About us

The AgrosceNa-UP project

During the last three and a half years we have made progress in the analysis of Spanish agrarian systems and as a result we have generated a modeling environment which has allowed us to test the efficiency of different management strategies in reducing emissions of nitrogen compounds and maintaining or increasing crop productivity. The Alternative management scenarios have been tested at plot, regional and national spatial scales. We have also worked with the different sectors involved to discuss the applicability of the changes. In this way, AgrosceNa-UP has had as general objective contribute to the reduction of Nr losses (NO₃-, NH₃ and N₂O), and the related agro-environmental impacts, in Spanish cropping systems from a multidisciplinary and multi-scale approach considering the connection of cropping systems with livestock and finally agri-food systems. The approach has included an analysis of the historical evolution of Spanish agrarian systems.

Key factors

Crop contamination associated with N losses per hectare and escalations to crop yields, both in rainfed and irrigated cropping systems.
Crop productivity.
The expansion of agri-environmental actions of management scenarios from the plot to the national level, taking into account the emissions reduction commitments signed by Spain.
The importance of crop varieties for this adaptation and its possible implications for N2O mitigation at the field level (trials).
The need to adapt cropping systems to climate change.
The connection of crops with the livestock system, agri-food system and transfers through international trade.
The co-design of alternative fertilization management scenarios.
The interpretation of uncertainty under a variety of management scenarios, including crop varieties.
The active participation of the main actors involved through co-creation processes focused on the impact evaluation of scenarios.

Research team

The AgrosceNa-UP research team is made up of 5 researchers from three universities and research centers: the CEIGRAM of the Polytechnic University of Madrid, the INIA-CSIC and the University of Castilla la Mancha.

Alberto Sanz Cobeña (co-IP)

CEIGRAM/Dpto Producción Agraria-UPM

Full University Professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid. Beyond quantifying and evaluating the impact of crop management on N dynamics and GHG emissions at the plot scale, it has moved towards a more integrated view of a complex problem, such as the emission of GHGs and other nitrogenous compounds. from agri-food systems, and their mitigation. Without abandoning the generation of quality empirical data at the plot scale, I have advanced and directed other studies focused on other scales (from the basin to the European scale). Passionate about science open to society, he firmly believes in the involvement of a growing number of actors in the search for alternatives to move towards more sustainable agri-food systems. He has been Principal Investigator of projects at national and European level. He has carried out postdoctoral stays in France, Kenya, Holland and Denmark to consolidate the extensive international research network on which part of his work is based. Actively participates in international initiatives on nutrients and climate change, including the European Commission, INMS, INI, IAEA-FAO and the UNECE Reactive Nitrogen Expert Group (TFRN), where he coordinates the review of the ammonia emissions reduction guideline. from agricultural systems. He has contributed to the conceptualization and coordination and development of AgrosceNa-Up.

Publons-ResID

Google Scholar

ORCID

Margarita Ruíz Ramos

CEIGRAM-UPM

Margarita Ruiz Ramos researches the adaptation of agricultural systems to climate variability and change, with the aim of generating low uncertainty projections. He has led the Spanish participation within the knowledge hub “Modelling European Agriculture with Climate Change for Food Security (MACSUR)” of the FACCE-JPI. She has been a scientific collaborator of the Spanish Research Agency, providing advice on aspects related to the JPI-Climate and BiodivERsA, and collaborating with the Ministry of Science and Innovation in the monitoring of the EU Mission “Adaptation to Climate Change, including social transformation”, among other tasks. He has also been PI of the Journey Climate-KIC at the UPM, an EIT Climate-KIC summer school for entrepreneurs in climate services. His research is published in high-impact journals such as Nature Climate Change, Nature Communications, PNAS and Science Advances. He is currently part of the management team of the Research Center for Agricultural and Environmental Risk Management (CEIGRAM-UPM).

Benjamín Sánchez Gimeno

INIA-CSIC

Benjamín Sánchez Gimeno is a senior scientist at the Department of Environment and Agronomy of the National Institute of Agricultural and Food Research and Technology of the Higher Council for Scientific Research (INIA-CSIC) and collaborator of the State Research Agency. Doctor in Biological Sciences from the Complutense University of Madrid. He is co-president of the Agroecology Strategic Group of the Permanent Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR-AE) and scientific coordinator of Spanish activities in the Horizon Europe EJP SOIL program. His scientific activity focuses on soil-plant-atmosphere interactions in agroecosystems at different spatial scales. This includes the impact of air pollution on agricultural crops and the effects of agrosystem management on the environment. In Agroscena-Up, Benjamín has contributed to examining the consequences of imbalances in the nitrogen balances of the agri-food systems of the Mediterranean basin and the Region of Murcia, as well as analyzing the effectiveness of different strategies to reduce the adverse effects associated with reactive nitrogen emissions.

Jon Lizaso

CEIGRAM-UPM

Hired Professor Doctor in the Department of Agricultural Production of the Polytechnic University of Madrid. PhD in Crop and Soil Sciences at Michigan State University (USA), Master in Soils and Irrigation at the University of Los Andes (Venezuela), Agricultural Engineer at the Central University of Venezuela. Researcher at the Research Center for Agricultural and Environmental Risk Management (CEIGRAM). He has participated in research projects improving and creating Crop Simulation Models available on the DSSAT Platform (Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer). 44 publications indexed in the JCR and 6 book chapters. It has developed two crop simulation models available on the DSSAT platform: SWCER (sweet corn) and CSM-IXIM (maize). He is currently working on the development of a new potato model for DSSAT.

