On November 12th 2019, our partners made a presentation about VISCA DSS where practical information from the project was shared with vineyards growers of Raimat and Agropixel. Interesting exchanges were made with the participants and the feedback was gathered as inputs for exploitation activities.

The aim of VISCA DSS is to integrate climate and agricultural models with farmers’ management specifications in order to design short practices, medium- and long-term adaptation strategies to climate change.

VISCA Insights is a series of short interviews with experts working in agriculture, wine production or climate services. Watch the 1st interview with Dr. Ramzi Belkhodja, Coordinator of Plant Production at CIHEAM Zaragoza discussing the role of climate services in climate change adaptation, and how we can build trust on the prediction of climate services among the agricultural community!

The UfM Climate Week is an occasion to gather a wide range of actors (UfM members’ representatives, civil society, IFIs, scientific experts…) around different topics, all related to climate action in the Mediterranean region. By organising this event, the Secretariat of the Union for the Mediterranean provides a discussion and networking framework aiming to create and enhance synergies among the different climate‑related actors, and to enrich their exchanges.

The Seventh Meeting of the UfM Climate Change Expert Group (UfM CCEG), which was chaired by the UfM Co‑Presidency, Jordan and the European Union, and opened by European Commission DG NEAR Director General Christian Danielsson and the UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel. Among other issues, this meeting included the presentation of the CLIMA‑MED – EU Climate Action in the Southern Neighbourhood project, and the update on the scientific report Risks associated to climate and environmental changes in the Mediterranean region, carried out by the MedECC network (Mediterranean Experts on Climate and Environmental Change).

A dedicated workshop on the impact of climate change on the agricultural sector, during which the study "An assessment of the impact of Climate Change on the Agricultural sector – foreseen developments and policy measures" was presented. BSC and UT SEMIDE both participated at the session and present VISCA project as an example of innovation projects with the application of climate services in the agriculture sector.

One of the objectives of VISCA project is to evaluate the replicability potential in the wine sector in different countries globally as well as to evaluate the replicability of the tool in other crops such as (olive oil, cereals, etc.). This evaluation involves exploring EU funding mechanisms for further deployment. During VISCA 2^nd Stakeholders’ Workshop, end-users and members from the Project Advisory Board participated at a session to gather inputs on the challenges, requirements and funding for the replicability of VISCA which are summarised below.

Climate change: Challenges facing the Agriculture sector

Climate change is threatening different varieties of agriculture species such as wine-grapes, olives and cereals which might cause a significant reduction in crop quantity and quality. Some of the impacts of climate change include the following:  

• Drought and heat waves - in southern regions of the Mediterranean basin– more frequent drought periods together with higher temperatures, especially during the summer, have resulted in water scarcity and, consequently, less water is available for irrigation.
• Frost - In northern and southern Europe, e.g. Germany, the Netherlands and Italy, agricultural productivity has been facing longer frost periods than usual which damage the crops.
• Wildfires - Warmer and drier conditions are expected throughout Europe in the coming decades which will probably exacerbate wildfires. According to the Emergency Management Service of the EU agency Copernicus as of March 1, there have been 480 wildfires in 2019 across Europe.[1]
• Extreme events - High intensity rainfall and/or hail, among other extreme events, have been extended and become more severe in Europe and beyond. The rate of these events is expected to increase due to climate change.[2]

The main challenges of the wine-grapes, olive and cereals sectors in the context of climate change were identified as the following:

• To keep the quality and production of crops
• To deal with extreme events and variations in climate conditions
• To manage the irrigation efficiently according to existent resources and weather conditions
• To prevent or minimize crop diseases and pests especially with their increasing rate due to climate change

VISCA was selected among the winners in the International Call for Solutions on innovation in the agrifood sector: Global Innovation Camp and  Made in Puglia Conference.

The call selected 10 ideas or projects – including VISCA - gathered in Bari & Foggia (Italy) from 7^th to 10^th May 2018. The winners had several training sessions and they will have the access to an acceleration or incubation process for the duration of 3 months in the selected partners’ organisations.  For more information, check the official website: link.