Agroecological Farming Practices Research Articles

Agroecological farming practices against fruit flies in Central Eastern Tanzania

Agroecological farming practices against fruit flies in Central Eastern Tanzania

Sustainability implications of Rwanda’s Vision 2050 long-term development strategy

Improving livelihoods in Rwanda requires overcoming food insecurity and malnutrition. Vision 2050 is Rwanda’s long-term development strategy, yet little is known about its potential trade-offs for the country’s biodiversity, forest cover, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Scenario analysis can provide insights into how to achieve such goals more sustainably. Here, we use the Food, Agriculture, Biodiversity, Land-Use, and Energy (FABLE) Calculator, a simple integrated assessment tool, to explore potential sustainability implications by 2050 through two scenarios: (1) Current Trends and (2) Vision 2050. The Vision 2050 pathway incorporates components of the government’s long-term development strategy and associated national agricultural policy targets. It includes greater increases in crop productivity and decreases in post-harvest losses, and shifts to more sustainable diets, compared to the Current Trends pathway. Results show that the Vision 2050 pathway would, relative to Current Trends, lead to a greater decrease in agricultural land area and an increase in non-forested natural land-cover area, with consequent decreases in GHG emissions from agriculture, increases in carbon sequestration, and increases in the share of land that can support biodiversity conservation. Shifts to a healthier diet in the Vision 2050 pathway would only be compatible with national agricultural priorities if these diets favor consumption of foods that underpin sustainable livelihoods in Rwanda, such as beans, cassava, potatoes, sweet potatoes, banana, and corn. We discuss the potential for integrated land-use planning and adoption of agroecological farming practices to help Rwanda achieve food security, livelihood, biodiversity, and climate mitigation goals in tandem.

Creating Conditions for Harnessing the Potential of Transitions to Agroecology in Europe and Requirements for Policy

SummaryFood systems require reorientation to take greater account of interactions with the environment, economy, health and society. Transitions to agroecological farming practices and systems can connect policy areas and realise environmental, economic and social aims. These transitions provide a lens for reviewing policy, practice and behaviours of actors in farming systems and value chains, identification of barriers to uptake, and policy areas to which they contribute or where there are gaps. Developing social and human capital, and governance structures that enable transitions to agroecology are key to their prospects of success. Education and life‐long learning are key to developing the knowledge and skills of younger generations of land managers and other actors in value chains, throughout their careers. The outcome sought is for a shared understanding of the benefits of agroecological practices and systems, creating opportunities to rebalance policies towards delivering climate neutrality, reversing biodiversity loss, and enhancing rights of citizens. To realise those opportunities policies and strategies should be coherent across territorial and systems levels, and tailored to place, system, people, and stages of transitions. Overall, they should be designed to ensure all citizens are beneficiaries of transitions to agroecological farming systems, over the long term, and that no‐one or place is disadvantaged by the processes of change or the outcome intended.

Impact of climate change on crop production and food security in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), the easternmost province of Atlantic Canada, has a food security issue caused by shortage of agri-foods produced in the province. This is due to short supply of suitable agricultural land, short growing seasons, a limited range of agricultural produce (industrial or mono cropping) farmed on existing farms and few facilities for secondary processing. The food security issue has been exacerbated in the last decades by climate change (extreme temperatures, heavy rains and more frequent droughts) which has impacted the province's agricultural industry. This research investigates the impact of climate change on crops and food security in the NL province and identifies the measures taken by the provincial farmers to reduce the GHG emissions and aims to assess whether agro-ecological practices could be expanded in the NL province. It is based on quantitative and qualitative data, collected through surveying a sample of NL crop farmers and through a literature review of peer-reviewed articles, published government reports and documents and news articles. The research results show that any attempt to solve the multi-faceted problems of the NL agri-foods sector impacted by climate change should involve policies supporting an agro-ecological approach to farming in the province. Generalizing agro-ecological farming practices on highly integrated and diversified farms (small, medium and large) is one sustainable alternative that can potentially eliminate the negative consequences of modern industrial farming, make the farming sector more resilient to global climate change and enhance food security in the province. The research results show that there are incipient agro-ecological practices in the province, that farmers are aware of climate change and the need to adopt more environmentally friendly farming practices. New policy frameworks and work plans are needed to speed up the transition from the current unsustainable farming practices to a more resilient agro-ecological-food system.

