Evaluation of conservation tillage and rotation with legumes as adaptation and mitigation strategies of climate change on durum wheat in Sardinia

This study aimed to evaluate the interaction between conservation tillage and rotation with legumes on durum wheat phenology and production, in climate change conditions. The CSM-CERES-Wheat model (DSSAT beta 4.5), in combination with a stochastic Weather Generator (WG), were used to assess climate change impacts and suggest adaptation strategies to cope with climate change. Twenty-seven climate change scenarios (GCMs-based), obtained with the pattern scaling technique considering three values of climate sensitivity and four emission scenarios, for the periods 2025, 2050 and 2075, were used. The direct and indirect effects of projected changes in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, on the alternative cropping systems, were evaluated. The results on yield, for present climate conditions, showed a substantial indifference between tillage practices, whereas the crop rotation with legumes favoured quantity and quality of grain yield. This behaviour has been observed also in simulations carried out using future climate change scenarios, that, however, showed a high variability depending on the wide range of climate scenarios used mainly in the more distant future periods. The uncertainties linked to climate sensitivity, emission scenarios and atmospheric CO2 concentrations are among the main causes of this wide variability. The application of conservation tillage might be recommended in this region because permits a more environmentally and economically sustainable management.