Effect of Climate Change on Agricultural Crops

Abstract

Crop production is vulnerable to climate variability, and climate change associated with increases in temperature, increases in CO2, and changing patterns of rainfall may lead to a considerable decline in crop production. Also, extreme weather events such as droughts, extreme heat waves, and heavy rainfall leading to floods have increased in past decades. Enhancing crop production to meet rising demands owing to the increasing population, against the background of the threats of climate change, is a challenging task. Therefore we require more attention to adaptation and mitigation research, capacity building, change in policies, national/regional cooperation, and the support of national/global adaptation funds and other resources to minimize adverse impacts. Adaptation to climate variability and extreme events serves as the basis for reducing vulnerability to long-term climate change. Simple adaptation practices such as using climate-ready crops or thermal stress-tolerant varieties, adjusting planting dates, improving water conservation and management practices, using efficient irrigation and fertilizer management, diversifying crops, and improving pest management could help reduce the impacts of climate change. Apart from those, reliable local weather information and early warning systems for farmers will be useful in minimizing risks of climatic threats. © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.