To ensure regular and high yields, current agriculture is based on intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, which are detrimental to the environment and human health. Moreover, as pest resistance to pesticides increases, and more and more pesticides are taken off the market, national and European policies are becoming powerful drivers to deliver pesticide-free farming systems. Whereas numerous studies have compared organic versus conventional systems, our study assessed, for the first time, the performances of a pesticide-free arable cropping system (No-Pesticide), using synthetic fertilizers, specifically designed to produce high yields and meet environmental goals. This system was compared with an input-based cropping system designed with the same environmental targets (PHEP: productive with high environmental performances) in an 11-year field trial in France (Paris Basin). Banning pesticides did not result in a significant average yield gap (in GJ.ha⁻¹.year⁻¹ or in kg N.ha⁻¹.year⁻¹) calculated over the crop sequence. Yet, some crops’ yields significantly decreased, due either to pest damages, or to limited nitrogen nutrition. In the No-Pesticide system, the mycotoxin content of cereal grains was lower than the regulatory threshold, and the average wheat protein content was higher than the required standard for baking. Indirect energy consumption, total greenhouse gas emissions, number of technical operations, nitrogen fertilizer amounts, and treatment frequency indexes were significantly lower compared to the PHEP system. Conversely, results showed significantly higher direct energy consumption, direct greenhouse gas emissions, and number of work hours for weed control. We identify highly effective agricultural strategies to avoid pesticide use (e.g., widely diverse and long crop sequence; introduction of hemp) and pinpoint several technical lock-ins hampering steady production in pesticide-free systems. We argue that more experiments should be undertaken to deliver technical knowledge for managing major or orphan species within pesticide-free systems, and to provide supplementary results, including economic and social performances.

为了保证丰产，当前农业大量使用农药和化肥，这对环境和人类健康有害。此外，随着害虫对杀虫剂的抗性增强，以及越来越多的杀虫剂退出市场，国家和欧洲政策正在成为提供无杀虫剂农业系统的强大推动力。尽管许多研究都比较了有机系统与传统系统，但我们的研究首次评估了无农药耕作系统（无农药）的性能，该系统使用合成肥料，专门设计用于生产高产并满足环境目标。在法国（巴黎盆地）进行的为期 11 年的田间试验中，将该系统与具有相同环境目标（PHEP：高产且环境绩效高）的基于投入的耕作系统进行了比较。禁用农药并没有导致按作物序列计算的显着平均产量差距（以 GJ.ha ^-1 .year ^-1或 kg N.ha ^-1 .year ^-1为单位）。然而，由于虫害或氮营养有限，一些作物的产量显着下降。在无农药制度下，谷物中的霉菌毒素含量低于监管阈值，小麦平均蛋白质含量高于烘焙所需标准。间接能耗、温室气体排放总量、技术操作次数、氮肥用量、处理频率等指标均显着低于PHEP系统。相反，结果显示直接能源消耗、直接温室气体排放以及杂草控制的工作时间显着增加。我们确定了避免使用农药的高效农业策略（例如，广泛多样化和长的作物序列；引入大麻），并查明了阻碍无农药系统稳定生产的几个技术锁定。我们认为，应该进行更多的实验，以提供在无农药系统内管理主要或孤儿物种的技术知识，并提供补充结果，包括经济和社会绩效。