YIELD POTENTIAL AND YIELD GAPS OF THE MAIN CROPPING SYSTEMS IN A BRAZILIAN SUBTROPICAL ENVIRONMENT

• Grant number: 24/01631-9
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Crop Science
• Principal Investigator: Giovana Ghisleni Ribas
• Grantee: Giovana Ghisleni Ribas
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

With an estimated world population of over nine billion by 2050, the demand for food will increase by more than 50%. Global crop productivity needs to increase by 1.2-1.3% annually between now and 2050 to meet food demand given the current crop area. In this sense, it is necessary to know and define the food production capacity around the world to increase the vertical production of agricultural production systems with social and environmental sustainability. Almost all of the studies focusing on yield potential and yield gaps were carried out for specific crops, without taking into account the cropping system of the regions where these crops are located. Thus, the characterization of the yield potential and yield gap of the main cropping systems of the Brazilian subtropical environment presents a strong scientific demand on a global scale, as it is different from most of the global subtropical environment. Here, we investigate the extent to which intensification could serve as a means of allowing Brazil's subtropical environment to simultaneously reconcile production and environmental objectives. The goal of this proposal is to estimate the cropping systems yield potential and yield and the associated climate risk to them, and to propose management practices that allow to increase the efficiency in the use of resources in production systems. The cropping systems with the highest energy yield per unit of space and time will be selected. The results will serve to identify regions and cropping systems with greater investment potential to increase efficiency in the use of resources, minimizing the environmental impact. It will be possible to identify the viability of the Brazilian subtropical environment to achieve food self-sufficiency through the intensification of cropping systems and to assess how much food exports can be carried out to meet the world's demand for food. (AU)