Economic Aspects of Genetic Resources in Addressing Agricultural Productivity in the Context of Climate Change

Nhemachena, Charles; Matchaya, Greenwell; Nhlengethwa, Sibusiso; Nhemachena, Charity R.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-41238-2_9

“…The biophysical impacts results on alterations on agricultural production conditions for crops, livestock, and fisheries due to increasing temperatures, variability in rainfall patterns, intensity, and frequency of extreme events. For example, the agriculture production season could be affected by change in climate and variability through altering suitability of agricultural production conditions and shortening the length of the production season [45]. Socio-economic impacts of climate change on agriculture range from: Reduced yields and production; reduced agriculture GDP; increased hunger and food security risks and number of people affected; changes in trade pattern and regimes across regions; fluctuations in world food prices; and civil and migration unrest [44].…”

Section: Implications Of Water and Food Insecurity On Sustainable Devmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Figures 6 and 7 below demonstrates the projected climate change impacts on cereal and agriculture productivity in Africa, respectively. conditions and shortening the length of the production season [45]. Socio-economic impacts of climate change on agriculture range from: Reduced yields and production; reduced agriculture GDP; increased hunger and food security risks and number of people affected; changes in trade pattern and regimes across regions; fluctuations in world food prices; and civil and migration unrest [44].…”

Section: Implications Of Water and Food Insecurity On Sustainable Devmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate Change Impacts on Water and Agriculture Sectors in Southern Africa: Threats and Opportunities for Sustainable Development

Nhemachena

¹

,

Nhamo

²

,

Matchaya

³

et al. 2020

Water

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Agriculture remains important in driving economic transformation, sustainable livelihoods, and development in developing countries. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis and discussion of climate change impacts on water and agriculture sectors and implications for the attainment of developmental outcomes such as food security, poverty reduction, and sustainable development in Southern Africa. The review gives policy messages for coping, adapting, and building resilience of water and agricultural production systems in the face of projected changes in climate and variability. The aim is to guide the region towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Future projections for Southern Africa indicate reduced rainfall, increased temperatures, and high variability for the greater part of the region with severe reductions on the drier and marginal western parts. These impacts have profound implications for agriculture performance and contribution to national and regional developmental goals. The region is projected to experience reductions of between 15% and 50% in agricultural productivity, a scenario that would exacerbate food insecurity in the region. The challenge is to increase productivity on current arable land through efficient and sustainable management of available water and energy, and at the same time reducing pressure on the environment. Affordability and accessibility of innovative adaptation measures on water resources remain critical and these strategies should be part of broader sustainable development efforts. Overall, efforts to enhance agricultural productivity need to emphasise investments in sustainable management and use of water and energy resources in agriculture to achieve sustainable economic growth and livelihoods.

show abstract

“…As cotton is grown by small-scale farmers in high-risk environments, the results illustrate the suitability of these three varieties to the northern Zimbabwe environment. Adopting the three varieties to the Zimbabwean conditions illustrate Nhemachena et al (2016)'s assertion that new crop varieties will be needed to cope with climate change. Areas with shortened seasons result in low yield potential, affecting agricultural productivity.…”

Section: Cotton Varietiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tied Ridges and Better Cotton Breeds for Climate Change Adaptation

Mandumbu

¹

,

Nyawenze²,

Rugare

³

et al. 2021

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

4

0

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change and variability is already reducing agricultural productivity and opportunities for employment, pushing up food prices and affecting food availability and production of formerly adapted crop types. Such is the case in cotton production in Zimbabwe, where it was the only viable commercial crop in marginal areas. As a form of adaptation, there is need for African farmers to have a range of agricultural techniques as coping strategies and tactics to enable sustainable production of crops and deal with extreme events. Such techniques include water conservation and introduction of new adapted crop genetics to cope with the new environment. The emerging trends in climate change will force farmers to adopt new crops and varieties and forms of agricultural production technologies. The objective of this study is to determine the contribution of combining in-field water harvesting and early maturing cotton varieties in curbing drought in cotton in semiarid Zimbabwe. The results show that both water harvesting in form of planting basins significantly (P <0.05) increased boll number and branch number of cotton across all varieties. The varieties M577 and M567 out-performed the conventional varieties in early growth, branch number, and boll number. Tied contour ridges gave a significantly (P <0.05) higher moisture content in 0–5 cm and the 6–10 cm depth compared to conventional tillage. The new varieties displayed early phenological development. Despite the existence of rainfall gaps, the in-field water harvesting techniques captured enough moisture and prevented moisture losses through runoff which resulted successful flowering and fruiting in the short varieties compared to conventional tillage on conventional varieties. In this regard, water harvesting and early maturing varieties offer considerable hope for increasing crop production in arid and semiarid areas of Zimbabwe.

show abstract

Tied Ridges and Better Cotton Breeds for Climate Change Adaptation

Mandumbu

¹

,

Nyawenze²,

Rugare

³

et al. 2020

African Handbook of Climate Change Adaptation

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Climate change and variability is already reducing agricultural productivity and opportunities for employment, pushing up food prices and affecting food availability and production of formerly adapted crop types. Such is the case in cotton production in Zimbabwe, where it was the only viable commercial crop in marginal areas. As a form of adaptation, there is need for African farmers to have a range of agricultural techniques as coping strategies and tactics to enable sustainable production of crops and deal with extreme events. Such techniques include water conservation and introduction of new adapted crop genetics to cope with the new environment. The emerging trends in climate change will force farmers to adopt new crops and varieties and forms of agricultural production technologies. The objective of this study is to determine the contribution of combining in-field water harvesting and early maturing cotton varieties in curbing drought in cotton in semiarid Zimbabwe. The results show that both water harvesting in form of planting basins significantly (P <0.05) increased boll number and branch number of cotton across all varieties. The varieties M577 and M567 out-performed the conventional varieties in early growth, branch number, and boll number. Tied contour ridges gave a significantly (P <0.05) higher moisture content in 0–5 cm and the 6–10 cm depth compared to conventional tillage. The new varieties displayed early phenological development. Despite the existence of rainfall gaps, the in-field water harvesting techniques captured enough moisture and prevented moisture losses through runoff which resulted successful flowering and fruiting in the short varieties compared to conventional tillage on conventional varieties. In this regard, water harvesting and early maturing varieties offer considerable hope for increasing crop production in arid and semiarid areas of Zimbabwe.

show abstract

Economic Aspects of Genetic Resources in Addressing Agricultural Productivity in the Context of Climate Change

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

Climate Change Impacts on Water and Agriculture Sectors in Southern Africa: Threats and Opportunities for Sustainable Development

Climate Change Impacts on Water and Agriculture Sectors in Southern Africa: Threats and Opportunities for Sustainable Development

Tied Ridges and Better Cotton Breeds for Climate Change Adaptation

Tied Ridges and Better Cotton Breeds for Climate Change Adaptation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About