by Lenna Gonya

Created on: August 17, 2010   Last Updated: August 18, 2010

Developing countries depend on annual crops for food as well as medicinal uses. It is also the bulk of their economy. When traditional crops can no longer thrive in changing climatic conditions, adjustments need to be made to provide growers with alternatives. While more developed countries could survive and more readily adapt to changes in plant growth patterns, due to other resources, developing countries are at serious risk without some changes.

Crops around the world are being affected by various climatic changes, that range from extreme heat and drought to excessive rainfall and flooding. Not only do these conditions affect plants directly, they also result in an increase in other detrimental conditions, including disease and insect damage.

In areas where rainfall has been reduced, and crops such as rice are the mainstay of the economy, rice varieties with shorter growing seasons have been introduced. In addition, plants that require less water are being grown and introduced into the economy. Crops that are resistant to disease and insects are also being developed and introduced.

Inhabitants of countries most effected by changes in weather and climate conditions are also faced with the challenge of conserving water and other natural resources, such as forested land, and the soil itself. In areas where agriculture is based on the products produced by trees, there is a push to develop and introduce varieties that require less water.

The conservation of wetlands, and the ability to collect rainwater are two more goals toward sustaining agriculture in areas that have been affected by a changing climate, as well as the very method of planting. Planting crops at different times, in conjunction with rainy seasons, planting areas with less plants per acre, and rotating crops are being investigated around the world as possible solutions.

In extremely arid parts of the world, soil preservation is needed to provide protection for the topsoil that is instrumental in agriculture, and to prevent the same situation that occurred in the Dust Bowl in the U.S.

Worldwide, teams of researchers are mapping out plans to maintain agriculture in areas where the climate has changed. They are using techniques of planting, varying crops, conservation, and the science of controlling pests and weeds to further enhance their success. It will take some adapting, but in time, economies will adjust to new methods of agriculture that will benefit provide for both food and a means of sustaining their economy.

http://www.scidev.net/en/opinions/agriculture-can-ad apt-to-climate-change.html

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