Origins of the performance gaps in innovative cropping systems under experimental assessment.

To meet new agricultural issues and make agriculture more sustainable, innovative cropping systems (ICSs) targeting a multiplicity of purposes need to be designed. Four ICSs were designed by prototyping (Reau and Dore, 20081) and assessed in a long-term field system experiment. Our objective was to analyze the results after the first complete rotation, particularly the bad performances compared to the targeted aims.