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International audience; The use of herbicides needs to be properly managed to balance the benefit of reducing harvest loss due to weeds against potential environmental risks. Precision weed control is expected to reduce the quantity of applied herbicide by better targeting the spraying. This can involve several components of weed control, ranging from strategic to tactic decision-making, up to equipment management. To this end, we tested the coupling of a weed emergence predictive model (AlertInf) for spring row crops with mapping of early weed distribution. Our aim was to achieve both timely herbicide application and precise spatial weed distribution to ensure the highest herbicide efficacy. Airborne images produced by Unmanned Aerial Vehicles provides the best trade-off for retrieving the spatial distribution of the weed-infested areas. Three series of images were acquired in early June 2019 over a maize field in the experimental farm of the University of Padova. Additional field surveys allowed to identify the presence of the target weed Sorghum halepense (L.) with an emergence percentage of 96%, according to the AlertInf model, at the date of the flight. Weed spatial distribution was assessed by the exploratory comparison of two algorithms: Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) performed within the SAGA software and Visible Atmospherically Resistant Index (VARI) within ArcGIS Pro. Classification performances were trained and evaluated against a dataset issued from visual on-screen labelling three classes, i.e. crop, bare soil, weed. ANN provided more precise weed classification in respect to VARI, therefore VARI missed a part of infested area compared to ANN. Based on the technical specifications of different models of sprayers, several maps were created slitting the field into cells of 3m2, 2m2 and 0.25m2 and with three different thresholds for treatment decision depending on each cell infestation (i.e., >1%, >5% and >10% of pixel labelled as weed). Prescription maps showed that sprayed area potentially reduced from 42% to 87% using the ANN classification and from 65% to 93% at 1% using the VARI classification for pixel with 10% of cell infestation. Altogether, the results suggest that site-specific mapping informed on emergence models can enable a substantial herbicide reduction through both timely and site-specific weed control with ordinary section control sprayers. Further research is required to evaluate the contribution of a weed emergence model, such as AlertInf, to herbicide usage reduction, performing additional tests in different fields and including more weed species.

<p>The Tropospheric Ozone Assessment Report (TOAR) created one of the world’s largest databases for near-surface air quality measurements. More than 150 users from 35 countries have accessed TOAR data via a graphical web interface (https://join.fz-juelich.de) or a REST API (https://join.fz-juelich.de/services/rest/surfacedata/) and downloaded station information and aggregated statistics of ozone and associated variables. All statistics are calculated online from the hourly data that are stored in the database to allow for maximum user flexibility (it is possible, for example, to specify the minimum data capture criterion that shall be used in the aggregation). Thus, it is of paramount importance to measure and, if necessary, optimize the performance of the database and of the web services, which are connected to it. In this work, two aspects of the TOAR database service infrastructure are investigated: Performance enhancements by database tuning and the implementation of flux-based ozone metrics, which – unlike the already existing concentration based metrics – require meteorological data and embedded modeling.</p><p>The TOAR database is a PostgreSQL V10 relational database hosted on a virtual machine, connected to the JOIN web server. In the current set-up the web services trigger SQL queries and the resulting raw data are transferred on demand to the JOIN server and processed locally to derive the requested statistical quantities. We tested the following measures to increase the database performance: optimal definition of indices, server-side programming in PL/pgSQL and PL/Python, on-line aggregation to avoid transfer of large data, and query enhancement by the explain-analyze tool of PostgreSQL. Through a combination of the above mentioned techniques, the performance of JOIN can be improved in a range of 20 - 70 %.</p><p>Flux-based ozone metrics are necessary for an accurate quantification of ozone damage on vegetation. In contrast to the already available concentration based metrics of ozone, they require the input of meteorological and soil data, as well as a consistent parametrization of vegetation growing seasons and the inclusion of a stomatal flux model. Embedding this model with the TOAR database will make a global assessment of stomatal ozone fluxes possible for the first time ever. This requires new query patterns, which need to merge several variables onto a consistent time axis, as well as more elaborate calculations, which are presently coded in FORTRAN.</p><p>The presentation will present the results from the performance tuning and discuss the pros and cons of various ways how the ozone flux calculations can be implemented.</p>

