Alternative Management of Weed Control in Orchards Using Animals in Martinique

Improving environment quality leads to reduce amounts of pesticides in orchards. Herbicides are the main pesticides used in Martinique. A mechanical weed control is therefore necessary, but costly mainly on sloping lands where brush cutter use is the most effective. An alternative method to control weeds with low labour costs is to integrate animals and cover crop plants in the orchard. This integration may be hazardous and has to take into account the damages caused to the trees by the animals. We have chosen an integration of sheep grazing legumes and grass under trees of the Annonaceae family (Annona squamosa, A. reticulata, and A. muricata) because these fruiting trees do not present any appetence to sheep. This is an example of a method to increase the global productivity of land, adding fruit and meat production on a same area. In further studies, we will assess the improvement of durability of this new system, taking into account the reduced labour costs for controlling weeds, the better organic fertilization by sheep dejections, and the flora biodiversity enhancement. However, this system requires a specific skill: the producer must acquire experience on both animal husbandry and orchard management.