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Impacts of Climate Change and Extreme Events on Agricultural Production

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Agriculture".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 8403

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ning Yao

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Guest Editor

School of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China
Interests: drought assessment; climate change; DSSAT model; drought risk assessment; spatial and temporal variability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Jian Liu

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Guest Editor

College of Water Conservancy & Architectural Engineering, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832000, Xinjiang, China
Interests: regional climate model; crop model simulation; impact of climate extremes on agricultural production

Dr. Na Li

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Guest Editor

Faculty of Modern Agricultural Engineering, Kunming University of Science and Technology, Kunming 650500, China
Interests: climate change; agricultural production; adaptation measures; crop modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Olusola Olaitan Ayantobo

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Department of Hydraulic Engineering, Tsinghua University, 30 Shuangqing Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100084, China
Interests: hydrology and water resources management; hydrological modeling; climate change impacts and risk; variability of atmospheric moisture transport; stochastic hydrology; drought and flood frequency analysis; spatial variability of weather and climate extreme events

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last 100 years, the Earth's climate has been experiencing a significant warming trend, and global surface temperature is on the rise. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) noted that the global average surface temperature increased by about 0.85 ◦C from 1880 to 2012. As the global temperature rises and the frequency of extreme events increases, climate change will have effects on the security of food, water, and ecology. Agricultural production is extremely dependent on climatic conditions, because photosynthetically active radiation, air temperature, and water are driving forces for crop growth. Therefore, it is crucial

to quantify the impact of climate change and extreme events on agricultural production.

This Special Issue aims to analyze the temporal and spatial patterns of climate change and extreme events (including extreme temperature, extreme precipitation, and extreme drought, etc.). Potential tools, such as crop models, were used to quantify the impact of climate change and extreme events on agricultural production. Finally, agricultural measures to cope with climate change and extreme events are proposed. This has important significance to reduce the risk of agricultural production.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but not limited to) the following:

Impact of climate change on agricultural production;
Effects of extreme temperature events on agricultural production;
Effects of extreme precipitation events on agricultural production;
Assessment of the impact of drought on crop production;
Crop model simulation under drought conditions;
Climate change adaptation measures.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ning Yao
Dr. Jian Liu
Dr. Na Li
Dr. Olusola Olaitan Ayantobo
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. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2400 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

climate change
extreme events
drought
crop model
agricultural production
climate impacts
climate change adaptation planning

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 2017 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimation of Crops Future Irrigation Water Needs in a Mediterranean Plain

by Dimitris K. Papanastasiou, Stavros Keppas, Dimitris Melas and Nikolaos Katsoulas

Sustainability 2023, 15(21), 15548; https://doi.org/10.3390/su152115548 - 2 Nov 2023

Viewed by 773

Abstract

Agriculture is a vulnerable sector to climate change due to its sensitivity to weather conditions. Changes in climatic parameters such as temperature and precipitation significantly affect productivity as well as the consumption of natural resources like water to meet irrigation water needs. There has been a large amount of research on regional climate change. However, this study placed specific crops at first place and considered their irrigation water needs that will arise due to evapotranspiration increase. The aim of this study was to estimate the future irrigation water needs of wheat, cotton, and alfalfa in the east part of Thessaly Plain in central Greece, where Lake Karla, a recently restored lake, is located. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model was applied as a high-resolution regional climate model to simulate temperature and precipitation for two 5-year periods, namely 2046–2050 (future period) and 2006–2010 (reference period). Simulations refer to the RCP8.5 emission scenario (worst-case). A methodology proposed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations was followed to estimate the reference crop evapotranspiration, the crop evapotranspiration based on each crop factor, which was determined for each crop, the effective rainfall, and finally, the irrigation water needs for each crop, for the two 5-year periods. Based on WRF simulations, temperature was projected to be 1.1 °C higher in the future period compared to the reference period, while precipitation and effective precipitation were projected to decrease by 32% and 45%, respectively. Based on the WRF projections, by 2025, the irrigation water needs of wheat and alfalfa are expected to increase by more than 16% and more than 11%, respectively, while irrigation water needs of cotton are expected to increase by 7%. An extension of wheat’s irrigation period for one month (i.e., December) was also identified. Good practices that could be applied in the frame of precision agriculture principles in order to save irrigation water were suggested. The results of this study could be exploited by water resources and land use managers when planning short and long-term strategies to adapt to climate change impacts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Climate Change and Extreme Events on Agricultural Production)

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16 pages, 4747 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Vulnerability Assessment of Potato Growth to Climate Change Based on GIS in Inner Mongolia, China

by Li-Tao Yang, Yong-Gang Sun, Chuan Jiang, Jun-Fang Zhao and Jin-Xia Qian

Sustainability 2023, 15(19), 14607; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151914607 - 9 Oct 2023