Does the Availability of Specific Agri-Equipment Influence Cropping System Design? A Case Study of Pulses

Cropping system design is being transformed through the twofold evolution of agricultural practices for an agroecological transition, and of equipment diversification for agrotechnical needs. Among the most well-known drivers there are genetic selection, crop diversification, protein and energy autonomy. Protein and energy autonomy but also crop diversification could be achieved by reintroducing pulses into farming systems. The availability of specific equipment might be the simplest prerequisite for developing agroecological farming practices while supporting these goals. However, the links between pulses and agri-equipment are not clarified in the literature. The aim of this study is to understand recent historical and current links between pulses and equipment and to gain insight into the suitability or even to find shortcomings concerning pulses and available agri-equipment. To this end, 21 key informants were identified in the agronomical, sociotechnical, economic, and political sectors in France. We asked them four questions: (i) Can you describe your professional functions? (ii) Do you think that equipment is related to the design of the culture system? (iii) Do you think that pulses require specific equipment? (iv) How do you define agroecology? Respondents’ profiles are equally distributed into profiles directly related to the farmer and profiles not directly related to farmers. All 21 respondents answered questions (ii) and (iv). Only 14 respondents answered question (iii), and most of them are directly related to the farmer. We note that pulses do not require specific agri-equipment in a conventional system. The need for agri-equipment is found in the soil conservation approach where pulses are combined with other crops. Soil conservation approaches appear to achieve agroecological goals through the reintroduction of legumes and the decarbonization of energy associated with reduced mechanical costs and CO2 emissions. This article presents expert opinions on the impact of equipment in the adaptation of agroecological practices as well as insights into the existing blockages of equipment in relation to soil conservation practices.

Agroecological practices in combination with healthy diets can help meet EU food system policy targets

Agroecology has been proposed as a strategy to improve food system sustainability, but has also been criticised for using land inefficiently. We compared five explorative storylines, developed in a stakeholder process, for future food systems in the EU to 2050. We modelled a range of biophysical (e.g., land use and food production), environmental (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions) and social indicators, and potential for regional food self-sufficiency, and investigated the economic policy needed to reach these futures by 2050. Two contrasting storylines for upscaling agroecological practices emerged. In one, agroecology was implemented to produce high-value products serving high-income consumers through trade but, despite 40% of agricultural area being under organic management, only two out of eight EU environmental policy targets were met. As diets followed current trends in this storyline, there were few improvements in environmental indicators compared with the current situation, despite large-scale implementation of agroecological farming practices. This suggests that large-scale implementation of agroecological practices without concurrent changes on the demand side could aggravate existing environmental pressures. However, our second agroecological storyline showed that if large-scale diffusion of agroecological farming practices were implemented alongside drastic dietary change and waste reductions, major improvements on environmental indicators could be achieved and all relevant EU policy targets met. An alternative storyline comprising sustainable intensification in combination with dietary change and waste reductions was efficient in meeting targets related to climate, biodiversity, ammonia emissions, and use of antibiotics, but did not meet targets for reductions in pesticide and fertiliser use. These results confirm the importance of dietary change for food system climate change mitigation. Economic modelling showed a need for drastic changes in consumer preferences towards more plant-based, agroecological and local foods, and for improvements in technology, for these storylines to be realised, as very high taxes and tariffs would otherwise be needed.

How agroecological farming practices reshape cattle farmers’ working conditions

ABSTRACT Concerns for the future of the French livestock sector are growing, amongst others due to the profession’ low attractiveness which is partly related to its difficult working conditions. Agroecology in its search for social sustainability could offer better working conditions to farmers. The objectives of this study are; i) to understand whether expected changes in working conditions are taken into consideration when cattle farmers decide to adopt or not agroecological practices, ii) to study the impact of these practices on their working conditions and ii) to discuss the use of a multidimensional framework to study farmers’ working conditions. A framework addressing seven dimensions known to impact farmers’ working conditions was used to interview 22 French cattle farmers adopting agroecological practices. Improving working conditions was rarely the main motivation of farmers to adopt agroecological practices. Although never completely anticipated, all farmers experienced an impact of the adoption of agroecological practices on their working conditions (e.g. changes in work organization, health or pleasure derived from work). Across farms, all dimensions were impacted but consequences on working conditions were situation specific. The framework allowed a comprehensive understanding, from farmers’ point of view, on how working conditions are constituted and showed that farmers make trade-offs between different dimensions.

