EJP SOIL - ClimateCropping: Climate Smart Management for Resilient European Cropping Systems

With the 2015 Paris Agreement (PA), the international community agreed to limit the rise in global temperature to below 2 °C. Roughly 30% of Nationally Determined Contributions under the PA include land-based mitigation technologies and practices. There are substantial uncertainties how different soil management practices (SMPs) influence carbon content (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in soils. In addition, we lack information on the economic profitability and social constraints. ClimateCropping aims to provide scientific evidence, mainly based on long term experiments (LTEs), on how different SMPs can have an impact on the climate, environment and society. The project follows an interdisciplinary approach to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture. This includes an in-depth study of four alternative SMPs: 1) reduced tillage, 2) cover cropping, 3) organic fertilisation and 4) crop residue retention, to climate change mitigation and adaptation in cropping systems along a North-South climate gradient across Europe. Historical data will be complemented with measurements in LTEs in seven European countries. The project will involve an international and interdisciplinary research team that will strive towards holistic understanding of the GHG mitigation impacts of selected SMPs. Climatecropping is led by the University College of Dublin, and involved partners include Teagasc, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Agroscope, AGES, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, INRAE, University of Jaén and Ruralis. – Institute for Rural and Regional Research. Ruralis will lead a work package that investigates the social acceptance of the 4 SMPs and provides cross-national policy recommendations. Ruralis will also arrange a final workshop in Norway with relevant stakeholders to investigate the relevance of the findings for Norwegian agriculture.

With the 2015 Paris Agreement (PA), the international community agreed to limit the rise in global temperature to below 2 °C. Roughly 30% of Nationally Determined Contributions under the PA include land-based mitigation technologies and practices. However, soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) responses, economic profitability and social constraints of a large-scale adoption of soil management practices (SMPs) potentially mitigating GHGs still include substantial uncertainties, particularly under climate change. ClimateCropping aims to provide scientific evidence, mainly based on long term experiments (LTEs), on how management of agricultural soils can contribute to climate change adaptation and mitigation, better cycling of N, P nutrients and other associated co-benefits in European cropping systems. The project will implement an interdisciplinary approach that includes: field observations, meta-analysis of historical data, C, N and P and life cycle assessment modelling, agro-economic assessment and stakeholder engagement to evaluate the contribution of four alternative SMPs: 1) reduced tillage, 2) cover cropping, 3) organic fertilisation and 4) crop residue retention, to climate change mitigation and adaptation in cropping systems along a North-South climate gradient across Europe. Historical data will be complemented with measurements in LTEs in seven European countries (Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland and UK). The project will involve an international and interdisciplinary research team that will strive towards holistic understanding of the GHG mitigation impacts of selected SMPs. Ruralis – Institute for Rural and Regional Research - will lead a work package that investigates the social acceptance of the 4 SMPs and provides cross-national policy recommendations. Ruralis will also arrange a final workshop in Norway with relevant stakeholders to investigate the relevance of the findings for Norwegian agriculture.