Yield and quality of crops for food and feed as affected by regional climate change

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Andreas Fangmeier
• Subject Area: Soil Sciences
• Term: from 2008 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 82511142

Climate change comprises both global alterations of climate factors, such as atmospheric CO2 enrichment, and regional alterations of temperature, precipitation, wind as well as their averages and seasonal and even daily patterns. Numerous studies have been performed on potential climate change effects on yield of crops. However, little attention has been paid to potential effects on the chemical quality of crops with respect to their use as raw products for food and feed, and there are hardly any data on the interactions between climatic conditions such as CO2 enrichment and altered temperature regimes on yield quality. Project P4 aims to provide new experimental data on crop yield and yield quality from real world simulations of future climate scenarios. The experimental approaches will involve crop growth (i) in a CO2 and climate chamber system under strictly controlled conditions, (ii) in a mini-FACE (Free Air Carbon Dioxide Enrichment) system in the field with ambient and predicted future CO2 concentrations, and (iii) field investigations in the study regions Kraichgau and Mittlere Schwäbische Alb under current ambient conditions. Data will be provided for all other projects of the Research Unit with special emphasis on Project P5 in order to develop and validate new generic crop growth models to predict yield and yield quality under future regional climate change conditions.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants