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Essay / The importance of climate change in agriculture
Farming has always been a challenge, some years the conditions work in favor of the farmer; most years the farmer must do his best without the full cooperation of nature. Understanding ecological principles and how these principles can be used to improve crop performance is useful to the farmer. This will surely become even more true as climate change brings new challenges and opportunities within the agricultural sector. Of the many agroecological principles that will be of value to farmers, as environmental factors change, adaptation will be most necessary to ensure food security. Farmers and scientists working in cooperation with natural adaptations, through participatory plant breeding projects, will be an important factor in sustainable development. agriculture in relation to climate change as well. However, there are many variables when it comes to global warming, and trying to create plants that will hopefully thrive in a changed climate would probably be a waste of time. As Sieglinde Snapp noted in Agricultural Systems: Agroecology and Rural Innovation for Development, “it is impossible to successfully develop highly specialized and adapted technology if the conditions under which it will be exploited are only vaguely known (2008). » is agreed, climate change will lead to higher temperatures, more frequent droughts and more frequent extreme weather events; changes in temperature, precipitation and carbon dioxide levels do not occur uniformly (Schimmelpfenning et al, 1996). Scientists and climate change modules disagree about the specific effects in a given area. Even before climate change became an issue, farmers were able to make decisions about when and when...... middle of paper ...... adaptability of food crop species. Although economic problems limit the ability of developing countries to increase their agricultural inputs, these regions may find an advantage in the fact that their agricultural practices tend to be more flexible. At the same time, technologies available to more developed countries are accelerating the development of new cultivars and improving the ability to understand and improve agricultural management practices. Ultimately, better results in developing agricultural systems that will provide a sustainable source of food for the entire world as climate change progresses; will be the result of a collaboration between scientists and farmers. When practices allowing greater agrobiodiversity are used, the level of sustainability of our agricultural systems will advance and agriculture can become truly adapted to the new global climate...