SOIL CARBON AND CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS

From Kansas State University's:

Consortium for Agricultural Soils Mitigation of Greenhouse Gases (CASMGS)

http://soilcarboncenter.k-state.edu

Charles W. Rice, K-State Department of Agronomy, National CASMGS Director

(785) 532-7217 cwrice@ksu.edu

Scott Staggenborg, K-State Department of Agronomy (785) 532-7214 sstaggen@ksu.edu

Steve Watson, CASMGS Communications (785) 532-7105 swatson@ksu.edu

November 10, 2011

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Climate Impacts on Agriculture:

Implications for Crop Production

A recent review article in Agronomy Journal focused on the impact of temperature, CO_2, and ozone on agronomic crops -- and the implications for crop production. Understanding these implications for agricultural crops is critical for developing cropping systems resilient to stresses induced by climate change.

There is variation among crops in their response to CO₂, temperature, and precipitation changes. With the regional differences in predicted climate, a situation is created in which the responses will be further complicated.

For example, the temperature effects on soybean could potentially cause yield reductions of 2.4% in the South but an increase of 1.7% in the Midwest. The frequency of years when temperatures exceed thresholds for damage during critical growth stages is likely to increase for some crops and regions. The increase in CO₂ contributes significantly to enhanced plant growth and improved water use efficiency; however, there may be a downscaling of these positive impacts due to higher temperatures plants will experience during their growth cycle.

A challenge is to understand the interactions of the changing climatic parameters because of the interactions among temperature, CO₂, and precipitation on plant growth and development and also on the biotic stresses of weeds, insects, and diseases. Agronomists will have to consider the variations in temperature and precipitation as part of the production system if they are to ensure the food security required by an ever increasing population.

-- Agronomy Journal, March 2011, Vol. 103, No. 2

https://www.agronomy.org/publications/aj/abstracts/103/2/351