The use of crop rotations, multiple cropping or intercropping associated with sustainable agricultural practices (conservation agriculture, nutrient management, integrated pest management, etc.) can achieve higher land productivity than mono-cropping. This is due to the effect of crop diversification in increasing the resilience of the agroecosystem to perturbations (drought, flooding, diseases, pests, nutrient availability, pollution) by complementary use of resources and transfer of nutrients by plant roots. With diversified cropping systems, dependence on a single crop is avoided, so that variability in prices, market, climate, and pests/diseases will not have such drastic effects on local economy. However, to ensure increases in land productivity, the establishment of suitable crop associations, cultivars, densities and patterns is essential. Crop diversification can enhance the delivery of ecosystem services such as increases in above and belowground biodiversity, decreases in soil erosion and greenhouse gas emissions, decreases in soil/water pollution and increases in carbon sequestration. It can also reduce the consumption of fertilisers, pesticides, water and energy, improving the long-term sustainability of agro-ecosystems. Crop rotation, multiple cropping and intercrops can promote water retention (by improved soil structure and higher soil cover) and mitigate pest/disease pressures (by competence, repellence, allelopathy, and development of natural enemies). Crop diversification can reduce the use of fertilisers with use of associations with different requirements for soil nutrients in time and space. For example, legumes, as crops that fix atmospheric nitrogen can increase the production of the other crops through increments in soil fertility by higher microbial activity and release of available nitrogen. The inclusion of several crop species can increase biodiversity, since they provide refuge for more species. Selecting opportunities for pest control in combination with crop diversification that are specific to the particular area (e.g. selective non-persistent pesticides, barriers, minimisation of irrigation, mulching, suitable timing of crops) will limit the input of persistent pesticides to the soil and water, with optimised pest and disease control.

Monocultures are very common in horticulture in many areas of the World with high intensification. This las led to reductions in soil organic matter content and soil fertility, high erosion rates, low above and belowground biodiversity, soil and water pollution (by pesticides and fertilizers), greenhouse gas emissions, high incidence of pests/diseases, low resilience and adaptability and landscape simplification. So, agricultural intensification based on monocultures hinders the long-term sustainability of the current agroecosystems, with the need of adoption of new agricultural models based on crop diversification and low input-management practices. Intercropping is a strategy of crop diversification where two or more crops are grown simultaneously in the same farm. It is important to know the behaviour of the different species grown together to favour facilitations processes among them and avoid competence. In this presentation we show the effect of different combinations of intercropped melon (Cucumis melo) with cowpea (Vigna unguiculata), with decrease of external inputs on crop yields, land equivalent ratio (LER) and crop quality parameters under Mediterranean semiarid conditions. We observed, for two crop cycles, that melon yield has increased in intercropped systems by 50-70%, related to higher melon weight and number of melons, with no decrease in melon quality. Land equivalent ratio, which assesses the suitability of intercropped systems compored to monocultures, showed values of 1.4-1.8, confirming the high profit of the land under this intercropping system. Project also funded by Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad from the Government of Spain by grant AGL2017-83975-R (Project AsociaHortus)

Lakes are good sentinels of the effects of climate change due to their global distribution and the capability of their physical, chemical, and biological properties to respond rapidly to climate-related changes. Water quality status of inland waters can be detected at high spatial-temporal scales by means of Earth Observation (EO) data. In this study, EO satellite data acquired from optical sensors (Envisat-MERIS, Sentinel2-MSI and Sentinel3-OLCI) were used for acquiring timely, frequent synoptic information of the four most important Italian subalpine lakes (Maggiore, Como, Iseo, Garda) over 15 years. Maps of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), a proxy of the lake trophic state, were retrieved and used to evaluate changes in the water quality status of these ecosystems from 2003 to 2018. Imagery was processed using appropriate atmospheric correction codes to obtain remote sensing reflectance (C2R for MERIS, 6SV for MSI, Polymer for OLCI), and bio-optical models were applied to retrieve Chl-a concentration. The chain products (Rrs and Chl-a) were validated against field data. The Chl-a time series were analyzed in relation to physical and meteorological (water and air temperature) data. The median value of the Chl-a time series range between 1.03 and 1.52 mg m-3, with a seasonal variability particularly evident during spring and autumn. Chl-a concentration showed a slight tendency to increase during the 15 years analyzed, in particular for Iseo and Maggiore lakes (median annual Sen slope 0.109 and 0.111 mg m-3, respectively). This increase in trophic status is related to an increase in water and air temperature in the lakes of the Alpine region. A recent study indicated an increased temperature for subalpine lakes as 0.032 °C yr-1 during summer and an annual average rate of 0.017 °C yr-1.

1 Introduction Traditional arable cropping systems in the EU have been progressively simplified to monocropping systems, with high external inputs through mineral and organic fertilizers, pesticides and conventional tillage (CT). Thus, various crop diversification strategies such as crop rotation, intercropping and multiple cropping, as well as low-input management practices have been promoted to sustain crop productivity while maintaining environmental quality and ecosystem services. Actually, European arable area has high opportunities for sustainable intensification through crop rotation, conservation tillage (minimum (MT) or no-tillage (NT)) and fertilization management. It has been also argued that diversification of production systems can lead to better food security (Scherer et al., 2018) and economic sustainability of farms (de Roest et al., 2018), since it contributes to natural pest control, pollination, nutrient recycling, soil structure and fertility conservation, carbon sequestration, and water provision. In the Diverfarming project (www.diverfarming.eu), the preliminary objective was to identify, with an exhaustive literature review, the best crop diversification systems and farming practices to be tested and validated in the field experiments to be planned in the different European pedoclimatic regions. Understanding the expected effects of diversified cropping systems and management options on the resilience and sustainability of agroecosystems in different regions, may promote the adoption of appropriate practices and help to select a suitable method for each production system and environment, thus improving farm management and increasing revenues. 2 Materials and Methods We conducted a data-analysis to evaluate the expected effects of the existing alternatives for crop diversification and environmentally-sound farming management for arable crops in four selected European pedoclimatic regions (Atlantic, Boreal and Mediterranean North and South), and typical cropping systems (fodder grains, leys and mixtures, autumn-winter and spring-summer cereals). The dataset included sitespecific environmental data (e.g. mean annual temperature and rainfall), soil tillage (e.g. no-tillage, minimum and conventional tillage), fertilization management (none, mineral, mixed, organic), cropping system (monoculture, rotation, intercropping, multiple cropping), crop production e.g. grain in cereals and above ground biomass in fodder crops (CP), soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration at the end of the experiment, and soil texture group according to USDA classification. Data included in the analysis depended on the following general criteria: study period (at least one full year), only field experiments (no laboratory or pot experiments), and neither studies specific for GHGs emissions, soil biological and physical parameters, metaanalyses nor modelling studies were considered. Moreover, studies providing SOC content by soil layers under tillage management were also considered. The final selected comparisons were 1165 from a total of 80 references. The diversified (Div) and the control (Cont) treatments of each experiment were evaluated based on the percentage change of the considered response variable, i.e. CP, and SOC. Since we used the ratio between the difference (Div – Cont) and the Cont, we could eliminate the differences due to the different CP levels and SOC analytical methods among studies (Eqs. 1-2): Percentage change (CP) = 100 × (CPDiv – CPCont) / CPCont (Eq. 1) Percentage change (SOC) = 100 × (SOCDiv – SOCCont) / SOCCont (Eq. 2) Changes of CP and SOC were analyzed evaluating the effects of crop diversification, tillage and fertilization management, and further by environmental (e.g. climate) or soil parameters (e.g. texture). Data were represented by Box-Whisker plots (central point means, and 95% confidence interval CI). Responses were considered significantly different if their 95% CIs did not overlap, and significantly different from the controls if the 95% CIs did not overlap with zero. 3 Results Compared to monoculture, diversified cropping systems with longer crop rotations (at least 3 years) significantly increased CP by 12%, while the 2-years rotations showed a not-significant 5% increase. CP for intercropping were 11% higher compared to monoculture, though not statistically different. The average effect on CP of multiple cropping was 1%, close to zero (-0.4%) in the Mediterranean region while ranged from -4.3% to 12.6% in the Boreal region (average 3.9%). SOC increased by 13% as average in diversified systems compared with monoculture, and the introduction of legume crops in the rotations significantly increased SOC by 13%. Average SOC increases were 11% higher in semiarid conditions than in humid and sub-humid climates (about 3%). In relation to conservation tillage, CP was 12% higher in NT compared with