The methodological strategies of agroecological research and the values with which they are linked

The characteristic features of some of the methodological strategies adopted in scientific research in agroecology are discussed. They reflect that agroecology, as an approach to scientific research, is inextricably entangled with the other strands of agroecology (farming practice, social movement, political project); and that adopting agroecological strategies, and upholding the values of environmental sustainability, food sovereignty, social justice and democratic participation, mutually reinforce each other. After outlining the kinds of questions that agroecological research addresses so that it can produce knowledge that informs agroecological farming practices and the long term aspiration of agroecological movements to create an alternative agricultural/food system, and then making summary remarks about methodological strategies in general, three characteristic features of some agroecological strategies are introduced and discussed. The paper concludes with comments on the value of agroecological research.

English

The abusive use of toxic agricultural chemicals (insecticides, fungicides and herbicides in particular) by farmers has attracted a lot of attention from environmentalists, scientists and policy makers.  The use of these toxic agricultural chemicals not only contributes to environmental deterioration but equally poses major health risks to farmers and the general public. It is therefore incumbent on policy makers to take measures geared towards limiting the use of toxic agricultural chemicals. Some of these measures could be the vulgarization of agro-ecological farming practices like agroforestry. It is in this light that this study comparatively examined the use of toxic agricultural chemicals by agroforestry practicing and non-agroforestry practicing farmers in a bid to identify the most sustainable and viable option. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study, and analysis was done using the statistical software Microsoft Excel 20007 and SPSS 17.0. It was found that the main crops grown by agroforestry practicing farmers were food and cash crops while non-agroforestry practicing farmers cultivated mainly market gardening crops and to some extent, food crops. Toxic agricultural chemicals (mainly fungicides, herbicides and insecticides) were used in large quantities and frequently by a majority (over 50%) of non-agroforestry practicing farmers, while less than 40% of agroforestry practicing farmers used toxic agricultural chemicals, mostly in small quantities and less frequently.  A significant direct non-cause-effect and cause-effect relationship (p<0.05) existed between the non-cause-effect and cause-effect relationship (p<0.05) between the non-practice of agroforestry and the use of toxic agricultural chemicals, while a significant inverse non-cause-effect and cause-effect relationship (p<0.05) was found to exist between the practice of agroforestry and the use of toxic agricultural chemicals. This implies that the practice of agroforestry can play a major role in reducing the use of toxic agricultural chemicals by farmers. It is recommended that policy makers should formulate policies geared towards fast-tracking agroforestry into the mainstream as a sustainable and viable pathway to limiting the use of toxic agricultural chemicals by farmers. Key words: Farmers, insecticides, fungicides, herbicides, agroforestry, sole cropping, Cameroon.

Collective design of innovative agroecological cropping systems for the industrial vegetable sector

CONTEXTThere is an urgent need to reduce the use of phytosanitary products in industrial vegetables due to environmental and health concerns. However, as in many industrial sectors, vegetables production is characterised by strong constraints related to the expectations of consumers, the profitability of distributors and the processing steps of industrial companies. These constraints impact farming systems through the elaboration of production contracts that hamper innovation and reduce farmers' latitude to evolve toward agroecology. OBJECTIVEThis study was initiated by a French distributor of frozen products, and aimed to create innovative agroeocological cropping systems by circumventing lock-ins of the sector thanks to a co-design methodology. METHODSAn existing methodology of innovative cropping systems design for fresh vegetable crops was adapted to the context of industrial production, considering the 3-year deadline granted to the project. Four farmers were involved, who were part of a working group consisting of a distributor, a processing company, a cooperative and a research team, all involved in the production of frozen vegetables. Four cropping systems were designed, consisting in combinations of agroecological farming practices, and tested on farm for two years. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONSFarmers reduced their Treatment Frequency Index by 15% on average, thanks to the combination of a wide range of agroecological farming practices. A multi-criteria analysis showed that there was no clear improvement in overall cropping system sustainability, due to economic weaknesses. Although these results were somewhat disappointing, especially with respect to the expectations of public policies, they represent a significant progress given the difficulty to reduce the use of chemical pesticides in industrial systems. Farmers underlined the importance of economic security but were nevertheless highly motivated to continue the transformation of their systems, and the working group collectively approved the methodology. Four methodological aspects are discussed, identified as key elements for consideration in this type of study: farm system scale, collective work, farm system flexibility, and farm system uniqueness. Based on these principles, the working group decided to extend the study to a larger scale, with the aim of recruiting more farmers from the sector. SIGNIFICANCEThis study shows that making cropping systems with industrial vegetables evolve toward agroecology is possible thanks to a co-design methodology. In the long term, such initiatives could support the transition of the whole agrifood system toward the production of healthier products, reducing negative environmental impacts of cropping systems.

