Climate Change and Agriculture

Climate change and agriculture are interrelated processes. Climate change affects agriculture in a number of ways, including through changes in average temperatures, rainfall, precipitation, change in pests and diseases, change in atmospheric carbon dioxide and ground level, ozone concentrations, changes in sea level, and changes in the nutritional quality of some foods.

Despite technological advances, such as improved varieties, genetically modified organisms and irrigation system, weather is still a key factor in agricultural productivity, as well as soil properties and natural communities. The effects of climate change on agriculture is related to variabilities in local climates rather than in global climate patterns. Consequently in making an assessment, agronomist must consider each local area.

Population increase is a determining factor that must be immediately taken into consideration. According to the United Nations Department of Economics and Social Affairs(UNDESA), it can increase to 9.7 billion. At the same time, crop yields mainly grain and corn could decrease by 50% over next 35 years because of altered climatic condition.

By looking deeper, we can observe that animal agriculture and deforestation it causes were responsible for about one fifth(21%) of all CO₂ emissions in the decade from 2000 to 2010 (approximately 44 billion tonnes) and future land infertility and the displacement of the local species. This occurs because agriculture needs an increasing amount of space alongside massive amounts of chemical fertilizers now that the demand for meat and its product has increased dramatically in developing countries like Nepal. This damaging forests, which in turn would be able to absorb CO₂ and anthropic(man - made) emissions.

            Most of the time, when agriculture penetrates its crimes, it isn't even contributing to feeding the ever increasing population. In fact, 95% of soy produced in the world is consumed in the farm. Animals (mostly bovine) demonstrates this conflict. Also according to a study conducted in the Chalmers university of technology in Goteborg, Sweden, this means that producing on kg of bovine meat require 200 kilos of CO₂ emissions. There are 700 millions of pigs in china alone, one for every two citizens. In order to feed these animals, Beijing imports 80 million tonnes of soy where endless fields of soy are destroying one of the most biodiverse places in the world.

            Agriculture in Nepal is more vulnerable to climate change because 64% of the cultivated land is rain fed and two third of the population has agriculture based livelihood (Malla, 2008). Despite many efforts possible on combating impacts of climate change, there are still difficulties in Nepalese Agriculture. With an average of 0.06%/year, a rise in temperature from 1975 to 2006 by 1.8⁰C has been recorded in the country. Problems of frequent drought, severe floods, landslides and mixed type of agricultural crops have been experienced in Nepal because of climate change. Study done on CO₂ enrichment technology at Khumaltar revealed that the yield of rice and wheat increased by 26.6% and 18.8% to dounle CO₂, 17.1% and 8.6% due to increase in temperature respectively. A crop simulation model (DSSAT) to study the effects of CO₂, temperature and rain in NARC showed positive effect in yield of rice in all region, but negative effect in maize respectively in terai.

            Thus in agriculture, the time has come for the authorities to find out adaptive measure to mitigate the effects to reduce untold natural calamities due to recent erratic weather pattern.