Effects of climate extremes and bud rot incidence on oil palm performance: Implications for economic sustainability.

We are seeking four highly motivated PhD students to join our team as part of the interdisciplinary Oil-Clips program (OIL-CLiPS - WUR), funded by Wageningen UR and its partners. The Oil-Clips program aims at unraveling the causes of disease outbreaks in oil palm plantations, focusing on Basal Stem Rot in Indonesia and Bud Rot in Colombia and how these are affected by changes in climate and farmer practices. These disease outbreaks are seen as an interplay between host, pathogen, human action, and environment. The recruited PhD candidates will investigate these relations by applying concepts and methods from at least two disciplines.

PhD 2: Effects of climate extremes and bud rot incidence on oil palm performance: Implications for economic sustainability.

Colombian oil palm production is severely threatened by bud rot (BR), which can be significantly aggravated by the increased occurrence of weather extremes associated with climate change, such as periodic El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events that cause severe droughts or excess rainfall. Climate stress can have dual effects: 1) weakening the innate disease resistance of oil palms, and 2) favouring disease spread, through irrigation water or through other pathways. These combined effects may cause a strong increase in disease incidence in the future. Unmanaged bud rot often leads to palm death; curative control measures are available but lead to temporary loss of production potential, which affects the economic performance of the plantation. A novel, high-yielding bud rot resistant cultivar (E. oleifera x E. guineensis; ‘O×G’) was recently developed, and is currently planted in >15% of the Colombian oil palm area, but its climate resilience is unknown.

The design of effective strategies that combine bud rot management and climate change adaptation, and the quantification of the economic consequences of different scenarios, requires robust projections of the effects of weather extremes on yields and bud rot incidence for both BR-resistant and non-resistant oil palm cultivars. The crop growth model PALMSIM is able to predict potential and water-limited oil palm yields for E. guineensis but not yet for the O×G hybrid.

In this PhD project, the successful candidate will combine the analysis of historical data on climate, oil palm ecophysiology, growth, yield and BR incidence with in-field measurements to support the development of an improved PALMSIM-based model for both E. guineensis and the O×G hybrid, which includes effects of BR incidence and curative management on production potential (both bunch yield loss and reductions in bunch oil content). They will use the model to explore the effects of climate change, disease incidence and management scenarios on future oil palm yield. They will couple this to an economic model to explore the effects on grower income.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the Centre for Crops Systems Analysis led by Prof. Niels Anten, and within Cenipalma in Colombia. Your supervisor from Cenipalma is Dr. Carlos Bojacá. Your co-promotors from Wageningen University & Research are Dr. Danae Rozendaal (Centre for Crop Systems Analysis) and Dr. Lotte Woittiez (Plant Production Systems Group).

Requirements:

You are a team player with good interpersonal skills, with interest and willingness to work with partners from different cultural backgrounds. You have a strong and demonstrable personal connection with Colombia or neighbouring countries, and you are fluent in Spanish (written and spoken). You are willing to travel; the successful candidate will be based in Colombia and will spend in total 18 months in Wageningen (travel costs for the candidate will be covered) during the PhD project. (Note: Candidates who are experienced with, and passionate about oil palm, but who do not meet some of the following requirements, are also invited to apply.)

You also possess:

• A succesfully completed Master degree in agronomy, plant sciences, crop ecology, disease ecology or a similar field
• Proven affinity with statistical analysis of large datasets and/or crop modelling; programming skills in R and/or Python are an advantage
• Skills and commitment to work in an interdisciplinary research programme and motivation to contribute to the overall programme
• Strong analytical skills and affinity with field work
• Fluency in Spanish (written and spoken) in addition to English (see below)

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

Salary Benefits:

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• Partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.

The gross salary for the first year is € 2.872,- per month rising to € 3.670,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. We can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example helping your partner to find a job, housing, or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

38 hours per week

Droevendaalsesteeg