Fundamentals of Crop Physiology

Fundamentals of Crop Physiology in a Changing World

3 - 8 June 2018

Hotel de Bosrand, Ede, the Netherlands

Scope

This course focusses on the fundamental knowledge and insight one must have about crops to be able to adapt agronomic practices to the changing world. Here the changing world refers to the environment, increased demands on sustainable production and food quality. We will be integrating the different physiological processes in relation to change using a systems approach, rather than studying them separately.

The toolbox in this course will be a variety of plant and crop models (e.g. Gene-based Modelling, Functional-Structural Plant Modelling, Dynamic Crop Growth Modelling, Decision Support Systems) that will be used to understand and address the fundamental challenges and questions. Moreover, we will not only see what these models have to offer but also whether they are state-of-the-art to support agronomic practice decisions in a current and future changing world. Current models are poor in predicting response to extreme events and erratic conditions. We will address crop physiology at different scales of space (field to region and the globe), time (seconds to decades), and level of integration (gene to whole plant). The overall goal of this course is to understand the effects of temperature, light, CO2 or water on the carbon source-sink relationships of plants and to improve the underlying models.

Programme

The course starts off Sunday afternoon before dinner.
Each morning starts with 3 lectures (30-45 minutes each), followed by a 30-minute discussion convened by 2-3 participants who will challenge the speaker on the presentation and the papers that the speaker submitted a-priori.
Prior to the course, participants can indicate for which speaker they want to convene the discussion. Accordingly, participants will be assigned to a convener group and receive the relevant literature.
Afternoons will be spent on working group sessions in which participants are split into 4-5 groups. Each group will receive a specific assignment related to redesigning of crop models in such a way that they can cope with change and erratic conditions.
Furthermore, each day will focus on a specific topic, linking always to the modelling of growth and physiology.

Sunday 3 June
Afternoon:  Introduction lecture:
                    - Frank Ewert, Scientific Director at ZALF, University of Bonn, Germany (invited)
Evening:      Dinner
                     Poster carousel (this will involve 3 - 4 rounds, where 4 - 5 posters will be presented per round)

Monday 4 June
Morning:     Phenological Development towards the Creation of Carbon Sinks:
                   -  Melanie Correll, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, USA
                   -  Rafael Ribeiro, Department of Plant Biology, University of Campinas, Brazil
                   -  Jon Lizaso, Crop Production Technology, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Spain
Afternoon:  Working group sessions (4 - 5 groups)

Tuesday 5 June
Morning:     Carbon assimilation - light, CO2 and temperature:
                    - Alejandro Morales, Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, NL
                    - Xinyou Yin, Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, NL
                    - Jeremy Harbinson, Horticulture & Product Physiology, Wageningen University, NL
Afternoon:  Working group sessions (4 - 5 groups)

Wednesday 6 June
Morning:     Source-Sink relations and interaction with temperature and water:
                    - Kenneth Boote, Department of Agronomy, University of Florida, USA
                    - Pepijn van Oort, AfricaRice and Agrosystems Research, Wageningen University, NL
                    - Pierre Martre, LEPSE, INRA, France
Afternoon:  Methodology Carousel (a set of crop models will be lined up. Beforehand you can indicate which models you want to visit (2 - 3 models, 1 hour per method))

Thursday 7 June
Morning:     Integration and scaling through modelling:
                    - Jochem Evers, Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, NL
                    - Paul Struik, Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, NL
                    - Gerrit Hoogenboom, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Florida, USA
Afternoon:  Working group sessions (4 - 5 groups)

Friday 8 June
Morning:    Final presentations of the group work projects
Afternoon: Travel back home

Course Organisers

• Kenneth Boote (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA)
• Melanie Correll (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA)
• Jochem Evers (Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands)
• Gerrit Hoogenboom (University of Florida, Gainesville, USA)
• Paul Struik (Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands)
• Claudius van de Vijver (PE&RC, Wageningen, the Netherlands)

General information

Fees ¹

¹ The course fee includes accommodation, all meals, course materials, coffee/tea, and water. It does not include beverages in the bar
² The Early-Bird Fee applies to anyone who REGISTERS ON OR BEFORE 5 MAY 2018

Note:

• If you need an invoice to complete your payment, please send an email to office.pe@wur.nl, including ALL relevant details that should be mentioned on the invoice (e.g., purchase order no., specific addresses, attendees, etc.).
• The Early-Bird policy is such that the moment of REGISTRATION (and not payment) is leading for determining the fee that applies to you.
• Please make sure that your payment is arranged within two weeks after your registration.
• It is the participant's responsibility to make sure that he/she (or his/her secretary) completes the payment correctly and in time.

PE&RC Cancellation Conditions

• Up to 4 (four) weeks prior to the start of the course, cancellation is free of charge.
• Up to 2 (two) weeks prior to the start of the course, a fee of € 300,- will be charged.
• In case of cancellation within two weeks prior to the start of the course, a fee of € 750,- will be charged.
• If you do not show at all, a fee of € 1.000,- will nevertheless be charged.

Note: If you would like to cancel your registration, ALWAYS inform us and do not assume that by NOT paying the participation fee, your registration is automatically cancelled, because it isn't (and do note that you will be kept to the cancellation conditions).

More information

Dr. Claudius van de Vijver (PE&RC)
Phone: +31 (0) 317 485116
Email: claudius.vandevijver@wur.nl

Registration

To register, please enter your details below and click "Register".