Environmental characterization of current wheat, maize, and sunflower European trial networks
In the context of the INVITE project, envirotyping was used with the aim to understand abiotic stresses in crops, assess their impact on grain yield, and categorise environmental types through clustering. Previous research activities focused on characterising European trial networks in maize, wheat, and sunflower from 2003 to 2018.
Data collection included weather, soil, crop management, and phenology information. Environmental indices were calculated for wheat, maize, and sunflower trials, which were then grouped into homogeneous scenarios (envirotypes) affecting sites and country networks. Different approaches were used for each crop, with crop growth models aiding in environmental characterisation.
Despite challenges in maize simulations, agro-climatic indicators were derived for wheat and maize phenological periods. Furthermore, sunflower classification depended on relevant abiotic stress indicators. Finally, the frequency of envirotypes was analysed at site and country network levels for each method.
A report about these research activities will be published here once approved by the European Commission.
For further information about these activities, please contact INRAE: claude.welcker@inrae.fr or pierre.martre@inra.fr