More than the salinisation of the soil, it is droughts, downpours, plant diseases and animal plagues that represent the major concerns of the agricultural sector in the Northern Netherlands when it comes to climate change. This emerged during interdisciplinary meetings in which farmers, provincial governments and district water boards presented their climate-related questions to researchers from Alterra and PRI. This question-oriented study within the Climate changes Spatial Planning Programme has led to surprising insights and adaptation strategies.
Hotspot Climate and Agriculture in the Northern Netherlands is a research project studying the development opportunities for the agrarian sector in this region as a result of climate change.
The research questions are:
- What are the most important opportunities and threats?
- Is the sector strong enough to respond to these?
- What are the consequences for spatial planning?
- Which measures can government organisations take?
- What are good related plans of action per region or sector?
Climate-resistant stables
The research is question-driven, in other words, involves entering into dialogue with researchers and knowledge institutes such as Alterra and PRI under the supervision of LTO-Noord and Grontmij researchers in the agrarian sector, district water boards and provincial government organisations in order to answer the practical questions on climate change.
Project Leader Peter Prins of LTO-Noord reports that up to the present, the primary focus during the meetings has been on themes such as:
- Water
- Soil
- Diseases and plagues
Awareness
In addition to creating an awareness of climate change, strategies are also being studied for prolonging water retention/accelerating drainage, improving soil structure, preventing disease and fighting plagues. Regarding the last two types of strategies, a great deal of knowledge was acquired during a recent working visit to Italy. Anticipating future events and situations, for example, in the building of new climate-resistant stables is also a topic of focus.
Heat stress
Up to the present, the most serious problem appears to be drought. How do you survive a long period of heat with very little precipitation? The potato cultivation sector in particular has suffered from what is referred to as “heat stress”. The search for solutions to this problem has included drip irrigation, shadow nets and spraying. Selection based on varieties which are more heat-resistant is also an option. What is surprising is that the most feasible solution appears to be the cultivation method used in Mexico, where potatoes are planted in ridges of rows four across instead of single rows. This way, every plant creates a shadow for neighbouring plants. “Oddly enough, it turns out that the extra-wide Mexican lifting machines were developed in Friesland,” according to Prins.
Salinisation
In the near future, the research will be refined and focused on eight sub-regions since the sand soils, located at higher elevations, are plagued by different problems from those encountered in the sea-clay region. It is expected that the district water boards participating will also start playing a larger role. Up to now, the predicted salinisation of the coastal areas has not been as dramatic as expected. According to Prins, this is due to the fact that it takes longer for salt to reach the root level. However, a solution will still have to be found for this in the long run due to the rising sea level.
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