Work team and hired personnel

Alfredo Rodríguez Sánchez

UCM

Contracted Professor Interim Doctor of the Department of Economic Analysis and Finance of the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Senior Computer Engineer, Doctor in Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Master in Environmental Sustainability. Research lines on the impact of climate change on agriculture, adaptation and uncertainty, sustainability of the Spanish agri-food system, GHG mitigation and N flows, modeling of global costs and benefits related to the use of synthetic fertilizers and their associated losses in cultivation of cereals. More than 15 years of experience working on R&D projects. 35 articles and book chapters published in international journals indexed in JCR, most in Q1, with h-index of 19. He has contributed to AgrosceNa-UP to the modeling of the Spanish agri-food system in terms of nitrogen flow with collection and processing tasks. of data, generation of results in multiple forms, including GRAFS or spatialized data, as well as in tasks with models such as DNDC or DSSAT and assisting in other multiple tasks of all types, including field tasks.

Bárbara Soriano

CEIGRAM-UPM

Contracted Professor with a PhD in the Department of Agrarian Economics, Statistics and Business Management. Doctor in Agrarian Economics, Master in Finance and Master in Economic Growth and Sustainable Development and researcher at the Research Center for Agrarian and Environmental Risk Management (CEIGRAM). Participates in lines of research on the resilience and sustainability of European agricultural systems and the design of rural development policies. He has previously participated in research projects on water and food security at an international level. She has experience in the application of multi-actor quantitative and qualitative methodologies. At AgroSceNA-Up, Bárbara has participated in the definition and organization of co-creation activities with interest groups, related to the design of crop trials, the identification of barriers for the implementation of nitrogen loss reduction scenarios and the definition of strategies to be carried out to overcome them.

Carmen Galea Reboloso

UCM

Graduated in Biology, with a Master’s Degree in Environmental Management and Biodiversity from the University of Córdoba, currently a predoctoral researcher at the Polytechnic University of Madrid carrying out her doctoral thesis on the study of Greenhouse Gas emissions in coastal areas with a Mediterranean climate. Collaboration in projects carried out by the UPM-CEIGRAM such as AgroGreen-SUDOE and AgroSceNa-Up where we worked on the evaluation of agricultural management scenarios at different scales in sustainable Mediterranean cropping systems by reducing nitrogen losses.

Juliana Hurado Patiño

CEIGRAM-UPM

Environmental engineer, with a master’s degree in Agro-environmental Technology for Sustainable Agriculture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM). Currently, I work as a predoctoral researcher at the UPM, focusing on determining factors that contribute to the mitigation of atmospheric emissions, mainly ammonia (NH₃) and nitrous oxide (N₂O), due to nitrogen fertilization in agricultural soils with a Mediterranean climate. As well as determining greenhouse gas mitigation strategies and adaptation to climate change in dryland crops. Collaboration in field data collection, data processing and analysis of results in projects such as AgroGreen-Sudoe and AgrosCena-UP carried out by the UPM-CEIGRAM.

Hans van Grinsven

PBL Netherlands

Hans (J.M.) van Grinsven (1958) is program director and senior researcher at the Department of Water, Agriculture and Food of the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency PBL. He has a master’s degree (1982) and a doctorate. (1988) from Wageningen University. His publications and evaluation work in PBL cover current practices in agriculture on the environment and options for more efficient and sustainable agriculture and food production in the Netherlands, the EU and the world, with a focus on nitrogen. Options go beyond “good practice” and current policies and include reducing fertilizer use in agriculture well below agronomic recommendations, reducing and relocating livestock, and changing diets.

Eduardo Aguilera

CEIGRAM

Eduardo Aguilera is a biologist (University of Seville, Spain), Master in Agroecology (International University of Andalusia / University of Córdoba / Pablo de Olavide University, Spain) and Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences (Pablo de Olavide University). He currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at CEIGRAM (Polytechnic University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain). He is interested in the study of all aspects of agricultural sustainability at various temporal and spatial scales, including nutrients, energy, land use and water. In particular, his research focuses on accounting for greenhouse gas emissions in Mediterranean agroecosystems.

Josette Garnier

CNRS

Josette Garnier has been Research Director at the CNRS since 1984 in the field of biogeochemistry. He pioneered the development of a biogeochemical cycle modeling approach in the hydrosystems-land-sea continuum (GRAF-RiverStrahler) to understand the cause of eutrophication of rivers and coastal zones related to human activities (agriculture and wastewater) and explore scenarios for alternative management options for hydrosystems and agroecosystems in the basins. She has led an interdisciplinary Research Federation for 12 years, been principal investigator of several national and European projects, supervised 25 PhD students and published around 195 ISI articles. She won the Ruth Patrick Award in 2016.

Collaborators

The work carried out in this time has been possible due to the support and interaction in the environment of a dense international network with top-level researchers, publications having been generated during the development of AgrosceNa-UP within the framework of the quantification of nutrient balances, the Nutrient use efficiency and scenario development across spatial, system and temporal scales: