H2020 SHui Project: Soil hydrology research platform supporting innovation to manage water scarcity in European and Chinese cropping systems
- Type Project
- Status Filled
- Execution 2018 -2022
- Assigned Budget 4.884.493,75 €
- Scope Europeo
- Main source of financing H2020
- Project website SHui
1- WP1 created, curated, and populated a platform for long-term experiments in different cropping systems, including agronomic and hydrological measurements. This has combined the practical experience of all partners to determine best management practices (BMPs) and establish datasets for modeling. This open database is available in the SHui data management tool (https://shui.boku.ac.at/shui/public/start).
2- WP2 helped improve, calibrate, and validate a suite of crop and hydrology simulation models at the plot/field and regional scales. SHui partners developed the new AquaCrop 6.1 version. A combination of conservation agriculture meta-analysis of soil properties in field crops and their effect on crop water availability using a physical model (Hydrus 1-D) was used to improve the calibration of AquaCrop. This analysis was complemented by the development and validation of an exploratory model that couples hydrological flows and the crop model to assess the relevance of lateral runoff flows on yield variability in cereals and the evaluation of the implications of management strategies and water retention measures in case studies in the EU and China. For tree crops, SHui has focused his research on modelling problems in the development of a new model, TreeWat ( http://treewat.csic.es/ ) which is an operational tool to guide stakeholders to make the best water allocation under drought conditions to minimize yield losses. It is also complemented by an ORUSCAL tool ( https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/216656 ) to allow researchers and stakeholders to calibrate RUSLE for multiple combinations of soil protection strategies in orchards.
3- WP3 has made a major breakthrough by adapting the FAO standard crop model, Aquacrop, for regional simulations, coding and running this model for European-scale simulation. A key element driving the use of AquaCrop among the research community is its conversion to a Fortran version on Github: https://github.com/KUL-RSDA/AquaCrop .
4- WP4 developed several tools that enable farmers and stakeholders to implement strategies to optimize the use of soil and water resources. As a result, there is now a web-based tool for zoning farms for precision agriculture using different types of information, called W4Crop ( https://w4crop.app/ ). This task has also developed a catalogue of Good Management Practices (GMPs), freely available at the following links (English: http://dx.doi.org/10.20350/digitalCSIC/13964 , Chinese: https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/253611 and Spanish : https://digital.csic.es/handle/10261/250542 ). An Android app that allows farmers to identify the most appropriate BMPs for their conditions and obtain a preliminary assessment of their impact has also been developed and is freely available ( http://hdl.handle.net/10261/284705 ) pending verification for distribution also through Google Play. WP4 also coordinated the development of other tools: WaterVitis, a DST for predicting the water status of vines; OptCheck for optimizing the cost of implementing erosion control structures in gullies; and an app for determining actual vegetation cover for agronomic or erosion control; and TreeWat.
5- WP5 conducted a comprehensive analysis of stakeholder perceptions and needs based on focus group studies, which, combined with an analysis of available technologies and different policy instruments, resulted in a summary document to guide policymakers. ( http://hdl.handle.net/10261/285425 ). This analysis was complemented by an analysis of water and carbon footprints, mainly for tree crops, based on a relevant set of farmer interviews, which can provide deeper insight into the variability of this footprint depending on local farm conditions and management.
6- WP6 was responsible for the dissemination of findings, as well as for providing cross-curricular training to PhD and Master students within SHui, but also for many activities for others to train on similar topics outside of SHui. Among the main outputs of WP6 was the coordination of the communication of scientific results delivered in 66 scientific publications listed here https://www.shui-eu.org/category/uncategorized/publications/ and a significant amount of online training material freely available at https://www.shui-eu.org/results/online-training/ . This WP also helped to strengthen SHui national partners who have carried out dissemination activities with local stakeholders, some of them in cooperation with EIP—AGRI groups.
Crop yields and food quality must be maintained, or even increased, in a context of increasing water scarcity (driven by climate change and increased social demands) without losing or degrading soil and maintaining water resources and their quality.
The general objectives of SHui are:
a) Evaluate existing and emerging cropping practices in terms of crop yield, economic returns and key ecosystem services (related to soil and water quality) in rotations based on cereals and tree crops.
b) Identify short- and long-term win-win interventions for farmers and society in cooperation with different stakeholders. Develop and disseminate best management strategies at different spatial and temporal scales.
c) Determine the impacts of these larger-scale interventions on future crop yields and other agroecosystem services by testing two hypotheses:
c.1) In rainfed agriculture, greater resilience to extreme events can be achieved by introducing new technologies that allow for heterogeneous landscape management.
c.2) In irrigation systems, optimal use of water (including rainwater and recycled water) can increase net profits for producers and increase societal support.
SHui is conceived as a network that integrates long-term experiments by its 19 academic and SME partners under different environmental conditions and cultivation systems in the EU and China.
It provides a platform for research on soil-water resource management under water-stress conditions, to better understand the links between agricultural soil hydrology and sustainability, and for the systematic evaluation of adaptation and mitigation approaches. It will develop and implement new strategies to increase water-use efficiency and yield, based on sustainable intensification through integrated soil and water use at different spatial scales.
At the farm level, this includes digital agriculture solutions that integrate in-situ and remote sensing and simulation models to leverage a better understanding of the relationship between crop yield variability and soil hydraulic properties, optimizing circular approaches to water reuse and harnessing wastewater sources. These technical approaches are based on optimal data utilization and multi-stakeholder transdisciplinary research.
At the regional scale, the aggregation of biophysical and socioeconomic variables into dynamic models will assess the impact of different policy strategies to help decision-makers evaluate different scenarios of land-use dynamics, the economic context, and the current and future climate in the EU and China, including water and carbon footprint assessments.
SHui will leverage scientific, technological, and social innovations by disseminating and communicating them to multiple stakeholders and implementing new technological packages from farm to regional scale. It aims to make a significant contribution to the EU and China Research Agenda for Agriculture, ensuring food security and the optimal use of scarce soil and water resources. By training a group of young scientists in soil conservation and water-saving practices, SHui's legacy will extend beyond the duration of the project.
The progress beyond the state of the art in SHui can be organized into three main blocks:
1- New scientific and technological knowledge in the fields of long-term data availability for the research community, improved models, and analysis of conservation agriculture practices in rotations based on cereals and tree crops at different spatial scales.
Summarized mainly in the sixty-six SHui scientific communications, its main impact will be scientific and social, given that the main findings have already been incorporated into the implementation of agricultural and environmental policies in SHui countries.
2- A more practical set of tools, which will have a significant social impact (in terms of improving the use of soil and water resources) and economic impact (by contributing to the development of tools for digital agriculture, as well as cost savings for farmers).
3- This was a cooperation project between Europe and China that has created a platform for cooperation between European and Chinese partners, strengthening previous ties and creating new ones, which has led to new cooperation initiatives such as, for example, the TUdi project ( https://tudi-project.org/ ).
- CONSEJO SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS (CSIC)
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