Research interests:
I believe that deeper knowledge about (i) how growing conditions (resource availability) are modified by the cultivation system (vegetation cover) and (ii) understanding environmental and resource availability thresholds for targeted crops can support the design and management of cultivation systems towards increasing their climate resilience and sustainability.
Research foci and activities:
- Focus on how different cultivation systems, such as smallholder-coffee agroforestry systems, affect the environment (e.g. microclimate).
- Research on the availability of resources, particularly water, within these cultivation systems and study how abiotic stresses, such as drought, heat and excessive light, influence coffee tree performance (transpiration, vegetative and reproductive growth).
- B.Agr.0400: Applications of explorative data analysis to agronomy
Teaching:
Publications:
Sarmiento-Soler, A., Vaast, P., Hoffmann, M. P., Jassogne, L., van Asten, P., Graefe, S., Rötter, R. P., 2020. Effect of cropping system, shade cover and altitudinal gradient on coffee yield components at Mt. Elgon, Uganda. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 295, 106887https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2020.106887
Sarmiento-Soler, A., Vaast, P., Hoffmann, M. P., Rötter, R. P., Jassogne, L., van Asten, P. J. A., Graefe, S. 2019. Water use of Coffea arabica in open versus shaded systems under smallholder’s farm conditions in Eastern Uganda.Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 266–267, 231–242
DOI: 10.1016/j.agrformet.2018.12.006
Hoffmann, M. P., J. J.O. Odhiambo, M. Koch, K. K.Ayisi, G. Zhao, A. S. Soler, R.P. Rötter. 2018. Exploring adaptations of groundnut cropping to prevailing climate variability and extremes in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Field Crops Research 219, 1-13.
DOI: 10.1016/j.fcr.2018.01.019
Rahn, E., T. Liebig, J. Ghazoul, P. van Asten, P. Läderach, P. Vaast, A. Sarmiento, C. Garcia, L. Jassogne. 2018. Opportunities for sustainable intensification of coffee agro-ecosystems along an altitudinal gradient on Mt. Elgon, Uganda.Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 263, 31–40
DOI: 10.1016/j.agee.2018.04.019