French organic farmer Pierre Pujos explains how he transformed himself from a government crop chemicals scientist into an innovative organic farmer in southwest France. Keenly aware of the human health and environmental dangers posed by chemicals use, Pujos has experimented for more than a decade with shallow cultivation techniques on 80 hectares of land in the Gers.
As well as adopting organic methods, he also plants mixed cereal and leguminous crops to help loosen compacted soils, improve soil fertility, increase organic matter content and local biodiversity. The approach nurtures and restores life the to soils, providing habitats for a balance between insect populations and restoring the predator-prey relationships that help prevent crop infestations and blight.