Plant and environmental data integration for sustainable development: what is needed for success?

Scope

Field crop production depends on environmental conditions, which vary across space and time. Climate change has increased the uncertainty about weather and environmental conditions. Therefore, farmers need information about which crop variety is adapted to local growing conditions. Also, farmers need to consider factors that go beyond productivity, such as market requirements and socioeconomic context. Such information about varieties is often lacking for farmers, especially in developing countries, and even for agricultural extension agents who assist farmers in decision-making. This information is also useful for crop improvement programs, which aim to develop new varieties with improved adaptation traits. The information relies on data from variety evaluation trials, which are resource-intensive exercises which usually generate a large amount of data. However, these data are often not fully taken into account to generate information that is useful for farmers, extension agents and breeders. Data synthesis could help to extract more value from existing data by aggregating trial datasets, enriching them with complementary data and generating actionable information.

This seminar is organised in connection with David Brown Fuentes’ thesis defence, scheduled on December 20 at 11 a.m. in the Omnia Auditorium and to which you are also cordially invited.