Managing resilience of forage crops to climate change through response diversity

Mäkinen, Hanna; Kaseva, Janne; Virkajärvi, Perttu; Kahiluoto, Helena

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2015.07.006

Cited by 34 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Mixing species or varieties that possess differing developmental cycles could help fully leverage the growing season, which is particularly important in northern locations such as Finland. Variability exists in the sensitivity of crop varieties to different agroclimatic factors as reported earlier for barley varieties [40] and the forage species and varieties [41] used in Finland. Such information could be utilized more when planning intercrop mixtures to secure yields from winter damage and excess precipitation, which are important in Finnish conditions.…”

Section: Advancing Intercroppingmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…In the face of climate change, the higher incidence of weather extremes and changes in the amount and timing of precipitation are likely to induce even more variation in yields between years [26]. Because the yield responses to climate and weather differ among Finnish field crop species and varieties [25,40,41], securing a yield via intercropping might serve as a safeguarding strategy towards increasing uncertainty. By combining crops and varieties that possess differing growth rhythms, sensitivity and compensational abilities, a farmer might have a better chance of obtaining a sufficient yield despite meeting varying challenges related to climate, weather or growth resources.…”

Section: The Potential Of Intercropping In Facing Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

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Engaging Farmers in Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Assessing Intercropping as a Means to Support Farm Adaptive Capacity

et al. 2016

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Abstract:Agriculture is one of the most vulnerable and adaptation-prone sources of livelihood facing climate change. Joint adaptation planning by farmers and researchers can help develop practically feasible and environmentally and economically sound adaptation actions as well as encourage the proactive building of farm adaptive capacity. Here, the perceptions of Finnish farmers and rural stakeholders regarding intercropping, the cultivation of two or more crop genotypes together in time and space, as a means to prepare for climate change, were collected in an open workshop. Our aim was to identify the potentials and challenges associated with intercropping, its role as an adaptation strategy, and in farm adaptive capacity. Qualitative analysis revealed better yield security, increased nutrient and protein self-sufficiency, soil conservation and maintenance, reduced pathogen pressure and regulation of water dynamics as the main perceived potentials of intercropping. Potentials relating to the farm economy and environment were also recognized. The main challenges associated with intercropping were related to the lack of information on crop variety performance and optimal yielding in mixtures, industry and policy requirements for seed purity, more complicated crop management and harvesting, and the economic risks associated with experimenting with novel mixtures. Nitrogen-fixing legumes; deep-rooted species, such as lucerne (Medicago sativa L.); special crops, such as herbs in forage mixtures; and autumn-sown winter oilseeds and cereals were highlighted as the most promising intercrops. Because the recognized potentials relate to the safeguarding of field cropping from anticipated climate change and the associated weather variability, we conclude that intercropping can serve as one adaptation strategy to strengthen the adaptive capacity of Finnish farms. However, assuring markets and policies that allow the development of intercropping, performing experiments to assess the benefits and implement options in practice, and providing farmers and farm advisors with more knowledge on the method represent the critical prerequisites for the broader adoption of intercropping.

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Section: Advancing Intercroppingmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: The Potential Of Intercropping In Facing Climate Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Engaging Farmers in Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Assessing Intercropping as a Means to Support Farm Adaptive Capacity

et al. 2016

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“…Diversity among responses to critical weather factors improves resilience at both sward and farm level (Mäkinen et al, 2015). Seed and variety mixtures with components that have both desired traits and complementary niches can exploit temporal and spatial variation in environmental conditions, and be more stable and robust compared to monocultures or simple mixtures.…”

Section: å Ergon Et Al European Journal Of Agronomy 92 (2018) 97-106mentioning

confidence: 99%

How can forage production in Nordic and Mediterranean Europe adapt to the challenges and opportunities arising from climate change?

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Seddaiu

Korhonen

et al. 2018

European Journal of Agronomy

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Climate change and its eﬀects on grassland productivity vary across Europe. The Mediterranean and Nordic regions represent the opposite ends of a gradient of changes in temperature and precipitation patterns, with increasingly warmer and wetter winters in the north and increasingly warmer and drier summers in the south. Warming and elevated concentration of atmospheric CO2 may boost forage production in the Nordic region. Production in many Mediterranean areas is likely to become even more challenged by drought in the future, but elevated CO2 can to some extent alleviate drought limitation on photosynthesis and growth. In both regions, climate change will aﬀect forage quality and lead to modiﬁcations of the annual productivity cycles, with an extended growing season in the Nordic region and a shift towards winter in the Mediterranean region. This will require adaptations in defoliation and fertilization strategies. The identity of species and mixtures with optimal performance is likelyto shift somewhat inresponse to altered climate and management systems. Itis argued that breeding of grassland species should aimto (i) improve plantstrategies to cope with relevant abiotic stresses and (ii) optimize growth and phenology to new seasonal variation, and that plant diversity at all levels is a good adaptation strategy

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“…Crop responses to climate change are expected to differ among species Mäkinen et al, 2015). For example, N-fixing species have been shown to be more responsive to elevated atmospheric [CO 2 ] than non-fixing species (Zanetti et al, 1996;Hebeisen et al, 1997;Lazzarotto et al, 2010).…”

Section: Biometry Modeling and Statisticsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicted Yield and Nutritive Value of an Alfalfa–Timothy Mixture under Climate Change and Elevated Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

et al. 2016

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Climate change studies have oft en focused on individual forage species although legume-grass mixtures are predominant on dairy farms in northern areas of North America. We assessed the eff ect of (i) future climate conditions (temperature and precipitation) and elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentration ([CO 2 ]), separately and together, on yield of alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and timothy (Phleum pratense L.), grown alone or in mixture, and (ii) an adaptation strategy (timing and number of harvests) on future yield and nutritive value of an alfalfa-timothy mixture. Forage dry matter (DM) yield and nutritive value for two contrasting climate areas in eastern Canada were simulated with the Integrated Farm System Model over two future periods (2020-2049 and 2050-2079) using three climate models and two representative concentration pathways (RCP 4.5 and 8.5) of greenhouse gas emissions. Under projected future climate and without adaptation, annual forage yield of both species and the mixture increased in the colder area and decreased in the warmer area. In both areas, fi rst-cut yield increased due to faster growing degree-day accumulation, while regrowth yield decreased due to greater water and temperature stresses. Under elevated [CO 2 ], annual yield and the alfalfa percentage in the mixture increased. When combining climate change and elevated [CO 2 ], yield increased, except with the more drastic scenario (RCP 8.5, 2050(RCP 8.5, -2079 in the warmer area, and forage nutritive value was reduced. With adaptation, the mixture yield was increased from 5 to 35%, while nutritive value was generally maintained under all future scenarios, mostly because of additional cuts.

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Managing resilience of forage crops to climate change through response diversity

Cited by 34 publications

References 52 publications

Engaging Farmers in Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Assessing Intercropping as a Means to Support Farm Adaptive Capacity

Engaging Farmers in Climate Change Adaptation Planning: Assessing Intercropping as a Means to Support Farm Adaptive Capacity

How can forage production in Nordic and Mediterranean Europe adapt to the challenges and opportunities arising from climate change?

Predicted Yield and Nutritive Value of an Alfalfa–Timothy Mixture under Climate Change and Elevated Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

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