SEC | S20W1: Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture

mrsokal (66)in Steem-Agro • 5 days ago

Agriculture is known as backbone of global food security, an anchor for sustenance — and livelihoods — for billions of people. Nevertheless, it ranks as one of the sectors most exposed to risks from climate change. Agricultural productivity is already taking a hit with shifting weather patterns and increasing frequency of extreme events such as floods and droughts,and these problems will get worse as temperatures rise. Climate change not only impacts crop yields directly, by environmental stress, but also indirectly by facilitating new pests and diseases. I want to thank @xkool24 to organize this course in SEC season 20 which is named "Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture" and today i am participating on it.

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Describe in detail how agricultural productivity is affected by climate change.

Global warming affects the yields in agricultural production because of changes in weather conditions, and temperatures as well as the rainfall patterns. These effects include:

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Temperature Stress: It can reduce crop growing seasons and also yields while it increases plant respiratory rates with high temperatures. This effectively lowers productivity of important crops such as wheat and corn especially in the tropics and subtropics of the globe.

Water Availability: Fluctuations in rainfall distribution result in water as both a scarce resource and as a flood and these two aspects impact on growth and production of plants. Another environmental condition is drought which deprives crops of water whilst flooding chokes root systems.

Soil Degradation: Rainfall intensity is an important factor which is influenced by climate change and which leads to worse of soil erosion. Seasonal heavy downpours acting with erodibility displace nutrient-rich toposils thereby decreasing fertility.

Changes in Photosynthesis: The levels above 350 ppm are beneficial for stimulating photosynthesis and growth rates in plants yet too often this advantage is overcompensated by heat stress, water deficit, unexpected pests.

Discuss how extreme rains and extreme droughts damage crops.

Extreme Rains

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Soil Erosion and Nutrient Loss: This is because, during each episode of heavy rains, the soil is washed away and this deprives plants of essential nutrients for their growth. This can poorly affect the root formation and the general production of crops in the event that good seeds are planted on fertile soils.

Waterlogging and Root Rot: When there is heavy rainfall, the amounts of water in the soil increase and this chokes plant roots by depriving them of oxygen hence causing root rot. This is worst felt in crops such as wheat and corn which are planted in large fields to give a big yield.

Fungal Growth: Fungal diseases develop best under conditions of free water and soil which are a big threat to crops.

Extreme Droughts

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Water Stress and Stunted Growth: Lack of water affects plant growth rates thereby reducing on yields of crops produced. Drought аеffесtѕ phytopolуmеtric performance thеm as reduces phоtосуnthеtic capacity and nutrient аbsorption.

Heat Stress: Most of the prolonged droughts are associated with high temperatures, and these affects crops by causing heat stress that leads to poor growth and maturity.

Soil Degradation: Drought affect the soil in such a way that it gets compressed with little room for nutrients to grow. It also decreases the microbial process, that helps supply oxygen and nutrients to the soil.

Discuss in stages how new pests and diseases are emerging as a result of climate change AND what measures farmers can take to prevent them.

Stages of Pest and Disease Emergence

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Temperature Increase: Warm climates are conducive for growth of pests such as insects and produce favorable conditions for their proliferation as well as forging new territories of their domicile. With this, more pests get to enjoy all the conditions of winter and hence survive through the season.

Range Expansion of Pests: Such pests that characteristically inhabited tropical lands start invading the colder areas hence interfering with crops in zones that were hitherto unaffected.

Emergence of New Plant Diseases: In this connection, the fluctuation of temperature and changes in humidity, the appearance of which stimulates the propagation of new types of fungal, bacterial and viral diseases. Diseases that affect these crops severely include the above stated diseases affect crops that are not resistant to them.

Increased Insect-Borne Diseases: Other organisms such as aphids and beetles are pathogens for plant viruses hence their ability to transmit diseases for crops.

Preventive Measures for Farmers

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Integrated Pest Management (IPM): There are ways by which farmers can reduce pest impacting on crops such as, IPM technique which involves biological control, chemical control and cultural control such as crop rotation and inter-cropping.

Resistant Crop Varieties: So, cultivating or genetically modifying crops, that are less vulnerable to particular insect-pests and diseases, saves them from climate related risks.

Monitoring and Early Detection: The ability to use technology such as remote sensing, drones, and pest traps ensure that farmers notice the infestation on time hence making the right decisions.

Diversified Planting: Diversifying what crops are grown is one form of risk mitigation since the loss of one entire crop due to pests or diseases is avoided. In particular, biodiverse farms are less vulnerable in case of pest outbreak.

Discuss what changes in irrigation systems are required due to climate change.

Climate change demands more adaptive and efficient irrigation practices to manage water resources sustainably:

Drip Irrigation: Conventional flood irrigation is very inefficient, and in areas where water is scarce this means of irrigation cannot be used. In drip irrigation, water is allowed to get to the plant root system, which minimises wastage through evaporation and soil erosion.

Rainwater Harvesting: Saving rainfall water in intense rainy season helps prepare for dry season in a way that can be useful for farmers. It can be stored in tanks, ponds for use during dry season for domestic uses or for crop irrigation.

Smart Irrigation Systems: These systems employ the use of sensors and climate information to check the moisture content of the soil landscape and the crops water requirement facilitating the right amount of water application. This prevents over irrigation thus putting into consideration the usage of water resources.

Groundwater Management: Some studies have suggested that since in water scarce areas future irrigation water demand can be met by sustainable withdrawal and recharge of groundwater resources such as managed aquifer recharge.

Explain the two best ways to respond to climate change.

Adaptation

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Switching To Climate-Resilient Agriculture: The farmers are required to make a paradigm shift by moving towards drought, heat, and pest resistant varieties of crops. Adopting proven regenerative practices such as agroforestry (planting trees in amongst crops) and mixed farming (integration of crops with animals) offer strong potentials to boost resilience.

Water Conservation Techniques: Encouraging the efficient utilisation of water resources by using improved irrigation techniques, rainwater harvesting and soil conservation practices which will also help farmers to adapt their production process with changing water availability.

Mitigation

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Combatting Climate Change: The ag industry can encourage carbon sequestration or practices such as a methane digestor to reduce the output of greenhouse gas emissions. Utilizing individual animal stocking strategies as well as reducing fertilizer dependency and transitioning to organic farming in general.

Carbon Sequestration: Reaching 100% SCO at reforestation and afforestation or in farming where cover cropping or No-Till practices are common will means paying farmers to retain, plant more trees and permanently store carbon into soil and plant biomass buffering atmospheric CO₂ levels.