WEBINAR – What are the time scales of climate services for agriculture?

According to the WMO 2019 global analysis, many countries highlight agriculture and food security as critical priority sectors for climate change adaptation, with weather and climate services being the foundation element for planning and decision making. However, what is meant by ‘climate services’ is not always clear to users in the agricultural and other sectors. These users often strive for understanding which type of information these services provide, at which time scales, and how it can specifically support the decisions they need to make in the field. This understanding is not trivial, since it is actually what allows the uptake of climate services and makes their use sustainable in the long term. If climate services are available but are not used to support crop management and take any other informed decisions, they are of no value.

In this webinar, MED-GOLD researchers and sector users will explain the difference between the time scales of climate services for agriculture, including weather forecasts, seasonal predictions, decadal predictions and climate change projections. Participants to the webinar will have the opportunity to discover how predictions of climate variables (e.g. temperature, precipitation, etc.) and agro-climatic indices (e.g. total spring rain, etc.) are made for different crops. Speakers will also explain how to interpret probabilistic predictions, their advantages and limitations and how this knowledge translates into concrete actionable advice for the management of crops and food systems, including grapes/wine, olive/olive oil, durum wheat/pasta and coffee.

Register here.

The language for this webinar will be English.

+++ IMPORTANT: The time for the webinar is 12.30 CEST (Central European Summer Time)

AGENDA

• 12:30 – Welcome and webinar presentation (Marta Terrado, BSC)
• 12:40 – Time scales of climate services for agriculture (Nube González-Reviriego, BSC – Andrea Toreti, EC-JRC – Christos Giannakopoulos, NOA)
• 12:55 – Examples of the application of climate services to the grape/wine, olive/olive oil and durum wheat/pasta sectors (Antonio Graça, SOGRAPE Vinhos, Portugal – Valentina Manstretta, HORTA, Italy – Javier López, DCOOP, Spain)
• 13:15 – Broader discussion with the audience (all)
• 13:25 – Closing (Marta Terrado, BSC)