Name of pilot area: Provence

Country: France

Region: Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur

Altitude / Topography: 2o

Climate type: Mediterranean

Average annual rainfall: 650 mm

Average annual ET: 1150 mm

Challenges: Increasing water scarcity and ground water contamination by intensive agriculture

User(s): Farmers and their associations; extension service Arvalis

Pilot focus: EO coupling with crop growth models

Current situation:

The France pilot site is located in Provence near the city of Avignon. The agriculture of the area is very diverse with a range of irrigated and rainfed productions. For irrigated production, the area take profit of the Durance river source of water, which is strongly regulated through a network of channels and dams designed to secure water supply. Better irrigation and nutrient efficiency is however desirable necessary to improve farming system profitability, overcome tensions on resources and preserve the environmental quality as water quality in aquifers. In the project we will focus on field crop considering sunflower, wheat and field tomato, the latter being irrigated using fertilisation technology.