Plant Production Systems

At the Plant Production Systems group, we believe that creating a fairer and more environmentally friendly world requires transformational change of our agricultural production and food systems, not just small, step-by-step improvements. No single model or approach exists for developing a sustainable production systems fits everywhere, nor can we achieve meaningful changes in production systems if we study them in isolation.  

We explore how farming systems function and how they can be made more sustainable and productive. We also look at how insights from individual fields can be scaled up to entire farms, regions and even the global level. To do this, we combine data from experiments, surveys and databases with modelling approaches such as crop and livestock simulations, bio-economic optimisation and statistical analysis.

Because our research questions involve both nature and people, our approach is strongly interdisciplinary. While our roots lie in the natural sciences, we work closely with researchers in the social sciences, such as economics, rural sociology and communication. This way, we create a more complete picture of sustainable farming systems.

An interdisciplinary approach is central in the research of our group, as our issues deal with complex human systems. We focus on the natural sciences but we also work together closely with groups from social sciences (e.g. economics, rural sociology, communication science) and also play a leading role in developing and executing major collaborative programmes.

We regularly publish our work in scientific journals, professional journals, scientific and popular books, and proceedings.