SUSCAP

It is well known that climate change will impact arable crop production across Europe in coming decades. The air pollution, especially ozone is already having substantial impacts on crop productivity causing yield losses of between 10 and 15% on average across Europe for sensitive staple crops such as wheat. The project will build on existing initiatives to develop modelling approaches; and will conduct this research in close dialogue with policy and sector stakeholders that are partners of our consortium of eight world-leading expert groups skilled in climate change and air pollution in relation to experimental and crop modelling. This project will target an increase in the sustainability of agriculture across Europe and a reduction in the threats to crop resource use efficiency from both current and future climate change and air pollution stress.
University of Bonn will contribute with following tasks:
-    Conduct a literature survey to understand the perceived risks and needs of farmers from across the Central and Western part of Europe to climate change.
-    Conduct local stakeholder workshops to discuss these needs with farming groups and national policy makers (in both agriculture and air quality/climate change).
-    Provide information on general crop modelling considerations under both climate change and air quality and support the connections to AgMIP and other European/Global crop modelling activities (e.g. MACSUR)
-    Assess the suitability of the AFRCWHEAT2-ozone crop model to meet stakeholder needs in relation to climate change (and air quality).
-    Develop, implement and apply the AFRCWHEAT2-ozone crop model (Ewert, 2000) within the projects crop model ensemble experiment.
-    Apply this model to identify promising and new traits and improved management options for crop to be better adapted to combined effects of climate change, extreme events and air pollution.