Down the years, farmers have always taken new crop varieties in their strides and have changed their farming practices to get along with ecological changes. But now scientists have expressed their anxiety about the ability of farmers to keep pace with the fast changing climate conditions; they fear that any laxity will set off food crisis all over the world.
The Crop Science Society of America (CSSA) has released a position statement titled “Crop Adaptation to Climate Change” that delves in detail about the priorities and best ways to forestall and manage the impacts of climate change in present and future agricultural systems, and assists policy makers, fund providers and scientists in their efforts.
The statement, an in depth research by a group of scientists from industry and academia, evaluates the impacts of changing weather and climate conditions on the present cropping systems, describes the developments made in bringing in new crops and farming practices to the changed conditions, and stresses on important areas where speedier adaptation in practices is required globally.
The position statement anticipates sudden and drastic changes in temperatures leading to undue rainfall and increased level of heat and famine conditions that will impact the yield of crops and quality, thus creating problems in meeting the food requirement of around 9 to 10 billion populations by the year 2050. It further expects that such erratic weather conditions will make the world’s volatile areas more prone to insecurity due to increased level of poverty and hunger.
The statement stresses for more research programs to recognize the molecular, genetic and physiological basis of adaptation to biological stress, heat and drought. It suggests for a strong and green infrastructure to interpret new information into the farming practices and develop new practices and technologies to maintain and improve food production
Source: https://www.crops.org/