The indicators
Numerous indicators defined today in the literature (OECD, ecologically Sustainable Agriculture in Canada) translate three big problems connected to the concept of sustainable agriculture: the agro-ecological sustainability, the socio-territorial and the economic sustainability.
What is an agri-environmental indicator?
By definition, an indicator is a variable measuring
or appreciating a state or an evolution [Robert, 2000].
An indicator must be a simple data which can be quantified
in a clear, reproducible and fast way and must synthesize
complex phenomena on the level of an exploitation or a piece.
An indicator must represent reality in a written form. Thus, the agri-environmental
indicators make it possible to make a diagnosis of the agricultural system,
i.e. to give a realistic image of it, and constitute a decision-making aid.
As the measurement of the environmental impact of the exploitation by indicators
is being a new concept, we assist to the development of plenty new methods.
But each method has its specificities and different objectives. We will however
need some hints to help the farmers to choose the appropriate method to answer
to their questions.
The GTA indicators
Within the framework of the GeoTraceAgri project and considering the duration of the project, we have to limit ourselves to a more reduced number of indicators by giving priority to those who seem to us the most representative for the GTA project, that is those who value the geographic approach and who answer the current questionings of the consumers and all the actors of the farm-produce fields.
So it seems to us indispensable to be firstly interested in thematic following:
It is however indispensable to conceive an opened tool which can integrate the other indicators and take into account so new problems (socioeconomic aspects connected to labels of fair business for example).
