After the introduction of the cross-compliance mechanism,
many effortshave beenmade inthe EU to increase the sustainability
of agricultural systems. So far, the monitoring of the implementation
of GAEC standards is limited to the verification of their
application by ground-based surveys or remote sensing techniques.
However, what is still largely unknown are the actual effects on
processes affecting soils such as erosion and SOC change, which
ultimately determine the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of the policy.
The cost of monitoring such changes appears economically
unsustainable at farm system level due to the number of subjects
involved. In this context, the use of a well-calibrated model may
become a diagnostic tool to quantitatively assess the policy impact.
Our results obtained by coupling the high resolution RUSLE with
an ecosystem biogeochemical model clearly indicate that higher
residues restitution, increased soil cover and lower tillage disturbance
may both reduce the erosion and increase the soils’ SOC
contents.