Science and Research

Research conducted at the Department of Agrosystems and Bioclimatology is currently aimed at:

economic importance, zoning and utilization of main field crops (including intercrops) under conditions of the Czech Republic in terms of keeping principles of crop alternation and principles of good agricultural practice,

complex assessment and optimization of arable farming systems for ensuring their sustainable development in various farming practices including organic farming (performed by on-farm research using special software),

precision agriculture -- use of spectral characteristics of crop stands and methods for the assessment of spatial variability in soil and crop stands,

soil tillage and establishment of crop stands, management of post-harvest residues -- effect of use of conventional and minimum soil management practices on grown crops, soil environment and economy. Management of post-harvest residues, straw fertilization, growing intercrops,

weeds and their management -- changes in weed species spectra in various farming systems, various soil tillage and straw management and fertilization level are evaluated in long-term experiments. Herbicide efficacy and phytotoxicity in various crops is tested in small-plot field experiments. Herbicide dosing is optimized using methods based on chlorophyll fluorescence,

impacts of climate change in agriculture, beginning with production potential of key crops to possible changes in landscape use,

effect of climatic change on spreading selected species of pests and diseases in the Czech Republic and Central Europe,

causes and consequences of extreme weather events focusing on drought research, especially on possible future developments in the occurrence of this phenomenon and possibility of its prediction,

application and development of dynamic models of controlled systems describing the behaviour of selected plant and animal species used, for instance, for yield prognoses, monitoring the impact of extreme weather effects,

research on crop management practices and bioclimatic requirements of fast-growing tree plantations grown on former agricultural land so that management practices could be optimized and potential of ecosystem services, provided by this system, could be fully used.

In addition to the activities listed above, researchers work on testing and introducing new meteorological measurement technology and use of geographical information systems (GIS) in climatology. An overview of scientific research work including a list of international projects is available at: http://is.mendelu.cz/pracoviste/projekty.pl?id=21, http://www.ufa.cas.cz/dub/crop/crop.htm. 

In research projects, the Department cooperates with the following:

a) in the Czech Republic

      - Výzkumný ústav rostlinné výroby, v.v.i.   Praha- Ruzyně (Crop Research Institute),

      - Ústav fyziky atmosféry AV ČR (Institute of Atmospheric Physics AS CR),

      - Český hydrometeorologický  ústav (Czech Hydrometeorological Institute),

      - Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze (Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague),

      - Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích (University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice),

      - Zemědělský výzkumný ústav Kroměříž, s.r.o. (Agricultural Research Institute    Kromeriz, Ltd.),

      - Výzkumný ústav pícninářský, spol. s r.o. Troubsko u Brna (Research Institute of Fodder Crops, Ltd., Troubsko u Brna),

      - Ústřední kontrolní a zkušební ústav zemědělský (Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture),

      - progressive agricultural enterprises in practice.

b) foreigner institutions

     -  Institut für Allgemeinen Pflanzenbau/Ökologischen Landbau, Martin-Luther     Universität, Halle--Wittenberg, Germany,

     -   Lehrstuhl für ökologischen Landbau, Technische Universität München, Germany,

  -    Katedra Systemów Rolniczych, Wydzial Kszteltowania Środowiska i Rolnictva

       Uniwersytet Warmiňsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie, Poland

  -    Plant Research International, Wageningen, The Netherlands,

-   University of Applied Life Sciences in Vienna (BOKU), Institute of Meteorology, Department of Water, Atmosphere and Environment, Austria,

-   National Drought Mitigation Center; School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, USA,

-   Climate, soil and environment unit - INRA Avignon, France,

-   University of Applied Life Sciences in Vienna

-   Szent István University in Gödöllo, Hungary