Agriculture

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Chenyao Yang

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Guest Editor

College of Agronomy, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Interests: crop modelling; agriclimatology; climate impact assessment; climate change adaptation; agro-environmental impacts

Dr. Andrej Ceglar

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Guest Editor

Climate Change Centre, European Central Bank, Sonnemanstrasse 20, 60314 Frankfurt, Germany
Interests: climate change; climate extremes; atmospheric predictability; compound events; climate risk; climate change impacts

Dr. Joao Carlos Andrade dos Santos

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Guest Editor

Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environmental and Biological Sciences, CITAB, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, UTAD, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Interests: climate modeling; climate impact research; climate change adaptation; meteorology; crop model simulations
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Cropping production systems are inherently vulnerable to climate change and variability. Anthropogenic-driven global warming, associated with elevated CO₂ concentration and accompanied by altered regional precipitation patterns, is expected to negatively affect local crop productivity and thus exacerbate food insecurities in many regions worldwide. Crop and climate models are essential tools to estimate the impacts of projected climate change and explore possible adaptation options. Such an exercise is beneficial for assessing regional food security prospects and provides crucial information to aid decision-making for local farmers and policymakers. However, such risk assessments are challenging because numerous sources of uncertainty exist, such as uncertainties from the trajectories of future greenhouse gas emissions, different climate model projections, downscaling methods and crop model structures and parameters, etc. Additionally, climate change effects are also dependent on the studied cropping system, time slice, target region, and current climate conditions. Therefore, accurate and robust assessments call for the need to embrace innovations and new approaches in quantifying and reducing these uncertainties.

This Special Issue focuses on developing novel methods for use in applications of agricultural (crop) and/or climate models that address uncertainties during climate change impact assessment. We are seeking good-quality interdisciplinary studies from a variety of disciplines, including disciplines of agro-environmental study, plant physiology, soil and cultivation, and computer science. We encourage the submission of studies and articles that explore the use of climate projections at different spatial and temporal scales and consider interactions between crop genotypes, environmental components, and management factors. Original research articles and reviews are accepted.

Dr. Chenyao Yang
Dr. Andrej Ceglar
Dr. Joao Carlos Andrade dos Santos
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agriculture is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

cropping systems
climate change
climate risk
adaptation strategy
agro-environmental impacts
climate projections
crop modelling
impact assessment
uncertainty assessment
multi-model ensemble

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 3142 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Climate-Induced Risk Assessment of Rural and Urban Agroforestry Managers of Aizawl District, Northeast India

by Pentile Thong, Uttam Thangjam, Uttam Kumar Sahoo, Raul Pascalau, Piotr Prus and Laura Smuleac

Agriculture 2023, 13(10), 2013; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13102013 - 17 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1133

Abstract

Climate change exerts a substantial influence on global livelihood security. This research aims to elucidate the risk faced by agroforestry managers of urban and rural areas. Adhering to the IPCC risk framework, we structured the experimental design and adopted an indicator-based methodology to delineate the risk dimensions. Altogether, 105 households from 7 villages in Aizawl district, Mizoram, India, were considered for the study. For indicator identification, we conducted a comprehensive literature review and subsequently employed principal component analysis to select relevant indicators. Finally, risk was determined using the index value of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Additionally, we also developed a regression model and integrated it into ArcGIS to generate a spatial risk map. Out of 69 indicators identified, 52 were selected for final assessment after PCA analysis. Our findings underscore the higher susceptibility of urban agroforestry managers to climate change which was in agreement to our hypothesis that the risk index of agroforestry households increases with altitude while it decreases with the distance from Aizawl headquarter. Furthermore, we observed that households residing at higher altitudes exhibit greater vulnerability. Key determinants contributing to elevated risk in the region encompass land ownership constraints, diminished yields, traditional farming practices with no institutional help, and a dearth of available labour resources. The study advocates the implementation of climate smart agroforestry practices integrated with agricultural credit schemes and an educational policy designed to enrol dropout youths. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Modelling Climate Change Impacts on Cropping Systems)

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Review

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19 pages, 3323 KiB

Open AccessReview

Reviewing the Adverse Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Measures on Almond Trees (Prunus dulcis)

by Teresa R. Freitas, João A. Santos, Ana P. Silva and Helder Fraga

Agriculture 2023, 13(7), 1423; https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13071423 - 19 Jul 2023

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2613

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most emergent environmental challenges, with rising global temperatures, changes in precipitation regimes, and an increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Climate change impacts on the agrarian sector are being experienced across the world and are expected to be aggravated in the upcoming decades. Almond fruits are highly sought after due to their economic and nutritional interest, which contribute to their spread throughout the world. In 2021, the world almond production was approximately 3.9 × 10⁶ t with upward of 4.9 × 10³ t year⁻¹. Despite being relatively drought- and heat-resistant, this species is also vulnerable to climate change, particularly its production, which is highly dependent on soil water content and air temperature. To address the challenges of climate change, farmers and other stakeholders in the almond industry are increasingly adopting a range of adaptation measures, such as implementing irrigation systems and planting more drought-tolerant almond varieties. This manuscript describes the impacts of climate change on almond cultivation, reviewing the most recent studies on the subject. Furthermore, a comprehensive analysis of possible adaptation strategies against the potentially negative impacts is carried out, which might be of relevance to almond producers and other stakeholders operating in this value chain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Modelling Climate Change Impacts on Cropping Systems)

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