Changing perspectives on chicken-pastured orchards for action: A review based on a heuristic model
Résumé
Agroforestry and, more precisely, the integration of animals into orchards, represent an interesting source of income diversification for fruit growers who are confronted with rising climatic and economic risks. Besides farm resilience and optimisation of land use, this association seems to provide reciprocal benefits for both trees and animals, such as: nutrient cycling, weed management, natural protection and pest control. In particular, poultry and, more specifically, chickens, have caught the attention of numerous fruit growers in search of simple and time-saving agroecological solutions to regulate pests and weeds in their orchards. Yet, whereas traditional silvopastoral systems involving livestock have been extensively studied, the advantages and disadvantages of introducing chickens into orchards have been overlooked.
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