Modelling climate effects on Hungarian winter wheat and maize yields

Hungarian cereal production is situated in the zone of Europe which is most vulnerable to the effects of changes in climatic conditions. The objectives of this paper are to present the calibration and validation of the 4M crop simulation model using farm-level observed representative values, and to estimate the potential yields of winter wheat and maize production for the next three decades. Analysing the differences between the estimated and observed yields, we identified as key influencing factors the heterogeneity of technologies and of land quality. A trend of slightly decreasing yields is projected for the next three decades for both cereals. The precise impact of environmental change on crop yields will depend on which climate scenario occurs.