Climate-Smart Practices of Smallholder Farmers in Cameroon Confronted with Climate Variability and Change: The Example of Agroforestry

Faced with the adverse effects of climate variability and change (CVC), agro-ecological farming practices like agroforestry are crucial especially for smallholder farmers who are extremely vulnerable. It was within this context that this study appraised smallholder farmers’ agroforestry practices faced with climate change adversities. Biophysical and socio-economic data were collected from ten villages in Cameroon. Findings showed that climate parameters have experienced significant fluctuations in the past five decades. Smallholder farmers practice several agroforestry practices and integrate a plethora of tree/shrub species on agroforestry plots in order to adapt to climate change. Six main types of agroforestry trees/shrub species (trees/shrubs used for fuelwood, fruits, building materials, fodder, soil improvement, medicines) were integrated by smallholder farmers within agroforestry plots. T test and Chi-square test statistics indicated a strong non-causal relationship between explanatory variables (institutional and socio-economic attributes) and smallholder farmers’ agroforestry practicing decision faced with CVC. Logistic regression showed that a strong positive causal relationship exists between four explanatory variables (age of household head, access to information, access to credit and degree of vulnerability) and smallholder farmers’ agroforestry practicing decision faced with CVC. The study therefore recommends that institutional and socio-economic factors (credit facilities and reliable information) fostering smallholder farmers’ practice of agroforestry faced with CVC should be provided by governmental and non-governmental agencies in order to enhance the odds of smallholder farmers practicing agroforestry faced with the adverse effects of CVC.

Indigenous knowledge and the enhancement of community resilience to climate change in the Northern Mountainous Region of Vietnam

ABSTRACT Over centuries, ethnic minority communities in the north of Vietnam have developed complex farming systems well-adapted to their environments. Much of this is based on indigenous knowledge concerned with adapting to locally-available resources and more recently enhancing resiliency to climatic risk. This article draws from data gathered with mixed qualitative methods in ten villages in rural Bac Kan Province in the north of the country. It documents specific examples in the production of banana and medicinal plants; maize and red peanut; taro, pachyrhizus, and maize; and green bean as systems that incorporate native crops in ways that provide resistance to drought, improve water-use efficiency, benefit the soil, minimize agrochemical use, preserve culinary traditions, support gender equality, and increase the incomes of farm families living near the poverty line. Overall, this study illustrates unique ways that indigenous knowledge and agroecological farming practices can increase social, economic, and environmental resiliency, mitigate risk, and strengthen livelihoods in marginalized communities. As communities across the Global South seek answers to ever-increasing challenges brought by changes in climate, this paper argues that policymakers should revisit, support, and promote the indigenous knowledge already present in these communities to advance more sustainable futures.

The Impact of Agricultural Practices on Soil Organisms: Lessons Learnt from Market-gardens

Intensive agriculture practices have an important impact on soil biota, which can affect dramatically soil quality. In order to limit this impact, alternative agricultural practices are more and more applied. However, these practices are still in progress and thus, it is necessary to investigate their impact on soil activity. In this context, we studied the impact of agricultural practices (intensive and agroecological) in vegetable cropping systems in Guadeloupe. The first aim of this study was to identify practices developed in vegetable cropping systems and explain their level of eco-agriculture. We conducted a survey on the whole territory which gave us a better understanding of vegetable cropping systems in Guadeloupe. We selected a representative subset of 18 farms located on vertisols. The second aim of the study was to establish a typology of cropping practices in these vegetable cropping systems in vertisol. We performed a PCA and a HCA on the 18 farms. These methods allowed us to build a typology in which farms were distributed between two types. In type A, farmers are using intensive agricultural practices while in type B, farmers are using alternative agroecological farming practices. Then, we collected soil fauna, during the rainy season in type A and type B farms in order to demonstrate the relationship between cropping systems and the quality of soils proxied by biological indicators. We hypothesized that the use of synthetic fertilizers and herbicides in intensive agriculture affected soil fauna activity. The results showed no significant difference between soil fauna abundance in both types. However, the taxonomic richness and the abundance of litter transformers were higher in type B. Taxonomic richness and soil fauna functional diversity thus strongly depend on agricultural practices in vegetables cropping systems in Guadeloupe.

