Co-design and ex ante assessment of cropping system prototypes including energy crops in Eastern France

CSP including Miscanthus x giganteus performed better in terms of GHG emissions, energy costs, nitrate losses and pesticide use than CSP that include only annual crops requiring more inputs, but achieved lower profitability and food production capacity. The cropping systems including only food/feed crops frequently achieved higher economic outcomes and food production capacity. Lastly, CSP combining pluriannual or annual energy crops and annual food/feed crops showed satisfactory trade-offs among environmental impacts and food production capacity.