Baptiste Fajfer, expert advisor for the testing and implementation of innovative practices for the Alsace Regional Chamber of Agriculture
Baptiste Fajfer, expert advisor for the testing and implementation of innovative practices for the Alsace Regional Chamber of Agriculture
Interested in agriculture from an early age, on finishing high school, I first gravitated towards viniculture-oenology and obtained an advanced vocational diploma in the Loire-Atlantique department in North West France. Sensitive to environmental issues, as was evident from my hobbies (I was a bee-keeper in my spare time), I decided to pursue and explore agri-environmental concerns in more depth as soon as I had completed my vocational diploma. This is why I chose to train as an agricultural engineer at the Higher School of Agriculture of Angers, specialising in agroecology and agronomic innovation. I started my first job at the Alscace Regional Chamber of Agriculture five months ago, as part of the Environment and Innovation department, a LIFE Alister partner.
What is your mission within LIFE Alister?
Part of my job involves devising and monitoring agronomic trials. What is the objective of these trials? To test new, favourable agricultural techniques for the European hamster, such as the under-sowing of vegetation cover in grain crops or maintaining a permanent alfalfa-type cover on corn plots, etc. The success of these trials is not a given, and we are weather-dependent; time and patience are essential to be able to adapt these innovative, specialised practices, which need to respond to farmers’ agronomic and economic needs.
Biodiversity indicators are also regularly monitored on these trials, through earthworm sampling, trapping of ground beetles (predator beetle of slugs), measuring soil fertility levels, etc., to show the other environmental interests of the innovative technical processes being tested.
The other aspect of my job involves analysing the data collected so that findings can be emphasised in the form of articles or data sheets to be used by farmers. The LIFE Alister project is coming to an end, so another goal of mine is to compile all the results of the trials conducted by the Chamber of Agriculture.
What do you find interesting about your job?
Whilst the research into new agronomic techniques is particularly inspiring, it is being a part of a project of such calibre that brings together numerous partners from different backgrounds and disciplines that I find truly fascinating.
