Hello everyone
this blog is to consolidate and reflect upon my one month internship where I was attached to the Lycée d’Enseignement Général et Technologique Agricole de Pau-Montardon
In the course of nearly 22 days in Montardon I came across various things and the things that I found most interesting are as follows (I had tried to make some heads so enjoy ;)

French Agriculture
Average farm size in France is 69ha with nearly 389800 operational farms and there is an increase in the average farm size from 55ha to 69ha in the last decade as 100,000 farms have closed since 2020
source: https://agreste.agriculture.gouv.fr

one thing that attracted my attention is that in the region although the farm size is quite large but the net sown area is considerably smaller (for instance, on March 22nd, we visited the farm of Mr. Christophe at Rébénacq ,having a farm size of 160 ha out of which 90 ha is uncultivable mountains, 35 ha is under meadow and only 35 ha is cultivable land which is under commercial crops)
irrigation using the pivots

use of sprinklers having an irrigation radius of upto 20m

Some common agricultural aspects :
Major commercial crops: Maize( nearly 70-80% , wheat, Rapeseed, peas(as green manure)
Cropping intensity : 100% for most of the farms
Sowing date: Around 20 June for sweet corn
Irrigation system: using pivots, sprinklers etc.
Harvesting: Last week of December
Plant density for maize: 68-72 k plant/ha
Productivity : 10 ton/ha at 22% moisture
Fertiliser inputs : 200-250 kg Nitrogen : 120 kg Phosphorus : 150 kg Potassium

peas and other weeds grown which act as cover crop in off season and later as green manure


Waste management and value creation

On March 20th , we visited the Valor Bearn in Sévignacq a firm working to collect and process the garbage from the entire region for value creation and recycling .After its sorting and processing the products are sold to the industries in a capitalistic market to earn revenue for the firm.
Serving nearly 300,000 inhabitants in the region by recycling 80-100 ton of garbage per day which account for upto 98% recycling of the garbage in the region

Principles used for sorting :

• Ballistic separation (for separation of hollow bodied and flat bodied wastes)
• Magnetic separation (for magnetic metals)
• Foucault current separation (for aluminium cans)
• Optical separation (six optical separators analyse and differentiate the products for valorisation)
• Manual sorting (to ensure proper sorting the belt is over sorted manually at a speed of 30cm/sec

After sorting the materials are pressed and sent to various firms all over the French territory
map showing the various industries in the territory recycling the sorted out products
Alternative uses of micro-algae
The use of micro-algae in soil fertility enhancement , I found it interesting because having a rich source of nitrogen and protein and easy to cultivate in the tropical climates it can be a good substitute for the transition to a more sustainable agriculture .The common algae being used were Spirogyra and Spirulina which were then used to supplement cereals, corn, linseed, potato, pulses and oilseeds.Spirulina can be used as human supplement as well in various formulations.

microscale production for experimentations

medium scale production for trials just after success in micro scales

Efficiency enhancement in methanisation

Methanisation is a common practice in Indian farming condition but the efficiency of the process is significantly lower due to heat loses therefore I visited the APESA Methanisation site to learn about the efficiency enhancement for methanisation process.
Total Energy recovery : 90%
Electric energy : 40%
Heat energy : 50% (utilised to maintain optimum temperature)
Optimum temp.: 39 degree
Total energy production for the plant : 800 kwh/day
Alternative thermophilic process at 60 degrees to increase efficiency of methanisation

on site explanation of the facility

Dairy industry

The dairy industry in France is highly automated with the Extensive mechanisation be it :
Drying of fodder using in Barn driers
Automatic Milking of the cattle Using robotics

automated milking machine for the cattle (tasty food based motivation for the cattle to enter)

On farm processing of the milk for Value addition

boilers for the pasteurization and sterlization of the milk

packaging and inoculation of yogurt after pasteurisation and sterlization

The major breeds used are:

Holstein Friesian (cows)/ Prim’ Holstein
Milk yield per cattle : 20-24 liters/day
Number of animals : 100-125 animals

calf of Prim’ Holstein

Basco béarnaise (sheep),Alpine goats mainly used for cheese production
Average milk yield per animal : 1 liters/day

Basco béarnaise (sheep)

Alpine goats

Wine Industry
I tried to know about the problems faced by the wine industry and discovered that since the last decade the wine industry is facing a constant decline in its market with an estimated rate of 3% each year .
Average per capita consumption in 2010 : 2.98 Liters
Average per capita consumption in 2024 : 1.02 liters
Total wine exports of France : 16.2 billion Euros
Average production of a Winery in major producing areas : 10 million bottles /day

trends of wine consumption in France

In a short span of nearly 22 days I tried to get atleast the gist of the activities taking place in the region and it's been a wonderful learning experience and to know more about the cultural shocks you can visit my profile at moveagri ;)