climate change agriculture News
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Position paper Climate-smart agriculture
Climate change fundamentally shifts the agricultural development agenda. Changing temperature and precipitation, sea level rise, and the rising frequency of extreme climate events will significantly reduce global food production in this century unless action is taken. Major investments, private and public, will be needed. Adapting agriculture to climate change is necessary to achieve food ...
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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
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Simulating the effect of climate change on agriculture
Increased atmospheric CO2 levels and climate change are believed to contribute to extreme weather conditions, which is a major concern for many. And beyond extreme events, global warming is also predicted to affect agriculture.1,2 While climate change is expected to affect agriculture and reduce crop yields, the complete effects of climate change on agriculture and the resultant human food ...
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African soil diversity mapped for the first time
A team of international experts has drawn up the Soil Atlas of Africa — the first such book mapping this key natural resource — to help farmers, land managers and policymakers understand the diversity and importance of soil and the need to manage it through sustainable use. They say that despite soil's importance, most people in Africa lack knowledge about it, partly because ...
By SciDev.Net
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Climate change may trigger pest attacks on cassava
The multi-billion dollar cassava industry of South–East Asia may already be suffering from multiple pest and disease outbreaks triggered by climate change, cassava researchers have told a conference in Bangkok. Although the crop can thrive in hotter and dryer conditions in the region, an increase in pests and diseases could easily wipe out recent productivity gains, researchers said at the ...
By SciDev.Net
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How vulnerable to climate change is agriculture in the Black Sea region?
The impacts of climate change in the Black Sea region are likely to affect agriculture in Ukraine, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, new research suggests. The number of days of plant growth was reduced in these countries as a result of reduced precipitation, increased temperatures and low capacity for irrigation to supplement water needs. A strong legal framework is necessary to ...
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Climate change and agriculture: food and farming in a changing climate
Climate change is already affecting the Earth’s temperature, precipitation, and hydrological cycles, with detrimental impacts on U.S. and global agricultural systems. The interaction of these dynamic factors can lead to a decrease in plant productivity, increasing the price for many important agricultural crops. On Wednesday, June 16, 2010, between 10:30-11:30am, in Room 328A of the Senate ...
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What`s wrong with GM?
SciDev.Net is hosting a live text debate on genetically modified (GM) organisms on this page on Wednesday 11 June. For details on how to get involved, please see below. The arguments about GM continue to rage in farming, research and development communities across the world. Some declare the technology to be an environmental hazard and a threat to smallholder farmers. Others say it can feed ...
By SciDev.Net
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Africa could feed itself, says development expert
Africa could feed itself within a generation through the application of science-based techniques to agricultural production, according to the editor of a report on how to do this, which will be discussed by East African heads of state today. The continent has a window of opportunity in which to take decisions to increase food production that would enable it to feed itself, said the report, put ...
By SciDev.Net
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UN ‘matchmaker’ to foster South-South tech transfer
The UN has launched a new knowledge-sharing platform aimed specifically at private companies in low-income countries to help foster the spread of technology, assets and financing. The scheme is dedicated to the least developed countries (LDCs) as a direct response to the challenges they face in areas such as sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation and water management. The ...
By SciDev.Net
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Chile, India link up for rural development
Chile and India will work together to promote agricultural innovation and explore the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in improving rural livelihoods. The MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) signed an agreement on agricultural cooperation with Chile's Foundation for Agricultural Innovation (FIA) in Chennai last month (20 March). MSSRF chairman M. S. ...
By SciDev.Net
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Farmers struggle to adopt climate-smart methods
Preliminary results from a project aimed at helping Malawi, Vietnam and Zambia make the transition to a "climate-smart" approach to agriculture show that some farmers are struggling to adopt the new methods, while others are finding ways to cope well with climate-change problems like late rains. "To broaden the options available to farmers, we believe that increased investment, coming from both ...
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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 ...
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Rapid action needed to help protect food supplies in vulnerable regions
Agriculture is vulnerable to climate change, and in order to protect food security, food production will have to adapt to rising temperatures and unpredictable changes in rainfall. Agriculture in poorer countries with harsh climate conditions is likely to be most affected. New research predicts how these vulnerable areas are likely to be affected by climate change in the next 20 years. The ...
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Farming needs lead role in GHG cuts
The world’s farmers and food producers must do more – perhaps five times as much – to reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that threaten catastrophic global climate change, according to new research. Right now, scientists calculate that the options available to meet the recent Paris Agreement to limit global warming to a maximum of 2°C above historic levels would ...
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Variable crop sowing dates `produce higher yields`
Cropping systems with variable sowing dates adapted to changing climatic conditions — as opposed to those with fixed sowing dates — will result in increased mean future crop yields, a modelling study has found. Multiple cropping systems, including growing two or more crops at the same time on the same plot (intercropping); after each other in a sequence (sequential cropping); or with ...
By SciDev.Net
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Climate change to shift global spread and quality of agricultural land
New areas of land suitable for agriculture will open up under climate change’s effects, new research predicts, particularly in far northern regions of the world. However, the overall quality of land for farming will decline and many regions, including Europe, could lose large areas of suitable land. Demand for agricultural products is expected to rise by 70–110% by 2050. This is ...
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Farmers could cut emissions while boosting production
Farmers could earn more and protect the environment by using technologies and practices that reduce the global warming gases that livestock emit, according to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The report's five case studies suggest that the potential for mitigation is greatest among low-productivity ruminant producers in South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America ...
By SciDev.Net
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5 challenges that will influence food production towards 2050
Today there are 7.7 billion people inhabiting the earth. It is expected that this will increase with another 2.2 billion people till 2050, meaning that 10 billion people need to be fed in 2050. How can we feed all these people and what will food producers all over the world have to face in the upcoming years? Increase food production per acre To feed the 10 billion people that will ...
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Climate change will hit Indian cereals, benefit legumes
Indian farmers could be producing less rice and wheat and more legumes as a result of global warming, a senior crop scientist has said. Climate change would have a negative impact on cereal crops such as wheat and rice, Bandi Venkateswarulu, director of Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad, told a South Asia media workshop on climate change in Delhi this month (17 ...
By SciDev.Net
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