Sufficient water availability is a basic prerequisite for agricultural production and thus a decisive factor for the food security of the population. Climate change, with rising temperatures and associated changes in evapotranspiration, precipitation and growing season, is strongly influencing water availability. Changing precipitation patterns and amounts, as well as increasing extreme weather events cause droughts, but also floods.
Climate change and the resulting changes in the water balance are also a major challenge for Austrian agriculture: existing water resources must be protected and agricultural soils and production processes must be prepared for greater water scarcity. Production processes must be designed in such a way that water is used more efficiently, but also stored extensively in the soil. The regional water balance must also be taken into account if agricultural production is to be secured in the long term.
The atumn conference of the BOKU Center for Agricultural Sciences is dedicated to the topic of climate change - water availability - agriculture. At the conference, national and international perspectives on the topic will be presented and ways to deal with water scarcity will be discussed. In addition to agricultural science findings, concrete adaptation measures will also be discussed. A guided tour will provide a practical insight into current research activities on the conference topic at BOKU Tulln.