Connecting New Farmers to Place, Agroecology, and Community through a Bilingual Organic Farm Incubator

Renewed public interest in the localized dimensions of food and farming systems offers opportunities for citizens to become more engaged in decision making about how their food is produced, distributed, and consumed, and, for all these actions, by whom. This paper explores an initiative designed to reinvigorate the production components of a place-based, regional food system through connecting diverse aspiring entrepreneurial farmers, nonprofit organizations, land grant university faculty, and food consumers around shared values. The characteristics that distinguish values-based food systems can be sets of values associated with environmentally sustainable production practices, the qualities of the food, the distribution of the food, and/or relationships with particular farmers and places (Ostrom, DeMaster, Noe, & Schermer, 2017). Based on interviews and participant observation, our participatory research with the Viva Farms bilingual farm incubator program explores the role of place, social, and environmental values, and social learning in launching an incoming generation of women, immigrant, and low-income farmers. These themes have not been previously explored in the literature in relation to the success of new entry farmer initiatives. As of 2016, six years into the program, our findings show that 77 percent of past program participants were still farming in the same region, using agroecological farming practices and employing place-based marketing strategies. See the press release for this article.

Peasant Seeds in France: Fostering A More Resilient Agriculture

The profitability of the French agricultural sector has fallen over the last two decades, leading to the suggestion of a “rupture in technical progress”. Additionally, the intellectual property regime in force has contributed to the erosion of the cultivated biodiversity, limiting plant resiliency to climate change and other hazards. In the face of these challenges, agroecological farming practices are a viable alternative. This paper investigates the positive and negative aspects associated with the development of alternative seed procurement networks in France. The findings indicate that peasant seed networks can effectively contribute to overcoming many of the structural blockages with which French agriculture is confronted, but that yield concerns; higher information and supervisory costs, as well as the unfavourable legislative context, constitute key challenges to their development. However, these could be partially or totally eliminated if adequate policies are implemented. In this regard, the recommendations are to: (i) strengthen the dialogue with farmers in the shaping of policies related to the use of plant genetic resources; (ii) abrogate the “obligatory voluntary contribution” on farm-saved seeds; (iii) diversify the collection of Centres for Biological Resources, increase their number, and democratize their access; (iv) harmonize the French and European regime on intellectual property; and (v) encourage participatory research.

Participatory agroecological research on climate change adaptation improves smallholder farmer household food security and dietary diversity in Malawi

This study examines whether agroecological farming practices, when employed by highly vulnerable households in sub-Saharan Africa, can improve food security and dietary diversity. The research involved a four-year study with 425 smallholder households, selected purposively based on high levels of food insecurity and/or positive HIV status. The households carried out agroecological experiments of their own choosing over a four-year period. Baseline (n = 306) and follow-up (n = 352) surveys were conducted in 2011 and 2013 respectively to assess changes in farming practices, food security, crop diversity and dietary diversity. Longitudinal mixed effects models were used with 203 matched households to estimate determinants of change in food security and dietary diversity at the population level. Qualitative interviews and focus groups were also conducted to provide depth to the survey findings. The findings show that participatory agroecology experimentation increased intercropping, legume diversification and the addition of compost, manure and crop residue amendments to the soil. Intercropping was associated with food security and the use of organic soil amendments was associated with gains in dietary diversity in bivariate analysis. Household food security and dietary diversity increased significantly over a 2-year period. Importantly, multivariate models showed that spousal discussion about farming was strongly associated with increased household food security and dietary diversity. Households who discussed farming with their spouse were 2.4 times more likely to be food secure and have diverse diets. Addition of compost or manure to the soil significantly influenced dietary diversity. These findings indicate that poor, vulnerable farmers can use agroecological methods to effectively improve food and nutritional security in sub-Saharan Africa. The study also highlights how linking agroecology to participatory research approaches that promote farmer experimentation and gender equity also lead to greater health and well-being. The study sheds light on how agroecological approaches can rapidly improve food security and dietary diversity, even under conditions of acute social, health or ecological stress. It draws attention to issues of equity and farmer-led approaches in addressing food security and nutrition.

Brexit’s Shades of Green—(Missing) the Opportunity to Transform Farming in England?

