How the Global Heatwave Is Harming Agriculture Today and Creating Problems for the Bio-Economy Tomorrow.

by Tom Joslin (Bio-Based World News) ... Few of you will have escaped the heatwave that seems to have enveloped most of the northern hemisphere. Soaring temperatures exceeding 46°C have been recorded in Alvega, Portugal, while seventeen of eighteen of the countries regions experienced temperatures above 45°C. This follows recent headlines reporting wildfires in California and Greece while 40°C heatwaves have caused deaths in Japan. Events like these, once considered freakish in nature are now becoming increasingly frequent.

Rising temperatures are characteristic of the changing global climate and the warnings of the implications that this change could have on production and agriculture are no longer just hypothesises but a reality for many.

Changes to regional and global temperature will continue to have damaging effects on agricultural systems at both national and global levels and by extension the bio-based economy. The evolution of weather patterns once considered rare to common only serves to highlight a need for agricultural BAU (Business-As-Usual) models to adapt or face the consequences of not doing so.

Professor Robert Aiken a research crop scientist from the K-State Northwest Research-Extension Centre in January of this year outlined the agricultural issues that could surface in the United States if temperatures continue to rise. He focuses on the U.S. Central High Plains which run from west-central Texas through west-central Oklahoma, central Kansas, and south-central Nebraska.

The results of this could be damning for U.S. crop production. Yield potentials would diminish rapidly, triggered by higher night temperatures, which would weaken photo-protection systems in plant life (bio-chemical process that helps organisms cope with molecular damage caused by sunlight) and induce more persistent heat stress.

One positive to increasing temperatures, is that a warmer climate could extend the cultivation period for crops.

Chronic high temperatures will add to the evaporative demand of crop systems. This will lead to a rise in the water requirement for crop growth. Thus, agricultural water-systems will be working at an increased rate, an astounding prospect given the industry today is already the single largest user of freshwater resources, using a global average of 70% of all surface water supplies.

To put this in perspective, 60% of the world’s population rely on wheat, rice and maize for their total calorific intake. This could be hugely damaging given the production distribution of staples like these.

It is not only staple supply-chains that will be affected, with pressure put on production, iconic exports such as Champagne, Bordeaux wines and Java coffee will be in increasingly short supply. Decreases in crop supply will see surges in demand and prices will rise. The diminishing potential of crop production partnered with an inevitable increase in global population, expected to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 according to the UN/DESAcould have disastrous consequences for people around the world.

This summer, the United Kingdom is experiencing these symptoms of climate change with an almost unprecedented period of very hot weather.

Agriculturally, there has been significant disruption. Already farmers are fearing disastrous crop yields due the severe lack of rainfall. Decreased surface water levels have left farms in Derbyshire without water. This does not only offer problems for crop production but also for the well-being of livestock.

Evidence suggests that the continuance of agricultural processes as they are will see production become increasingly difficult to maintain.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has a clear vision to find a solution to the current climatic conundrum. They feel the solution can be found through the promotion of sustainable practices in various countries. According to the FAO, this would be achievable through the process of agroecology. This entails a series of social and environmental measures that aspire to the creation of a sustainable agricultural system that optimises and stabilises crop yields. Methods would be adaptable, dependent on the demands of a climate. Through this, the supply chain and methods employed could be determined efficiently by policy makers and implemented sustainable by agricultural industries. READ MORE includes VIDEO on Climate Smart Agriculture