Le recyclage des résidus organiques sur les sols cultivés d'un territoire pourrait-il rendre possible la substitution au moins partielle des engrais azotés dans la conduite des cultures ? Cette question a été traitée dans le cas de la conduite des grandes cultures dans une zone périurbaine caractérisée par une forte diversité de résidus organiques. Le territoire étudié est la "Plaine de Versailles et le Plateau des Alluets" (PVPA), situé en Ile de France, à l'ouest de Versailles. Il représente 178km2 dont 9900ha cultivés par 82 agriculteurs dont 60 en grande culture. Il y a peu d'élevage dans la région d'étude et les sols les plus fréquents sont les luvisols et cambisols. Dans ce territoire on a mis au point une démarche d'analyse des substitutions possibles des fertilisants chimiques par des PRO (produits résiduaires organiques) qui comprend plusieurs étapes. Tout d'abord un inventaire de tous les PRO disponibles ou potentiellement disponibles sur le territoire a été réalisé et tous les PRO ont été échantillonnés et caractérisés sur un plan physicochimique : en particulier, la disponibilité du N a été évaluée via la minéralisation potentielle de l'azote organique dans des conditions contrôlées au laboratoire (norme française XPU 44-163). Les résidus organiques du territoire ont été classés en (i) PRO « amendants » (26320 tonnes de matière sèche et 442 tonnes de Ntot) caractérisés par une matière organique stabilisée, ayant un potentiel important d'entretien et d'augmentation des teneurs en matière organique des sols et (ii) les PRO « fertilisants » ayant une forte disponibilité de N (5686 tonnes de matières sèches et 361 tonnes de Ntot). Parmi les PRO recensés, les boues de stations d'épuration (séchées et chaulées), un produit commercial correspondant à un lisier de porc en provenance de Bretagne et les fientes de volailles sont les PRO ayant les valeurs fertilisantes les plus intéressantes. Des PRO à forte valeur amendante ont aussi été recensés, dont des fumiers de chevaux compostés ou non et des composts de déchets verts.[...] Suite et fin du résumé dans la thèse. / Did the recyling of organic residues of a territory on cultivated soils could make possible, at least, partial substitution of nitrogen fertilizers in crop management? This issue was treated in the case of cereal crops in a suburban area characterized by a high diversity of organic residues. The study area is the “Plaine de Versailles and the Plateau Alluets”, located in Ile de France, west of Versailles. The total surface is about 178km2 including 9900ha cultivated by 82 farmers from which 60 cultivate cereals. The animal breeding is scarce in the study area and the most common soils are Cambisols and Luvisols. We tried to develop an approach for analyzing possible substitutions of chemical fertilizers by OWP (organic waste products) use. This approach involves several steps. First an inventory of the entire OWP available or potentially available in the territory has been achieved and all OWP were sampled and characterized: in particular, the availability of N was evaluated using the potential mineralization of the organic nitrogen under controlled conditions in the laboratory (French standard XPU 44-163). Organic residues territory were classified into (i) "organic amendments" (26320 tons of dry matter and 442 tons of total N) characterized by a stabilized organic matter, with significant potential maintenance and increasing levels of soil organic matter and (ii) "organic fertilizers" with a high availability of N (5686 tons of dry matter and 361 tons of total N) . Among the identified OWP, sludge from sewage treatment (dried and limed), and a commercial product corresponding to dried pig slurry from Britain and poultry manure are OWP with the most interesting fertilizing values. Organic amendments with high stabilized organic matter value were also identified, including composted or not horse manure, and green waste compost. Last and final summary in the thesis.

Greater use of technology to assist aerial application of fertiliser will be of benefit to the topdressing industry and farmers. Benefits arise through automating the fertiliser flow control system; reducing off target fertiliser application, and managing fertiliser inputs based on the potential outputs of the farmland; thus increasing the profitability of hill country farming systems. A case for technology assisted application is developed by investigating the field performance of conventional and enhanced flow control systems and the effect of variable rate application on hill country pasture production. A single particle model that predicts flight trajectory from the particle force balance based on the aircraft groundspeed, axial and tangential propeller wash, wind characteristics and particle properties including sphericity was developed. Model predictions were compared to predictions from AGDISP 8.15. Results and trends were similar. The single particle ballistics model described above was extended to predict the lateral distribution of fertiliser after release from an aircraft. To achieve this, two parameters are important, the transverse flow profile of material leaving the hopper gatebox and the sphericity of the particles. Techniques for measuring these parameters are described and experimental results are presented for superphosphate. These data were used in the model to predict the lateral distribution pattern from a Gippsland Aeronautics 200C for a known discharge mass, which was compared to a measured pattern from the same aircraft for the same discharge mass. Good agreement between the shapes of the two distributions was found. The transverse distribution model provides a practical tool for optimising the design of spreaders, or optimum particle characteristics for a given spreader. It has the ability to predict the distribution profile of any particle size distribution from each, or all, of the spreader ducts. Culmination of the single particle and transverse distribution models led to the development of a deposition footprint model that was capable of predicting field application within a 25 ha trial site. The deposition footprint model was embedded inside a geographical information system and comparisons were made between the actual and predicted deposition across a series of transect lines. Good agreement was found. Following this, a comparison of the predicted field performance between an automated and manual control system were made. Economic benefits for a single application of superphosphate were identified through using automated control, where 10% less fertiliser was applied outside of the application zone when compared to the manually operated system. This equated to a net benefit of NZD $2800 for a 1500 ha hill country farming system. The value of improving the performance of a topdressing aircraft, on an industry level, was also examined. Cost/benefit analysis between a manual and automated system revealed a benefit of NZD $111,700 yr-1 for a single topdressing aircraft using the automated system. The economic impact of Variable Rate Application Technology (VRAT) is examined, using Limestone Downs as an example. The spatially explicit decision tree modelling technique was used to predict the annual pasture production over the entire Limestone Downs property. The resulting decision tree classes tended to follow the farm's digital elevation model. A series of six different fertiliser application scenarios were developed for comparison to a base line scenario using conventional aerial application techniques. VRAT outperformed the fixed rate applications in terms of pasture production and fertiliser utilisation. Full variable rate application and a model optimised prescription map, produced the highest annual pasture yield. Variable rate techniques were predicted to increase annual production and the spatial variability of that production. An economic analysis of the six production scenarios was undertaken. Farm cash surplus was calculated for each scenario and clearly revealed the benefits of using variable rate application technology. VRAT was found to be the most efficient and highest returning application method per hectare. Additional costs and increased charge-out rates were likely to occur under VRAT; nevertheless, the analysis indicated that significant financial incentives were available to the farmer. A sensitivity analysis revealed that even with a 20% increase in charge-out rate associated with VRAT, the farm's annual cash position varied by only $4500 (0.4%), suggesting the cost of implementing such a system is not prohibitive and would allow aircraft operators to add value to their services.