HEARTBEAT OF EARTH - OPTIMISING AGRICULTURE PRODUCTIVITY

Celebrating the #WorldEarthDay on April 22nd I would like to draw your attention to the dynamic nature of global biosphere & climate conditions, which have a direct impact on the productivity of global agriculture.

About title-page animation

Taking the opportunity, I would like to share this appealing animation credited to B. Hennig at Woldmapper. The visualization depicts the continuous cycles in the productivity of global biosystems (based on modelling by Y. Malhi from the University of Oxford).

A cyclical pattern of gross primary productivity (GPP) – the net amount of energy produced by plants in photosynthesis – reflects annual changes of global biosphere zones (the proportion of country size & color key on a map reflects the degree of intensity of the GPP factor) and may resemble the rhythmic “heartbeat” of our planet.

Bearing in mind the dynamic nature of the climate & biosphere, agricultural practice should also adapt quickly to occurring changes.

Possible actions that can be done

How cropping systems can be adjusted? Possible adaptations include (suggested in Howden et al. 2007 review paper published in PNAS):

• Optimising cultivated crop's varieties/species to those with more tolerant to adverse wheather conditions (drought, frezing etc.).
• Adjusting fertilizing programs and to maintain grain or fruit quality consistent with the prevailing climate.
• Altering amounts and timing of irrigation and other actions associated with water management.
• More frequent applications of technologies to “harvest” water, conserve soil moisture (e.g., crop residue retention) for agriculture.
• Proper water management to prevent water logging, erosion, and nutrient leaching due to extensive rainfall..
• Adjusting the timing or location of crops sowing & planting.
• Diversification of agriculture production incomes by other farming activities such as livestock raising.
• Improving the effectiveness of pest, disease, and weed management practices through wider use of integrated pest and pathogen management (application of varieties and species resistant to pests and diseases, maintaining quarantine capabilities and monitoring programs, crop rotation & agrotechnics).
• Applying climate forecasting & trends modeling to reduce unexpected risks.

Global risks

Map of global agricultural risks associated with climate changing (source: European Environment Agency, EU; Cline W. 2007, Global warming and agriculture):

Further reading

• Data/ Image source (title-page GIF): MODIS GPP/NPP Project (MOD17); Worldmapper.
• European Environment Agency (EU), Cline W. 2007, Global warming and agriculture; https://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/figures/projected-impact-of-climate-change.
• Howden, S. M., Soussana, J. F., Tubiello, F. N., Chhetri, N., Dunlop, M., & Meinke, H. (2007). Adapting agriculture to climate change. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences, 104(50), 19691-19696; ; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0701890104.

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