Abstract The UK Government’s ‘green Brexit’ includes fundamental reform of agriculture. We use resilience thinking to examine the complex relationship between farming policy and environmental sustainability. Farming is a social ecological system that will be disturbed by leaving the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. Reforms could reinforce persistence of the status quo or shape transformation to ‘better’ sustainability. We argue Brexit is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the hegemony of sustainable intensification to be challenged by enhanced agroecological farming practices. The interdependency of social and ecological factors is a critical threshold for transformative change, which we explore through three key sites of struggle: farmers’ cultural identity, connection to land, and security. We suggest transformative law and governance measures built upon Wild Law jurisprudence and resilience principles of diversity, scale, flexibility, relationality, education and participatory decision-making. We conclude that the Government’s approach falls short of the transformation needed for a resilient, sustainable farming system.

Conditions for the adoption of agro-ecological farming practices: a holistic framework illustrated with the case of almond farming in Andalusia

ABSTRACTAgricultural landscapes offer unique habitats for many species. Because agriculture is a major land use worldwide, changes in farming practices can have major repercussions for biodiversity. Particularly in Western Europe, ongoing intensification and scale enlargement but also land abandonment and poor agricultural practices leading to land degradation form a major threat to agrobiodiversity. Agro-ecological farming practices are suggested as an alternative way of farming in order to conserve and enhance biodiversity. Yet knowledge about what factors explain farmers’ adoption of agro-ecological farming practices is fragmented and incomplete. In this paper, we offer a holistic framework that specifies these factors and how they are interconnected. The framework is illustrated and refined by means of a case study analysis of almond farming in Andalusia. The chosen case represents a specific localized farming practice that currently negatively impacts biodiversity but for which agro-ecology forms an attractive alternative regarding biodiversity. The case study demonstrates that our framework offers a useful tool to systematically identify the different factors that affect agro-ecological farming adoption, interlinkages between factors and particularly the more structural barriers to agro-ecology.

Agroecological farming practices promote bats

Intensive agriculture is a major driver of biodiversity loss, and a critical part of creating sustainable food systems is finding ways to balance production and conservation. While practices characteristic of agricultural intensification tend to erode biodiversity, agroecological farming practices can potentially support biodiversity and enhance pest suppression services. Bats are important predators of agricultural pests, yet little is known about how prescriptive management practices can be used to support bats and their associated pest-suppression services. We investigate how bats use natural habitat and conventional and organic farms in an agricultural landscape, ask which on-farm management practices may benefit bats, and examine how these management practices influence bats by mediating changes in habitat quality. We conducted acoustic surveys at 54 sites in the California Central Coast Region, a productive region with high ecological and economic value. We found higher bat activity in natural habitat compared to farms for total bat activity and clutter-adapted, but not open space bats, and slightly higher bat diversity in natural habitat compared to conventional farms. We found no effect of habitat type on species richness and a weak effect of habitat type on bat diversity, although bat community composition differed significantly between natural habitat and farms. Crop diversification increased the activity of all bat species and clutter-adapted, but not open space bats, regardless of the amount of semi-natural habitat surrounding farms. Both crop diversification and less frequent pesticide applications increased prey biomass, and the activity of clutter-adapted bats was positively correlated with greater Lepidoptera biomass. We suggest that improving habitat quality (increasing abundance of insect prey) through vegetative diversification and/or less frequent pesticide applications offers flexible management options to growers by considering both bat ecology and the constraints of regional agricultural management practices.

Arthropod communities in mango orchards during the flowering season in Reunion Island: effects of agroecological and agrochemical practices

Conservation biological control implies appropriate management of arthropod communities at several trophic levels. Adding plants to agro-ecosystems influences upper trophic levels by providing basal resources and new habitats. The abundance and species richness of phytophagous and predatory arthropods may consequently be modified, which in turn, may affect pest control. Insecticide applications are also known to influence the different trophic levels of the agroecosystems. Under BIOPHYTO (insecticide-free production of mangos) management, agroecological practices were applied: increasing ground cover and stopping the use of insecticides. This study was conducted during the flowering period in August 2012, 2013 and 2014. Data on arthropods were collected through extensive sampling on six farms: 8,667 phytophagous arthropods belonging to 122 species and 4,395 predators belonging to 105 species were collected. On each farm, two mango orchard plots were used, one under agroecological practices and the other under agrochemical practices. Our results showed that the species richness of phytophagous and predatory arthropods was significantly higher in plots with agroecological practices than in plots with agrochemical practices in 1 out of 2 years after the change in practices. Phytophagous arthropods were more abundant in plots with agroecological farming practices. From the point of view of application, increasing ground cover and stopping the use of insecticides are possible mechanisms to design new cropping systems to increase the biodiversity required for effective biological control.