Western agricultural practices for crop protection are still heavily dependent on pesticides, even though they cause major human health and environmental hazards. In France, public incentives for pesticide reduction have failed to achieve their goal, and agroecological practices are still seldom implemented. In this study, we hypothesized that a systemic analysis of the determinants of current farming practices could serve to characterize (i) the impediments to change in farming practices; (ii) the resources supporting the change; (iii) the underpinning sociotechnical processes; (iv) the stakeholders' involvement; and (v) levers to facilitate agroecological transition. We therefore designed the first analytical framework that supports a systemic, multi-level (field, farm, territorial, and supra-territorial), multi-actor (including private actors and policymakers), and transformation-oriented analysis of the determinants of farming practices. We applied this analytical framework to the management of root-knot nematodes in sheltered vegetable systems in south-eastern France, jointly analyzing conventional and organic systems. We conducted this comprehensive analysis based on complementary data collection methods: interviews with stakeholders, analysis of written material, participant observation, and participatory workshops. We show that strongly interconnected determinants of farming practices fostered drastic soil disinfection and locked out agroecological soil health technology (e.g., product quality and economic constraints from marketing firms and from regulations; lack of knowledge; unavailability of agroecological inputs). However, this sociotechnical lock-in was being undermined by societal pressures and increasing actions of the stakeholders in favor of the agroecology paradigm. On the other hand, the conventionalization process of the organic regime was simultaneously threatening the further development of agroecological practices. Finally, this analysis revealed levers that could be used to support innovation design and enable changes in farming practices toward agroecology (e.g., facilitate access to agroecological inputs, develop multi-stakeholder platforms). The framework, successfully applied to the Provençal vegetable sector, could be used in other production and territorial contexts.

1. CONTEXT: High pesticide use causes environmental and human health hazards. Yet, the change to alternative crop protection practices faces a web of interacting barriers that results in a sociotechnical lock-in. Designing "coupled innovation" has been proposed by agricultural scientists to overcome the barriers that prevent change in practices. Coupled innovations consist of developing jointly innovations both at the farm and the agrifood system level to overcome the lock-in. OBJECTIVE:In this study, we aim at characterizing how existing coupled innovations foster the implementation of agroecological crop protection in French vegetable systems. 3. METHODS: 'Tracking down coupled innovation' method consisted of six steps: (i) identification of the existing coupled innovations in vegetable systems across France; (ii) interview of their stakeholders; (iii) identification, based on the interviews and an analytical framework, of the sociotechnical levers involved in the coupled innovations and the functions the levers perform to foster agroecological crop protection; (iv) characterization of the conditions for the coupled innovation implementation based on 20 categorical variables;(v) typology of the innovations based on the lever functions they performed, using a multiple correspondence analysis followed by hierarchical cluster analysis on principal components;(vi) comprehensive analysis of one typical innovation per cluster, to understand in-depth how it was implemented. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:We identified 40 coupled innovations, 17 sociotechnical lever functions and 5 consistent clusters of coupled innovations each implementing a specific combination of lever functions. The five clusters consist of: (1) co-developing and diffusing new inputs and related knowledge through specific knowledge infrastructure, (2) facilitating farmers' peer-exchange of knowledge, (3) (re)structuring the food value chain to support the implementation of agroecological crop protection, (4) pooling material and cognitive resources and (5) renting or exchanging fields to support crop diversification. Key conditions for innovation success were the support of intermediaries, a shared vision and trust between stakeholders, their active involvement, and a limited physical distance between them. The comprehensive analysis of the typical innovations illustrated, for each cluster, the complex relation between the sociotechnical levers, the functions they perform, the network involved, the ACP practices implemented and the conditions for successful implementation. 5. SIGNIFICANCE: Tracking down coupled innovation produced knowledge that can support the coupled innovation design in other contexts, hence the sustainability transition of the agrifood systems. It can complement the study of innovative farmers' practices with capitalizing knowledge on the means to overcome barriers to the implementation of these practices.