoak forests, vineyards and cereals, providing provisioning (e.g. meat, milk and cork) regulating (e.g. soil c sequestration, pollination ) and cultural (e.g. cultural landscapes) ecosystem services.

The decision support tool is being designed as a user-friendly tool for farmers and practitioners. The requirements in terms of technical competences of tool developers and designers are high.
Background information includes a set of ecological indicators about soil, climate, land use and management and a logical framework to identify the most suitable species and related agronomic techniques for a given ecological context. These are the prerequisites for setting up a decision support (eg digital) tool to guide farmers in identifying field scale tailored solutions. Salam MED is exploring innovative agronomic solutions to improve the adaptability of perennial legumes to critical soil conditions (eg acid soils).

Indicators