CT, and was more effective on CP in silty clay loam soils and in arid and semi-arid climates. In addition, NT was more effective in increasing SOC than MT. Significant SOC increases by conservation tillage management were found with organic and mixed fertilization (27 and 5% respectively) and crop rotations (5%). Results by soil layers showed an average SOC increase ranging from 14 to 45% in the top 15 cm with conservation tillage management compared to conventional deep tillage, while SOC decreased by about 10% as average in deeper soil layers below 15 cm. In relation to fertilization management, organic fertilization with manure or slurry increased CP (37-40%), and mineral fertilization was particularly effective with the introduction of cover crops (56%), combined with crop residues (24%) or with manure and crop residues (41%). Furthermore, CP increased with crop residue incorporation (39%) or mulching under conservation tillage (39%) and longer crop rotations (39%). Compared to the control treatment with mineral fertilization, organic fertilization showed the highest and significant SOC increases (25%). Fertilization average effect on SOC was higher for cereal crops in the Mediterranean region (about 25%) compared to fodder crops in the Atlantic and Boreal areas (about 10%), and in loamy textures (about 23%). 4 Discussion and Conclusions In our data-analysis, longer crop rotations resulted in higher CP compared to monoculture. Intercropping was mainly adopted in the humid conditions of the Atlantic and Boreal regions and showed a general lower effect on CP compared to traditional rotations. Results also showed the need of improvements in the management of multiple cropping systems, as indicated by Bedoussac and Justes (2010). In general, results point to the direction that conversion from the traditional monocropping systems, with intensive tillage and mineral fertilization, to alternative systems based on cropping diversification through the use of crop rotations, notillage and organic fertilization results in a better crop performance and in the accrual of soil C. Diversification with longer rotations, NT and organic fertilization management increased both CP and SOC in European arable systems. Notwithstanding, crop diversification and environmentally-sound farm management strategies are often negatively perceived by farmers for a possible decrease in yields and economic benefits that are often coupled with higher machinery investments. Globally, regional differences related to climate and soil texture specific responses should be considered to target local measures to improve soil management. {"references": ["Bedoussac, L., Justes, E., 2010. The efficiency of a durum wheat-winter pea intercrop to improve yield and wheat grain protein concentration depends on N availability during early growth. Plant Soil 330, 19\u201335.", "de Roest, K., Ferrari, P., Knickel, K., 2018. Specialisation and economies of scale or diversification and economies of scope? Assessing different agricultural development pathways. J. Rural Stud. 59, 222\u2013231.", "Scherer, L.A., Verburg, P.H., Schulp, C.J.E., 2018. Opportunities for sustainable intensification in European agriculture. Global Environ. Change 48, 43\u201355."]}

The industrialisation of agri-food systems and the demise of home-grown legumes in Europe P.P.M. Iannetta1,*, ±, B. Balázs2, G. Begg1, M. Debeljak3, K.T. Hamann4, B. Howard5, E. Kelemen2, A. Kolmans6, H. Maaß6, G. Ntatsi7,8, N. Quesada1, F. Tran1, A. Trajanov3, D. Savvas7, S. Shrestha9, D. Styles10, L. Toma9, M.W. Vasconcelos11, R. Vickers5, M. Williams12 and G.R. Squire1 1 Ecological Sciences, James Hutton Institute, Dundee, Scotland, UK 2 Environmental Social Science Research Group, Budapest, Hungary 3 Department of Knowledge Technologies, The Jozef Stefan Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia 4 Institute for Food Studies & Agroindustrial Development, Hoersholm, Denmark 5 PGRO, The Research Station, Great North Road, Thornhaugh, Peterborough, England, UK 6 Research Centre Global Food Security and Ecosystems, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany 7 Agricultural University of Athens, Department of Crop Science, Athens, Greece 8 Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, ELGO-DEMETER, Thermi, Thessaloniki, Greece 9 SRUC, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH93JG, Scotland, UK 10 SNS, Bangor University, Bangor, Wales, UK 11 Universidade Católica Portuguesa, CBQF Laboratório Associado, Escola Superior de Biotecnologia, Porto, Portugal 12 Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland ∗ Speaker ± Corresponding author: pete.iannetta@hutton.ac.uk 1 Introduction The multiple benefits of well-managed legume-supported agri-food systems are known and include provision of: nutritious feed and food; natural nitrogen cycling; improved soil qualities; lowered greenhouse gas