Introduction
This article explores the effects of climate change on crop production. The article is jointly authored by several practicing agronomists. The article investigates the impacts of changes in temperature, precipitation, and carbon dioxide on the crop production process. The authors claim that understanding these impacts will aid in the development of newer cropping technologies that can counter these climatic changes. The article provides various learning points that are consistent with modern agronomy. This paper will explore three key learning points from this article as well as two personal reactions.
Main Body
One of the most important learning points in this article is the relationship between water consumption in crops and levels of carbon dioxide. This is because most people are of the view that water consumption is only related to temperature and precipitation. According to the article, an increase in carbon dioxide levels stimulates stomata closure on crops. Therefore, when the stomata have closed the intake of moisture through the leaves is drastically reduced.
The authors cite this reduction in moisture intake at above thirty-four percent (Hatfield et al. 353). When this process is underway, the plants are almost unable to undertake enough amounts of water. This process is often referred to as “Evapotranspiration”. Evapotranspiration is a topic that is rarely addressed in other agricultural forums. This makes it a valuable inclusion in this paper.
The other strong point in this article is the analysis of how individual crops react to changes in temperature. This kind of research is very important especially to practicing agriculturalists. The article also manages to focus on the world’s most important crops. These crops include maize, soybean, rice, wheat, and sorghum. Currently, there are fears that the amount of food being produced in the world is below the required portions. This is why research that focuses on leading food crops is very necessary at this time. The authors of this article are able to reveal important facts about food crops. For instance, the authors claim that if maize lacks water during the pollination stage, the effects are almost irreversible.
The article also covers the important subject of insects and pathogens. According to the article, climate changes have an effect on a farm’s ecosystem. This is in spite of the fact that there has not been any extensive research on this relationship. Previous studies indicate that there are both positive and negative impacts when it comes to the relationship between climate changes and insects. For example, the article notes that climate change leads to warmer winters thereby facilitating the survival of some insect and pathogen species. This interference to the ecosystem can have a huge impact on disease and pest control.
Conclusion
One of the sentences that impressed me the most in this article concerns food production. In this sentence, the authors pronounce that they have “summarized the effects of temperature on different species that are important to world food, feed, and fiber production” (Hatfield et al. 358). I find this line to be the hallmark of this article because it introduces a part of this article that is easy to relate to and synthesize. In another sentence, the article claims that “less attention has been given to ozone even though its concentrations have increased in the rural areas of United States over the past 50 years” (Hatfield et al. 356). I had not considered this issue before reading this article.
Works Cited
Hatfield, Jerry, et al. “Climate Impacts on Agriculture: Implications for Crop Production.” Agronomy Journal 103.2 (2011): 351-370. Print.