Abstract: Crop production for feed dominates land use in North Savo in eastern Finland. The value of dairy and beef production is appr. 70 % of the total value of agricultural production of the region. In climate change adaptation research we are especially interested in dairy and meat sectors, which are directly dependent on the development of productivity of crop production. Climate change implies changes in cereals and forage crop yields and nutritive quality. There are most likely increasing problems and risks related to overwintering and growing periods. Grass silage is mainly self-produced on farms and most often there is no market for silage. Silage production and use are vulnerable to changes in local climate, because lost yield cannot be easily replaced from market. Risks and costs due to increasing inter-annual yield volatility can be reduced by good management practices, such as crop rotation, plant protection, soil improvements and better crop protection against plant diseases.However the profitability of such measures is dependent on market and policy conditions. Nevertheless new cultivars and species, as well as various options for production and risk management, are most likely needed in future climate. Some adaptations may have multiple benefits which however may realize only in medium or long run. It is important to safeguard the most important and obviously needed adaptations, and identify market and socio-economic conditions which inhibit farmers from necessary adaptations and lead to reduced productivity and increased production costs.

Abstract: Agriculture is one of the most important sectors for global economy. Its high vulnerability to climate conditions cause a serious concern for the consequence determined by the incoming climate changes. The increase in temperature and decrease in rainfall, projected for the next decades in the Mediterranean Basin, may cause a significant impact on crop development and production. In this contest, the assessment of the climate change impacts on crop growth and yield is necessary in order to identify the crops and areas more vulnerable and suggest adaptation strategies to cope with climate change. The use of crop simulation models, such as those implemented in DSSAT-CSM (Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer – Cropping System Model) software, version 4.5., is the most common approach for the assessment of climate change impacts on crop development and yields. These models are often used at field scale. However, recent studies have been carried out at both regional and continental scale. In this work, CSM-CERES-Wheat and CSM-CERES-Maize crop models, parameterized at Italian scale for different varieties of durum wheat, common wheat and maize, were applied to assess climate change impacts on crop phenology and productivity. Dynamically downscaled climate data, using by the Regional Climate Model COSMO-CLM, and RCP 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios were used for impact assessment. Moreover, some adaptation strategies were evaluated. Results, analyzed at regional level, will be discussed.

Abstract: Nitrate leaching from agricultural systems constitutes a severe environmental effect in regions with valuable groundwater resources and vulnerable aquatic ecosystems. Therefore cropping systems should in many parts of Europe reduce the amount of nitrate leached from the root zone. Since soil nitrogen transformation and loss processes are highly influenced by climate, including temperature and precipitation, estimates of climate change effects on nitrate leaching is in high demand for evaluating future groundwater and surface water protection policies. Modelling studies using both the FASSET and Daisy models for cereal crops as well as arable crop rotations in Denmark have shown increased nitrate leaching under projected climate change. Sensitivity analyses using these models have shown a higher response to changes in temperature than to precipitation, although in particular precipitation responses differ between soil types. Simulations for crop rotations show that current catch crop management may not be sufficient to maintain low nitrate leaching levels in future. These effects of temperature and precipitation as well as crop management are confirmed in an empirical analysis of nitrate leaching from a long-term cropping system experiment in Denmark. The main uncertainties on climate change effects on future nitrate leaching appears to be related to effects of climate change on soil organic matter and thus on the amount of soil total N available for mineralization as well as the effects of enhanced atmospheric CO2 concentration on crop residue quality and N mineralization.