Climate Change And World Agriculture

Originally published in 1990, this book analysed the sensitivity of the world food system and looked at the variety of ways in which it would be affected by climate change. It describes the effects of climate change on agriculture, estimates the impacts on plant and animal growth and looks at the geographical limits to different types of farming. It also considers the range of possible ways to adapt agriculture and so to mitigate the disastrous consequences of climate change.

In recent years, especially with the approach of the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Paris in late 2015, the number of publications, conferences and meetings on climate change has been growing exponentially. Yet uncertainties remain concerning rural tropical areas where models are forecasting the onset of multiple disorders and trends are unclear. Meanwhile, the impact of climate change on the poorest communities is regularly documented, often prompting alarmist reactions. How can food security be achieved while adapting to and mitigating climate change? What are the main threats to agriculture in developing countries? How do farmers in these countries cope with the threats? What does agricultural research propose? What options have yet to be investigated? A broad scope of scientific research is underway to address these challenges. Diverse solutions are available, including new agricultural practices, water management, agricultural waste recycling, diagnosis of emerging diseases, payment for ecosystem services, etc. Gaining insight into the financial and political mechanisms that underlie international climate negotiations is also essential to design practical ways to deal with climate issues and meet sustainable development requirements in collaboration with farmers. This book pools the wealth of experience of dozens of researchers and development officers from a range of disciplines. We have focused on making it detailed, accurate and hopefully easy to read for researchers, students and all other informed readers.

Roughly a billion people around the world continue to live in state of chronic hunger and food insecurity. Unfortunately, efforts to improve their livelihoods must now unfold in the context of a rapidly changing climate, in which warming temperatures and changing rainfall regimes could threaten the basic productivity of the agricultural systems on which most of the world’s poor directly depend. But whether climate change represents a minor impediment or an existential threat to development is an area of substantial controversy, with different conclusions wrought from different methodologies and based on different data. This book aims to resolve some of the controversy by exploring and comparing the different methodologies and data that scientists use to understand climate’s effects on food security. In explains the nature of the climate threat, the ways in which crops and farmers might respond, and the potential role for public and private investment to help agriculture adapt to a warmer world. This broader understanding should prove useful to both scientists charged with quantifying climate threats, and policy-makers responsible for crucial decisions about how to respond. The book is especially suitable as a companion to an interdisciplinary undergraduate or graduate level class.

After describing the effects of climate change on agriculture, estimating the impacts on plant and animal growth and looking at the geographical limits to different types of farming, the author considers a range of possible ways to adapt agriculture and so to mitigate what could otherwise become a disaster

Ô. . . this book is a very useful resource for the lawyer. . . makes a good start by presenting a wide-ranging portfolio of multidisciplinary research that will assist in progressing the task, challenging though it may be.Õ Ð Chris Rodgers, Environmental Liability This book explores the interaction between climate change and the agriculture sector. Agriculture is essential to the livelihood of people and nations, especially in the developing world; therefore, any impact on it will have significant economic, social, and political ramifications. Scholars from around the world and from various fields have been brought together to explore this important topic. The contributions found here analyze direct agronomic effects, the economic impacts on agriculture, agricultural impacts on the economy, agricultural mitigation, and farmer adaptation. The authors argue that climate change is likely to have an extensive impact on agriculture around the world through changes in temperature, precipitation, concentrations of carbon dioxide, and available water flows. This thorough and timely volume is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in exploring the impacts of climate change in arguably the most important sector of the world economy. Economists, agronomists, and climate modelers in academia and the public sector, policy analysts and development agency staff, and graduate/postgraduate students will find this remarkable volume a welcome addition to their collection.

Conservation agriculture is a sustainable production model that not only optimizes crop yields, but also reaps economic and environmental benefits as well. The adoption of successful conservation agriculture methods has resulted in energy savings, higher organic matter content and biotic activity in soil, increased crop-water availability and thus resilience to drought, improved recharge of aquifers, less erosion, and reduced impacts from the weather associated with climate change in general. Agricultural Impacts of Climate Change examines several important aspects of crop production, such as climate change, soil management, farm machinery, and different methods for sustainable conservation agriculture. It presents spatial distribution of a daily, monthly and annual precipitation concentration indices, Diffuse Reflectance Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy for analyzing the organic matter in soil, and adaptation strategies for climate-related plant disease scenarios. It also discusses solar energy-based greenhouse modeling, precision farming using remote sensing and GIS, and various types of machinery used for conservation agriculture. Features: Examines the effects of climate change on agriculture and the related strategies for mitigation through practical, real-world examples Explores innovative on-farm technology options to increase system efficiency resulting in improved water usage Presents examples of precision farming using climate-resilient technologies

This Food Policy Report presents research results that quantify the climate-change impacts mentioned above, assesses the consequences for food security, and estimates the investments that would offset the negative consequences for human well-being.

Recent studies suggest that possible global increases in temperature and changes in precipitation patterns during the next century will affect world agricul-ture. Because of the ability of farmers to adapt, however, these changes are not likely to imperil world food production. Nevertheless, world production of all goods and services may decline, if climate change is severe enough or if cropland expansion is hindered. Impacts are not equally distributed around the world.