climate change crop News
-
Fertiliser can offset heat for African farmers
[NAIROBI] African smallholders in dry areas can overcome climate change and even double crop yields if they invest in fertiliser use and harvest rainwater, researchers have found. Farmers in arid and semi-arid areas usually protect themselves from climate-related losses by investing as little as possible in farm inputs such as fertilisers. But in doing so they fail to grab opportunities for ...
By SciDev.Net
-
Global wild seed hunt begins
An international project to collect seeds from the wild relatives of 23 of the world's major food crops including maize, rice, wheat and potato, has received its first funding. Last week (10 December) Norway, home to the world's largest seed bank, in Svalbard in the Arctic, pledged US$50 million towards the collection, which is expected to take ten years to complete. Research and planning will ...
By SciDev.Net
-
2009 ASA–CSSA–SSSA meetings emphasize sustainability
The 2009 ASA–CSSA–SSSA International Annual Meetings are just around the corner, 1–5 November in Pittsburgh, PA. The theme of the meetings, “Footprints in the Landscape: Sustainability through Plant and Soil Sciences,” together with the location, emphasize sustainability. The meeting theme runs throughout the technical program that is built around daily plenary sessions, nine distinguished ...
-
India-UK fund to boost agro-innovation in Africa and Asia
The Indian and UK governments are tapping into agricultural innovation outside the traditional international development community with the launch of a £20 million (US$32 million) programme for food security. Sustainable Crop Production Research for International Development (SCPRID) will allow scientists to research stressors, ranging from pests to climate change, on five key crops ...
By SciDev.Net
-
Ranking Member Stabenow Opening Statement at Hearing on Agriculture Research
U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, & Forestry, today released the following opening statement at the hearing titled “Agricultural Research and Securing the United States Food Supply.” Stabenow’s statement, as prepared for delivery, follows: Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this important hearing. And ...
-
Better water management could improve global crop production
A new global study is the first to quantify the potential of water management strategies to increase crop production. It indicates that a combination of harvesting run-off water and reducing evaporation from soil could increase global crop production by 20 per cent. The EU has recognised the impact of climate change on water and the subsequent effects on agriculture in its white paper on ...
-
Farming must change to feed the world
The world's farmers must quickly switch to more sustainable and productive farming systems to grow the food needed by a swelling world population and respond to climate change, FAO's top crops expert told an international farm congress here today. In a keynote speech to 1,000 participants at the IVth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture (CA) in New Delhi, Shivaji Pandey, Director of FAO's ...
-
International crop breeding programme needed for African farming
Climate change poses a large threat to African agriculture, but there is little research on how to respond. A recent study indicates that traditional adaptation methods are not enough and international collaboration is needed in 'planned adaptation' by collecting and conserving certain crops for the future. A large proportion of the African population - mainly the poor - depend on agriculture ...
-
VISCA “Vineyards´ Integrated Smart Climate Application”
Climate change is threatening different varieties of agriculture species; the wine-grapes are especially sensitive to subtle differences in micro-climate impacts causing changes in the crops (i.e. decrease of the grape quality and quantity, changes in alcohol, acid, sugar, etc.) which directly affects the European wine industry. VISCA (“Vineyards´ Integrated Smart Climate ...
-
Mixed crop-livestock farming could help adaptation in Africa
According to new research, African farms with both crops and livestock could be more resilient to climate change than farms that only grow crops. The research suggests that policy makers should support farmers in making the switch to integrated farming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has indicated that agriculture in tropical under-developed countries is the most vulnerable ...
-
Tool helps farmers anticipate their future climate
Marginalised farmers in the developing world may soon be able to 'see' into the future through a tool that will help them adapt to climate change by simulating how their crop production will be affected 20 years from now. The open access tool, called 'climate analogues', was presented on the sidelines of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa, on Saturday (3 December). ...
By SciDev.Net
-
High temperatures `make wheat old before its time`
Global warming can cause premature ageing in wheat, according to computer modelling studies of the crop's response to growing conditions in northern India. The effects of warming on wheat growth and grain size are far worse than previous crop models indicated, David Lobell, assistant professor in environmental earth system science at Stanford University, United States, and colleagues wrote in ...
By SciDev.Net
-
Cereal Crops Feeling the Heat
LIVERMORE, California (ENS) - Warming temperatures since 1981 have caused annual losses of about US$5 billion for six major cereal crops, new research has found. This is the first study to estimate how much global food production already has been affected by climate change. From 1981 to 2002, fields of wheat, corn and barley throughout the world have produced a combined 40 million metric tons ...
-
Rice yields targetted in first CGIAR `mega-programme`
Farmers could benefit from increased rice yields and new varieties of the staple crop adapted to climate change, with the launch of a global research programme that aims to lift millions out of hunger and poverty by 2035. The Global Rice Science Partnership (GRiSP) was launched by the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) at the 3rd International Rice Congress in ...
By SciDev.Net
-
Importance of ag research highlighted with funding
The continuing importance of agricultural research is evident with the proposed funding for the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) in President Obama’s FY 2012 budget. Strong AFRI funding will support land grant, USDA, and industry scientists in meeting global challenges including food security needs, maintaining soil ecosystem health, adapting crops to a changing climate, and ...
-
Climate-smart farming takes root in Kenya
Like most African countries, Kenya is highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. There is growing concern about potential stress on fragile ecosystems and rural communities, especially in the arid and semi-arid agro-ecological zones and some humid highland areas of the country. In keeping with the Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (SRA) of Kenya 2010-2015 and Kenya's vision 2030, ...
Need help finding the right suppliers? Try XPRT Sourcing. Let the XPRTs do the work for you