Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
12
Climate Change Adaptation
Abstract
There is a need to improve and promote existing management strategies
for dealing with climate variability. This will enhance farmers' capacity to
plan for, and deal with, extreme events (droughts, fl oods, fi re, hail, etc.) in
the medium and longer term. Using climate forecasts at a range of time
scales to make preemptive, tactical management adjustments will help to
track the early stages of climate change, until the longer-term trends and
necessary adaptations in particular regions become clearer.
It is important to note that many climate adaptation options are similar
to existing “best practice” and good natural resource management and do
not require farmers to make radical changes to their operations and indus-
tries in the near term. These options can, and should, be prioritized as part
of a “no regrets” or win-win strategy for agriculture because they will
provide immediate and ongoing benefi ts, as well as prepare the sector for
climate change.
Information delivery to farmers from climate analyses can be enhanced
by providing projections of management and policy-relevant weather met-
rics (e.g., cold indices for stone fruit), providing climate information at
scales relevant to the decisions being made, and combining information on
both climate variability and trends in seasonal and medium-term (decadal)
forecasts. Biotechnology and traditional plant and animal breeding have
the potential to develop new “climate-ready” varieties and new crops or
pastures preadapted to future climates. Plant nutrition can be adjusted by
measures such as precision fertilizer use, legume rotations, and varietal
selection to maintain the quality of grain, fruit, fi ber, and forage sources.
Irrigation effi ciency will become critical as water resources become more
constrained. This can be assisted by identifying less water-intensive pro-
duction options, by developing better water delivery technologies, and by
implementing water markets and water-sharing arrangements. Soil and
water conservation methods and new systems become even more important
as climates fl uctuate more and extreme events become more frequent.
Biosecurity, quarantine, monitoring, and control measures can be strength-
ened to control the spread of pests, weeds, and diseases under a warming
Search WWH ::
Custom Search