The Plant Production Systems chair group offers thesis topics in the domains of food security, agronomy, production ecology, sustainable intensification, climate change and adaptation, and perennial cropping systems in a wide range of farming systems and international contexts.

MSc internship: Towards circularity: Assessing agronomic N use efficiency of mineral or organic fertilisers in Europe

Estimating the consequences of climate change on cereal self-sufficiency in sub-Saharan Africa

Retrieving canopy characteristics of new potato cultivars from remote sensing measurements

Potato experiments in the Netherlands: potential yield, tuber quality and drip irrigation

NUANCES- Nutrient Use in ANimal and Cropping systems – Efficiency and Scales

N2Africa – Putting nitrogen fixation to work for smallholder farmers in Africa

Benchmarking agricultural production – towards a yield gap and resource use efficiency atlas

Estimating and explaining yield gaps at field level using frontier analysis - A case study on a Dutch farm

Yield gap analysis for sustainable potato production in the Netherlands

Developing data analysis tools to explain yield gaps and improve arable crop cultivation

Narrowing nutrient and yield gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa through improving fertilizer recovery

Combining innovation and adoption: a double win approach for maize yield gaps mitigation

Explaining yield gaps and resource use efficiencies in Dutch arable farming: Analysis at field and farm level

Explaining yield gaps in smallholder oil palm production in Indonesia

Yield gap analysis for oil palm production in Colombia

A better understanding of differences in nutrient recovery

Integrating feed crops and beef cattle: a modelling approach

Crop models as decision support tools: Improvement and application of WOFOST in arable farming systems

Influence of plant death on spatial variability, crop light interception and growth

Co-learning with farmers in the African context: how do we communicate scientific findings?

What are the effects of improved manure management on smallholder farm production in sub-Saharan Africa? Model improvement and explorations.

Sustainable intensification of mixed crop-livestock systems in Southern Mali

A value chain approach to agro-ecological intensification of smallholders’ crop-livestock farming systems in southern Mali.

Sustainable intensification and market linkages in banana and mango value chains in Uganda and Kenya

Integrated assessment of adaptation to climate change of agricultural systems in the North of the Netherlands

Climate change impact, adaptation and mitigation options in smallholder mixed crop livestock systems

Food security versus climate change mitigation (avoiding deforestation)

Climate-smart nutrient management to narrow maize yield gaps in Kenya and Tanzania

The effect of climate change on agriculture

Impact of weather extremes on Dutch crop yields

Can micro- and meso climatic effects of trees in agricultural landscapes be quantified and used for developing tree-based agricultural adaptation strategies?

Potassium deficiency and water stress in oil palms in Southeast Asia

Uptake of Better Management Practices (BMP) by Indonesian oil palm farmers after training and demonstrations

Intercropping in oil palm: agronomic and economic options

Biomass for soil, crop growth and biobased economy in oil palm Malaysia and Colombia

Assess organic oil palm production systems in Sierra Leone

Assessing biodiversity in cocoa landscapes in West Africa

Where do the nutrients go? Investigating nutrient partitioning in cocoa trees

The potential role of East African Highland banana in smallholder farming systems in Uganda and Tanzania

Closing nutrient cycles within organic farming

The food yield difference between organic and mainstream agricultural systems

Towards circular food production

The flow of nutrients on the European continent

Agricultural sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals

Synthesis of impacts of agricultural policies on sustainable development in the European Union

Sustainability and resilience of European farming systems

Mapping the cereal yield potential of currently uncultivated agricultural land in sub-Saharan Africa