PRR Project

Summary

CITAB’s Strategic Programme 2025-2029 will comprise an R&D Group on “ Natural resources, biodiversity & climate challenges ” in the context of the agrarian value chains, aiming at promoting more sustainable and competitive food systems. Climate change is a major challenge for agrarian value chains. Water availability and quality are critical for crop production. Environmental impact assessment is essential to ensure long-term sustainability and promote responsible and environmentally friendly farming practices. By adopting NBSs and agroecological practices, stakeholders can contribute to the preservation of biodiversity, support ecosystem services, and build resilient and sustainable agricultural systems. CITAB has already vast expertise in these research topics, encompassing a team with complementary skills, from climate to water, soil, biodiversity and agroecology. The Assistant Researcher (AR) will develop research in the climate-water-soil-crop-environment nexus, with emphasis on modelling tools and within the following tasks : 1. Climate change impact assessment and adaptation in targeted agricultural systems. Global-to-regional climate model chain experiments will be used, retrieved from the EU-funded COPERNICUS platform, among others. The corresponding simulated data will be bias-corrected with observational data (weather stations, reanalysis and remote sensing), while new hybrid (dynamical- geostatistical) downscaling approaches will be applied to enhance the reliability and accuracy of the climate information at the farm scale. Climate change projections will be developed for a range of state-of-the-art anthropogenic radiative forcing scenarios, thereby covering a wide range of uncertainties concerning future climates. The AR will also run mechanistic models for key crops to assess their responses to the different climate projections. Particular attention will be given to extreme events, such as heatwaves and heavy precipitation, as well as droughts. The potential of different adaptation options will be tested through modelling experiments, such as agroecological approaches. 2. Quality and sustainability of water resources in targeted agricultural systems. Cutting-edge hydrological models will be applied by the AR to simulate both water availability and quality in selected river catchments, and their sub-basins, relevant to the targeted agricultural systems. The assessment of groundwater resources is also an important aspect to be taken into account. As water quality can be significantly affected by agricultural practices, simulation of contaminants will be undertaken to warrant that water quality meets acceptable standards for agricultural use and ensure that farmers comply with water use permits and regulations. The water requirements of the targeted crops in future climates will also be incorporated into these simulations, giving clues on their environmental and economic sustainability and helping prevent over-extraction and depletion of water resources. Strategies to improve water management and water use efficiency will be tested and simulated, such as the implementation of smart irrigation techniques, rainwater harvesting, water circularity, or nature-based solutions. This task will, therefore, be intrinsically connected with the previous task. 3. Capacity building and knowledge transfer. All the produced information will be regularly transferred to stakeholders following a quintuple helix approach. Capacity-building actions will be organised, along with the delivery of white papers and technical-scientific reports. Internationalization and proactive identification of funding opportunities will also be a main pillar to warrant the long-term sustainability of this line of research.The Researcher’s scientific profile should cumulatively comprise the following skills, duly demonstrated through scientific production and previous experience in R&D projects: Climate impact research; Environmental impact research; Hydrological and Crop modelling; Geographical information systems; Statistical analysis in Earth and Environmental Sciences; Preparation of project proposals; Engagement in capacity building actions with stakeholders; English proficiency.The compiled information from the tasks above will be of utmost relevance for outlining possible adaptation measures for the different agrarian value chains studied within the CITAB’s new R&D Group “ Resiliency & valorization of agrarian value chains ”. The identification of effective climate-smart strategies can, however, only be based on an accurate, crop-specific and site-specific assessment of exposure, vulnerability and related risks carried out in the aforementioned tasks. On this basis, stakeholders can make informed decisions that enable a more balanced coexistence between agriculture and the environment, contributing to the overall sustainability of the agricultural sector and its competitiveness, while preserving natural resources and biodiversity.