Martin et al. (2026) Quantifying heat vs drought-induced yield decline of German cropping systems and the mitigating potential of irrigation

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Identification

• Journal: Environmental Research Letters
• Year: 2026
• Date: 2026-07-07
• Authors: Lioba Martin, Andrew Smerald, David Kraus, Hannes K. Imhof, Edwin Haas, Ralf Kiese, Clemens Scheer
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-9326/ae8710

Research Groups

• Institute of Crop Science (University of Hohenheim)
• Department of Agricultural Meteorology (University of Göttingen)

Short Summary

This study assesses the impact of heat and drought stress on crop yields across Germany using a process-based ecosystem model, finding that recent yield losses were predominantly caused by drought stress.

Objective

• Investigate the relative contributions of heat and drought stress to crop yield reductions in Germany

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: National scale (Germany)
• Temporal Scale: 2018

Methodology and Data

• Models used: LandscapeDNDC (process-based ecosystem model)
• Data sources: Crop yields, climate data (temperature, precipitation)

Main Results

• Recent yield losses in Germany were predominantly caused by drought stress.
• Heat stress played only a negligible role in crop yield reductions.
• Irrigation could have largely eliminated yield losses, with an average of 156 ± 60 mm of water necessary in 2018.

Contributions

• This study provides new insights into the relative contributions of heat and drought stress to crop yield reductions in Germany.
• The results highlight the importance of irrigation as a mitigation measure for future climate conditions.

Funding

• German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) project "Climate-Smart Agriculture" (01LL1701A)
• European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No. 773391 (CROPCIRCLE)

Citation

@article{Martin2026Quantifying,
  author = {Martin, Lioba and Smerald, Andrew and Kraus, David and Imhof, Hannes K. and Haas, Edwin and Kiese, Ralf and Scheer, Clemens},
  title = {Quantifying heat vs drought-induced yield decline of German cropping systems and the mitigating potential of irrigation},
  journal = {Environmental Research Letters},
  year = {2026},
  doi = {10.1088/1748-9326/ae8710},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ae8710}
}