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Abstract

Since 2016, the potato has gradually become the fourth major staple food in China, and the potato planting area and total output in Inner Mongolia rank among the top in the country. Potato is a climate dominant crop in Inner Mongolia, and it is an urgent requirement to study the impact of the potato’s climate vulnerability and effectively avoid climate risks to ensure national food security. An index system for a vulnerability assessment of potato production in Inner Mongolia was established based on GIS and AHP. Based on the definition of vulnerability and the theory of disaster risk, a comprehensive evaluation model of potato growth vulnerability was established. The results showed that the potato production in central Inner Mongolia was highly vulnerable, while the potato production in eastern and western Inner Mongolia was relatively vulnerable. Central Ulanqab, southern Hohhot, southern Baotou and southwestern Xilin Gol League were most vulnerable. The eastern part of Hulunbuir, Xingan League, Tongliao City and the southern part of Ordos City are the least vulnerable areas, while Chifeng, Bayannur and most other parts of northern Ordos City are moderately vulnerable areas. According to the different influencing factors of climate change vulnerability in major potato producing areas, different countermeasures should be taken respectively. The results can provide a scientific basis for the sustainable development of potato production in autonomous regions. The research results were approved by the national Potato Meteorological Service Center. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Climate Change and Extreme Events on Agricultural Production)

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22 pages, 5102 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Use of Fertilizers and Pesticides in Wheat Production in the Main European Countries

by Valentina Constanta Tudor, Paula Stoicea, Irina-Adriana Chiurciu, Elena Soare, Adina Magdalena Iorga, Toma Adrian Dinu, Livia David, Marius Mihai Micu, Dragos Ion Smedescu and Eduard Alexandru Dumitru

Sustainability 2023, 15(4), 3038; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15043038 - 7 Feb 2023

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4142

Abstract

The aspects highlighted in this paper refer to the application of fertilizers and plant protection products to the wheat crop, and their impact on total production, competitiveness in export markets, price optimization as a result of increased harvest quality, and not least row, ensuring farmers’ incomes. The present analysis concerned the areas cultivated with wheat, and the productions achieved in relation to the quantities of fertilizers and protection products used in wheat cultivation, in Romania, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Hungary, Poland and the UK. The analysis highlighted that, the average productions are influenced both by the technology used, by the fertilization and treatments applied, as well as by other synergistic factors that intervene in wheat crops. In countries such as Spain and Italy, the correlation between the amounts of N (nitrogen), P₂O₅ (phosphorus), K₂O (potassium) and the average production of wheat is insignificant, but in Romania and Hungary, there is a strong, direct connection between the number of fertilizers used and the average wheat crop yield. In Romania and Hungary, there is a very significant connection, but the production link average with pesticides is negative, while in Germany, the correlation is direct and quite intense for all types of fertilizers used, while the use of pesticides has a lower influence on average wheat production. In this study, we also applied a multiple regression model; in which the dependent variable was the average yield of wheat per ha and the independent variables were the average quantity of pesticides and fertilizers used. We used the “t Stat” values for each coefficient to determine whether the coefficient is equal to zero; where a high value of “t Stat”, greater than 2; indicates the fact that the coefficient is significantly different from the value zero. The “p-value” for each coefficient indicates the probability that the coefficient has the value zero. A value below the significance level of 5% results in a coefficient significantly different from zero and with an impact on the dependent variable. The use of fertilizers on wheat crops has a synergistic effect as shown by the multiple linear regression analysis which demonstrated a strong direct relationship, particularly with the amount of N, K₂O and P₂O₅ applied. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Climate Change and Extreme Events on Agricultural Production)

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19 pages, 7223 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effects of Different Socioeconomic Development Levels on Extreme Precipitation Events in Mainland China

by Junyao Zhang, Ning Yao, Yi Li, Feng Li and Bakhtiyor Pulatov

Sustainability 2022, 14(22), 15284; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142215284 - 17 Nov 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1200

Abstract

Understanding the impacts of human activities on extreme precipitation events at different socioeconomic development levels (SEDLs) is critical for humans to tackle extreme events. This research aims to investigate the temporal variations of six extreme precipitation indices (EPIs) over 2000–2018 at different SEDLs for the selected 525 sites (considering socioeconomic and weather data availability and completeness) in mainland China and to assess the impacts of SEDL on extreme precipitation events. Six EPIs were selected according to the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI), which were: consecutive dry days—(CDD); consecutive wet days—(CWD); simple daily intensity index—(SDII); the 95th percentile of precipitation on wet days—(R95p); maximum 1-day precipitation—(Rx1day); Annual total wet–day precipitation—(PRCPTOT), respectively. As important human activity—indicators, population and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2018 were used to classify the SEDLs. The levels of SEDL for the sites were classified as I to VI, in which the population increased from 50 to ≥1000 × 10⁴ and the GDP increased from <100 to ≥10,000 × 10⁸ RMB. The Pearson correlations between the linear slopes (LS) of population (Popu_LS) or GDP_LS and six EPIs at different SEDLs were conducted to show the impacts of human activities on changes of EPIs over 2000–2018. The variations of six EPI_LS with the SEDLs were further studied with the Pearson correlation. The results showed that: (1) High risks of extreme precipitation events occurred at SEDL VI, which was highly affected by human activity; and SDII, R95p, Rx1day and PRCPTOT were the highest in 2016, being 15.2 mm day⁻¹, 545.9 mm, 159.8 mm and 1617.9 mm. (2) There were higher risks of drought occurring for SEDL I, which was least affected by human activity; and three EPIs (R95p, Rx1day and PRCPTOT) were the lowest in 2011, being 156.9 mm, 53.1 mm and 601.6 mm. (3) As the SEDL increased from I to VI, the five EPI_LS (except CWD) increased and implied increasing risks of extreme flooding events. This research provided useful references for assessing comprehensive influences of human activities on extreme precipitation events. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Impacts of Climate Change and Extreme Events on Agricultural Production)

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