crop failure Articles

Few studies of extreme precipitation have been conducted in Northeast China, particularly at multi-timescales. We aim to enhance the understanding of changes and variability in extreme precipitation over the past 54 years (1961–2014) in this region. We have investigated the potential relationship among extreme precipitation, climate and agricultural drought focusing on several timescales in ...

Jun. 14, 2017

By IWA Publishing

Loss and damage associated with the adverse effects of climate variability and climate change is currently an important topic being discussed under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. This study investigated loss and damage from floods and droughts among rural households living near the Limpopo, Zambezi and Save rivers in Mozambique. We used a questionnaire survey ( n = ...

Oct. 24, 2013

By Inderscience Publishers

In 2011 the North Bank Region of The Gambia experienced its most severe drought in 20 years. This article looks at how this drought affected households in the region, the coping measures they adopted, and residual loss and damage. In this study, ‘loss and damage’ is defined as adverse effects of climatic stressors that people have not been able to avoid through coping and adaptation (from Warner ...

Oct. 24, 2013

By Inderscience Publishers

A fast-unfolding food shortage is engulfing the entire world, driving food prices to record highs. Over the past half-century grain prices have spiked from time to time because of weather-related events, such as the 1972 Soviet crop failure that led to a doubling of world wheat, rice, and corn prices. The situation today is entirely different, however. The current doubling of grain prices is ...

Apr. 15, 2008

By Earth Policy Institute

For centuries environmental destruction in human history has been littered with civilizations that failed because humans exploited natural resources. Examples of over consumption of natural resources can be found from around the world — from the Incas to the Middle East. Currently, the human population is about 6 billion and will rise to 9 billion in the year 2050. That’s a growth rate of 80 ...

Aug. 31, 2007

By ABS Consulting

Results are summarized for the first 15 yr of an eight-site, long-term experimental network in China designed to assess the sustainability of cropping systems in environments representing 70% of Chinese cropland. Systems were wheat–maize double cropping (two crops per year) at four sites, wheat–rice double cropping, rice-based triple cropping, and wheat or maize single cropping. Without ...

Dec. 31, 2009

By Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

No matter what our area of daily activity, it is natural and even necessary that we myopically focus on the problems and issues of the day. But it is also important to step back once in a while to consider how the situations of today fit into a longer-term context. Along that line, we are in the midst of a series of columns that goes beyond the agricultural issues and policy motivations of today, ...

Jan. 6, 2014

By National Farmers Union (NFU)

Pressures from the USA and Europe have resulted in the proliferation of stronger intellectual property protection worldwide, as a condition for continued access to world markets. The failure of crops other than soybeans, cotton, maize and canola in developed countries to benefit from the major innovations in genetic modification raises questions regarding the implications of increased ...

Mar. 5, 2006

By Inderscience Publishers

What is the best way to protect vulnerable rural communities from the damaging impacts of climate change? Insurance could be an answer, but it raises a number of difficult questions. To illustrate, the New York Times recently ran a story, “Report Says a Crop Subsidy Cap ...

Jun. 6, 2012

By World Resources Institute WRI

By 2050, 80% of the earth’s population will live in cities and 3 billion more people will need to be fed. The simple fact is we are running out of available land to grow enough food to feed them. If we can’t grow our cities outward to find more arable land, the only solution is to grow them upwards. This may change the way we design cities forever.The problem is real and immediate. Even by most ...

Jul. 22, 2008

By GLOBE SERIES

Globalization means that we are all connected—for good or for bad. Systems are connected across countries and sectors. For instance, food production is intimately connected to energy, water, and finance, and drought in the United States can raise food prices for people all around the world. Changes in one or a few factors in ...

Nov. 24, 2013

By World Resources Institute WRI

A major vegetable grower in Lantokia, Fiji, using soilless culture systems began to trial Amnite A-100. His crops consisted principally of lettuce, tomatoes, capsicums, cucumbers, zucchinis and melons. Before the trials they had been plagued with root diseases, mosaic virus and insect attack, control of which required constant use of pesticides and ultraviolet lighting. The first trials commenced ...

May 24, 2011

By Cleveland Biotech Ltd.

One of the toughest things for people to do is to anticipate sudden change. Typically we project the future by extrapolating from trends in the past. Much of the time this approach works well. But sometimes it fails spectacularly, and people are simply blindsided by events such as today’s economic crisis. For most of us, the idea that civilization itself could disintegrate probably seems ...

Apr. 26, 2009

By Earth Policy Institute