Background

The substantial rise in the frequency of extreme weather events in recent years has dramatically affected agricultural production systems and limited staple food grain availability at the national and regional levels in Southeast Asia. Several floods and droughts are frequently experienced in the region, posturing severe problems for farmers, agricultural scientists, and extension officers. Therefore, the crop-climate modelling is essential to the development of agricultural production systems and field level decisions. The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) can be used as a farm and regional level to determine the impact of climate change on production, at different spatial scales; and potential adaptation strategies developed for the farmers. Through this workshop, the training and application of the DSSAT-CSM model will be disseminated, with the aim to strengthen technical and scientific abilities between stakeholders working in the agricultural extension space.

The workshop is organised in collaboration with the University of Florida, the DSSAT Foundation, and the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research.

Objectives

1. To gain a better understanding of simulation models in predicting relationships of agricultural resources, i.e., water and nitrogen, under various weather and climate conditions, on crop phenology, growth, and yield.
2. Applications of the DSSAT-CSM model to improve management of cropping systems and its associated crop simulation models such as CROPGRO and CERES.
3. Minimum data requirements and experimental data collection for system simulations using the windows-based Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) Version 4.8 (www.DSSAT.net).
4. Strengthening technical and scientific abilities by enhancing collaboration between National Agricultural Research System (NARS), policymakers, local communities, and international organizations

Target Applicants

The target project participants of this workshop are university graduates currently engaged in crop production or agro-ecosystems related research, teaching, planning, extension, and outreach. Participants should understand crop and soil science and be familiar with the terminology used in these fields. In-depth knowledge of agriculture, nevertheless, is not a precondition. Selected participants should be familiar with personal computers and the windows operating environment. Lastly, participants must be able understand and communicate in English.

Scholarships are also available for workshop applications from early career researchers, scientists, academics, and extension officers from Indonesia, Lao PDR, and Cambodia. The APN-funded project will cover travel expenses and provide a roundtrip ticket to Bangkok, Thailand, accommodation for the workshop period, and registration fees for the selected applicants.

Registration

For details on the application procedure, please visit the workshop announcement here: http://www3.u-toyama.ac.jp/cfes/pdf/20230109_14.pdf.

The deadline for application submissions is the 5th of October, 2022. For more information, please get in touch with Dr. Geetha Mohan at [email protected].