emissions; protection of biodiversity; and good-food culture and literacy. Yet, these benefits are all-but forfeited since the vast majority of the legume grains used in Europe are not home-grown, and only rarely (knowingly), consumed directly by humans. Legume grains are mainly imported in the form of soybean for use as animal feed. Consequently, European farmed systems are characterised by specialised and intensive approaches using crops dependent on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser and pesticide inputs - again mainly routed to meat production. Harmonising of ‘The Three Pillars of Sustainability’ (‘social’, ‘environmental’ and ‘economic’: Passet, 1979), demands that greater functional understanding (Figure 1) is applied and with respect to legumes. Figure 1. (see slide 21) An illustrative model (opposite) which aims to help re-define ‘The Three Pillars of Sustainability’, in functional- or relational-terms, Each www.true-project.eu Work Package (WP) will define indicators of new sub-pillar components. WP8 Transition Design (not shown), is developing a Decision Support System to identify indicators of sustainable function for each pillar individually, and collectively. 2 Materials and methods New insight was gained from knowledge sources, including: 1, the multi-stakeholder European Legume Innovation Network (LIN) workshops (www.true-project.eu/lin-workshops/); 2, the ECs report on, “Market developments and policy evaluation aspects of the plant protein sector in the EU” (https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/food-farming-fisheries/plants_and_plant_products/documents/plant-proteins-study-report_en.pdf); 3, abstracts and outputs made during the European Plant Protein Plan launch (https://ec.europa.eu/info/events/development-plant-proteins-europe-opportunities-and-challenges-2018-nov-22_en); 4, recent articles such as Eyhorn et al., (2019); and 5, the public Deliverable, ‘Coproduction of policy assessment’ (https://www.true-project.eu/publications-resources/deliverables/), published by the EU H2020 funded project TRUE. 3 Results Modern day agri-food systems in Europe are characterised by high input dependency and a low level of environmental and societal safeguarding. However, the rejection of legume-based cropping systems preceded the global trade in grain legumes and the introduction of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers by several decades. This coincided with a period of increasing specialisation and intensification of production units to serve high-throughput processing units which demanded the highest possible yields - which could not be provided by grain legumes. These local market challenges have been exacerbated by current day global trade trends whereby political decisions permit the importation of soya and other legume-based protein products to the EU. These imports are allowed at low rates in exchange for low export-tariff rates on cereals and oilseeds. If sustainable agri-food systems are to be enabled in Europe, effective policies and capacities must recognise these historical, and forfeited socio-ecological contexts. 4 Discussion and Conclusions Consumers are no longer passive recipients in a global protein market and wish to realise more-sustainable consumption. They question the nature of their food, such as its nutritional value, environmental impact of production plus authenticity and provenance. Demitarianism is increasing and specific types of carbohydrate are sought to help offset obesity and diabetes. The diversification of cropping systems and good agronomy will not by themselves realise more-sustainable legume supported food- and feed-chains. Greater cooperation among all supply chain actors is essential to establish a more-effective policy environment to help realise consumers’ desires for access to the most-nutritious of food, affordably, and which is produced in a manner that ensures protection of the environment and biodiversity. Acknowledgments This research is supported by the European Union Horizon-2020 project ‘TRansition paths to sUstainable legume-based systems in Europe’ (TRUE, www.true-project.eu), Grant Agreement 727973; and the Scottish Government’s Strategic Research Programme. The James Hutton Institute (www.hutton.ac.uk) is supported by the Rural & Environment Science & Analytical Services (RESAS), a division of the Scottish Government. References Eyhorn et al., (2019). Sustainability in global agriculture driven by organic farming. Nature Sustainability, 253. Passet, R. (1979). L'économique et le vivant [The economic and the living] 23, Payot. For Figure 1 see slide (page) 21

The Clim4Vitis workshop held in Florence was focused on the methodologies used for assessing climate change impacts in viticultural sector. The keynote speakers provided an overview of the methods and tools currently applied for estimating grapevine growth and production.