We are proud that NWO has approved our research proposal on ’Climate-proof agriculture in the salinating coastal zone of the Netherlands: innovative water management, adaptive agriculture and promising transition paths (AGRICOAST)’. The consortium of Delft University of Technology, Wageningen University & Research and Acacia Water will be working on the research with great energy in the coming years! The research thus strengthens the current projects ’Zoete Toekomst Texel’ and ’Zoet op Zout’.
Freshwater availability for agriculture in the Dutch coastal area is scarce and is under pressure from climate change. AGRICOAST aims to increase freshwater availability through various technological innovations and management approaches; by making optimal use of current and increased freshwater availability for crop production; and to identify promising transition paths based on an evaluation of current policies and proposals for new governance organization and integrated policy plans. Design-based research facilitates the implementation of the developed innovations to pave the way for subsistence and climate-resilient agriculture in the coastal zone.
Specifically, AGRICOAST focuses on 1) increasing the availability of freshwater and reducing the demand for freshwater for agriculture, 2) increasing knowledge about combined salt and drought stress for crops and 3) improving sustainable water management.
AGRICOAST is one of the 4 awarded research projects within the https://www.nwo.nl/nieuws/vier-honoreringen-binnen-kic-call-klimaatrobuuste-productiesystemen-en-waterbeheer. Consortia of researchers, companies and civil society organizations will investigate scaling up private and collective water storage for robust agricultural systems, designing climate-resilient and nature-based sand landscapes of the future, increasing freshwater availability in coastal areas and modeling, monitoring and predicting drought.
For more information, please contact Jouke Velstra
