Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
affected by the impact of climate change with citriculture no exception.
Rising carbon dioxide levels due to anthropogenic greenhouse gases may
have both, detrimental and beneficial effect on citrus productivity through
dynamic changes in soil fertility. The overall effects of climate change
on citrus will depend on balance of these effects. Climate change is not
local but global, however, the variability in climate change in different
citrus growing belts is different. Hence, the issues of climate change on
citriculture need to be handled at local level in order to harness an ensured
sustainability in quality production. However, it is not easy for a citrus
orchardist to respond promptly in order to change crop species or variety
under climate change situation. This needs a thorough understanding of
the near future patterns of climate change at a regional level and to act
accordingly. While the future climate change will dictate the choice of
different combat technologies, the present day situation is to be handled
carefully for meeting the current demand of citrus fruits. This not only de-
mands for deeper study on climate change scenario but also on its impact
on the factor productivity. Therefore, the challenges ahead are to have sus-
tainability and competitiveness in addition to achieve target production in
the environment of declining land and water resources coupled with threat
of climate change.
With climate change, soil degradation is more likely to occur, and soil
fertility would probably be affected. However, because the ratio of carbon-
to-nitrogen is a constant, a doubling of soil carbon is likely to imply a
higher sink capacity of nitrogen in soil, thus providing better opportuni-
ties for soil fertility improvements. On the other hand, high precipitation
will lead of higher magnitude of hydration of soil, thereby releasing some
of the nutrients, especially the swell-shrink soils (smectite rich soils), for
example, K extracted through 1 N neutral NH 4 OAc which was highest
order during July August (311.6 mg kg -1 ) compared to April May (148.2
mg kg -1 ) according to our earlier studies (Srivastava, 2011), and adopt-
ing site specific nutrient management could restore a greater amount of
nonexchangeable-K compared to conventional fertilizer practices.
11.3.1 FRUIT YIELD AND QUALITY
Higher temperatures can increase the capacity of air to absorb water va-
por and consequently, generate a higher demand for water. Higher
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