Impact of climate change on arid lands agriculture

Abstract

<p>Abstract</p> <p>The planet earth, on which we live in communities, is being increasingly 'ruptured' because of human activities; its carrying capacity is under great stress because of demographic pressures. The pressure is especially affecting the people living in the dry areas because of the marginal and fragile nature of the resources they have access to. There are over 2,000 million hectares of land that have been degraded, with a loss of agrobiodiversity, increased water scarcity and increased natural resource destruction. Superimposed on this is the fact that the neglectful and exploitive use of natural resources has set the train of global climate change in motion.</p> <p>It is anticipated that the impact of climate change will cut across all boundaries. Crops, cropping systems, rotations and biota will undergo transformation. To maintain the balance in the system, there is a need for new knowledge, alternative policies and institutional changes. The marginalized people in dry areas are likely to be most seriously hit by the shifts in moisture and temperature regimes as a result of the global climate change. To help them cope with the challenges, there is a need for a new paradigm in agricultural research and technology transfer that makes full use of modern science and technology in conjunction with traditional knowledge. This necessitates more investment by international agencies and national governments for supporting the relevant integrated research and sustainable development efforts, with full participation of the target communities. Only such an approach can enable the vulnerable communities of the dryland areas to use the natural resources in a sustainable manner and thus help protect the environment for future generations.</p> <p>The clock is ticking and the future of the world lies in the collective responsibility and wisdom of all nations on this planet. This should be reflected in the endorsement of a solid future plan.</p

Assessing Potential Climate Change Impacts on Irrigation Requirements of Major Crops in the Brazos Headwaters Basin, Texas

“…The magnitude of runoff was very similar for the four crops. Results of this study are well within the values of other studies [5,20] that report the dominance of evapotranspiration under arid and semi-arid climates. The north and west parts of Texas, including Brazos Headwaters Basin, receive a small amount of rainfall, and irrigation is critical to supplement the moisture deficit.…”

Performance of Ethiopian bread wheat (Tritium aestivum L.) genotypes under contrasting water regimes: potential sources of variability for drought resistance breeding

“…Genetic variability for any trait of interest is the first and foremost requirement for the success of any breeding program (El-Beltagy and Madkour, 2012;Tadesse et al, 2012). The Ethiopian wheat germplasm was extensively studied for its variability in agro-morphological and molecular traits (Alamerew et al, 2004;Belay et al, 1993;Hailu et al, 2006;Pecetti and Damania, 1996;Tesfaye et al, 1991).…”

Changes in henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) morphological traits under different deficit irrigations in the southern Tunisia

“…In the arid and semi-arid Mediterranean climates, rainfall is scarce and unreliable resulting in various abiotic stresses, generally, heat, drought and salinity (El-Beltagy and Madkour, 2012). Besides, drought is an abiotic factor that limits the development and productivity of crops.…”