Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
their associated supply chains need to be managed sustainably,
as climate change is a major challenge to sustainable develop-
ment. Therefore, one of the biggest challenges is to sustain our
agricultural resource that is decreasing under such pressure.
Only through scientific agricultural practices will our work
with sustaining crop productivity be ready for the challenge to
meet the increasing demand against the background of reduc-
ing resources in a changing climate scenario, while also mini-
mising further environmental degradation. This would require
increased adaptation and mitigation research, capacity build-
ing, changes in policies, regional cooperation, support of global
adaptation and mitigation funds and other resources. Simple
adaptations such as, a change in planting dates and crop vari-
eties could help in reducing the impacts of climate change to
some extent. Changing varieties, such as changing the planting
date, is a first line of defence for farmers to consider (Wolfe
et al., 2008). Losses in wheat production can be reduced from
4 to 5 million tonnes to 1-2 million tonnes if a large percentage
of farmers could change to timely planting. This may, however,
not be easy to implement due to constraints associated with
some crops. Another optimisation strategy is 'deficit irrigation',
in which irrigation is applied during drought-sensitive growth
stages of crops. Outside these periods, irrigation is limited or
even unnecessary if rainfall provides a minimum supply of
water. Water restriction is limited to drought-tolerant pheno-
logical stages, often the vegetative stages and the late ripening
period. The total irrigation application is therefore not propor-
tional to the irrigation requirements throughout the crop cycle.
In other words, deficit irrigation aims at stabilising yields and
obtaining maximum crop water productivity rather than maxi-
mum yields (Zhang and Oweis, 1999). Additional strategies for
increasing our adaptive capacity include bridging yield gaps to
augment production, development of adverse climate-tolerant
genotypes and land use systems, assisting farmers in coping
with the current climatic risks by providing weather-linked
value-added advisory services and crop/weather insurance and
improved land and water use management and policies.
GE (genetically engineered) crops created by recombinant
DNA (rDNA) could be an overwhelming aid for increasing
the agricultural growth and productivity against rising tem-
peratures. Natural processes can be made more efficient and
directed through targeted modifications by means of muta-
tion, classical breeding or rDNA technology. Breeding for new
cultivars/varieties that are tolerant to higher temperatures are
likely to be advantageous under the changed climatic scenario,
