There are many of us endowed with a “green thumb.” Pride is derived from nurturing seedlings toward a rich and bountiful crop. Yet, however great that gift may be, we still require help from Mother Nature.
Soil conditions, weather and a suitable climate are prerequisites to a substantial and sustainable yield. The reality of climate change has added a few challenges for all dedicated green thumbs, farmers and others involved in the agricultural sector, requiring mitigation and adaptation.
Agriculture is reliant on crop type, climate, region, soil conditions and composition, water and sunlight to name just a few variables for good yields. So, what could happen in the agricultural sector now that climate change is a reality?
Advantages of Climate Change
Suffice it to say that, in many cases, the positive and negative impacts of climate change on agriculture can essentially offset each other. On the positive side of things, climate change will lead to longer summers and possibly frost-free seasons, lengthening the growing season, subsequently producing higher returns of warm weather crops such as corn, soybeans and grapes, for example, making fall harvesting easier.
Apple farmers for one could grow different varieties, thus not being limited in their choices. Although research is on-going, it has been found that enhanced CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere, which we now realize, can increase crop production by improving a plant’s water intake and photosynthesis ability (sunlight formed nutrients from CO2 and water). However, how it hinders or benefits productive crop yields is still an uncertainty.
Disadvantages of Climate Change
Negatively speaking, longer and warmer summers with unpredictable rain patterns could result in a greater need for irrigation. Moisture stress such as water shortage, or too much at once can be detrimental to a harvest. More extreme weather events have become our new reality and such events will determine the degree to which how beneficial this new climate reality will be.
Insect infestation could be a concern with prolonged mild winters. More generations of insects would thrive and may not be eradicated by conventional means, especially newer species of insects. Resorting to more frequent, heavier and new pesticides to control foreign pests and weeds poses a threat to water sources and dictates increased costs.
Increased soil erosion due to the impact of climate change can affect agricultural productivity. This erosion could occur with the fluctuations in water sources and the overuse of pesticides and herbicides. A diminished snow cover, which acts as a protective layer, exposes soil to wind erosion as does over tillage used to address water shortages.
Adapting to Change: Is it Possible?
How well agricultural perennial crops adapt to change depends upon whether they’re deciduous or herbaceous. Deciduous crops are those such as apples or blueberries. Herbaceous refers to forage crops such as those to feed livestock and includes such crops as hay and corn.
Deciduous fruit trees stop growing in late summer and early fall with shortened daylight hours even though temperatures remain warm. The risks of winter damage to these trees will likely decrease since their root systems are buried deep in the ground so they are acclimatized by the first frost.
Herbaceous crops, on the other hand, have growth dictated by decreasing temperatures. With their root systems in the upper layers of the soil, they’re prone to exposure from freezing temperatures and ice due to decreased amounts of snow cover essential for protection.
Win or lose: Where do we go from here?
The greatest challenge before us is how we’ll adapt to these changes coming our way. Another major challenge is the unknown. We don’t know how our pest populations will be affected or our beneficial insects. How well prepared are we to adapt to whatever comes our way? We have to become more flexible and proactive in responding. There is also the need for a political will and mass education in response to burning fossil fuels. This is essential for our long term food security to feed a growing global population.