"SEC S20W1: Impact of Climate Change on Agriculture"

Hello, participants of the agro community. I am delighted to be participating in the very first week of the steemit engagement challenge in the community. Agriculture is one aspect of human activity that has aided in its survival on earth. It's been a source of income and economic growth, created job employment, promoted nutrition and food security, aided technological advancement, etc. I will be sharing my views using the organizer's guidelines.

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Describe in detail how agricultural productivity is affected by climate change

Climate change is one major factor that affects agricultural productivity across the globe. We can not remove this impact as most other factors are secondary from it or seen to derive their impacts from climate change. In my country, climate change has continued to affect crop yield given the unpredictable outcomes we see down the east zone. I am from Nigeria and from the south-eastern zone of the country, which is sometimes predominately characterized by incessant rainfalls.

For a start, there are years when there is delayed rainfall, even when there should be signals to begin farming activities in the country. And because of this, inconsistencies in growing seasons continue to hamper exact growing periods or seasons. For example, a crop that is supposed to be planted in the early first quarter of the year is delayed due to no rains and even without the presence of an irrigation system, is planted by the beginning of the second quarter. We do not expect to have the same crop yield and performance like that which was planted during the first quarter. Therefore, irregular growing/planting seasons for crops drastically impact productivity and crop performance.

Another second way I have seen climate change affect agricultural activities is by temperature variations. Let me paint a scenario of what happened in a given year that made farmers cry out of losses in their activities. Rains were expected to begin sometime in February and March to give signals for the routine planting season. And this is followed by periodic rainfalls that help keep yield performing optimally. But in that year, as soon as farmers started tilling and planting, ther was an unprecedented drought for over a month which caused serious losses. So many seedlings died in the soil before germination, and some that germinated were either stunted or still failed. Funnily the rains started again after a couple of months. There was massive outcry and losses as only those exempted from these climate hazards were those using the irrigation systems.

We have to know that plants don't do well during prolonged warmer periods. They struggle at such obscure periods if unsupported artificially from needed systems. But another worrisome act is the one effect we see from this climate change. The country has recently been witnessing flooding. This is unprecedented in its occurrence. In the last five years, flooding has become a great concern not only in my region but the entire country. Farms are washed off, cemeteries are devastated with dead bodies sometimes exhumed from the graves, soil degraded, etc. It has become so intense that farmers now expect their doom day or try to reduce the impacts or relocate from the the land.

Issues of dissertation and drought are one impact of climate change that has been dealt with in the northern region of the country. More trees have gone down, hereby giving enroute to desert encroachment. Plant yields are greatly affected by drought activities as crops find it difficult to survive under this harsh weather and loss of soil mositure.

In general, we can deduce that climate change affects crop yields. The reduction in productivity is the food insecurity we face at present. This also affects their quality, which translates to an impacted nutritional value and high-performing grazing plants for livestock.

On the other hand, it also impacts our Livestock production. Feeds are directly mashed from plant residues, and when they suffer from poor yield and quality, this also affects the nutritional value and scarcity likely to be experienced. These also come with disease outbreaks likely to affect animal health and death if not quickly handled.

We have seen some terrible grazing impacts on the nomadic. They have to move kilometers away from their territories in search of greener pastures for their livestock, which need these plants. This has caused security challenges currently witnessed in the country due to the farmers-herders class. Farmers are angered by how their farms are destroyed by this grazer, and grazers are frustrated by the thousands of kilometers they have to travel to keep their livestock alive. Issues of farmers-herders clash and cattle rustling have become a menace ravaging the north.

Discuss how extreme rains and extreme droughts damage crops.

My country has continued to witness issues of flooding and drought. Most states of the country are at risk of flooding, and some pockets of them as well are drought-prone, especially those in the northern regions. When the word extreme is used, this supposedly means that it is out of proportion. Therefore, extreme flooding and droughts have become a continued threat, disrupting plant yield and livestock production and posing economic loss to all stakeholders.

Impact from Extreme Rains

Extreme rains simply mean we are at risk of full or partial flooding cases. Flooding damages our crops, no doubt. We are susceptible to erosion and leaching. This is a case no farmer would want his or her way. When this happens, nutrients are washed either down or away from the reach of plants. In these cases, it plows the soil and causes erosion, which is one way soils are degraded.

In a situation where the planting area is wedged against flooding, there may be issues with waterlogging. Water logging our crops isn't a good one for us. Nutrients are neutralized, which makes them ineffective or gradually leached from plant reach. If prolonged, crop rots begin to weaken and rot, making it difficult to carry itself. When this happens, there is potential crop damage in view.

Have we also seen where heavy rains and strong winds happen, bringing about the lodging of plants? They tilt in the direction of plants which hampers their position for better photosynthesis. However, lodged plants closer to the ground are also susceptible to disease infestation. All these bothers to poor growing seasons and harvest.

In cases where we have extreme rains, this simply means we would also have delayed planting season. No one would want to start planting in a waterlogged area, flooded area, or soil already damaged by erosion.

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Impact from Extreme Droughts

This is the opposite situation narrated above. A case where we do not have sufficient rain presence or water supply for our crops to do well. Either having excess water or rain supply or insufficient of this all affect the performance of crop yields.

When crops are starved or have less water supply, they pass through shock and water stress, which in turn impact their overall performance. This occurrence over time causes loss of soil moisture as the crops use up the remaining during this stress period.

When crops are continually starved of rain or water supply and must have used up the remaining moisture in the soil, they fail. This is one of the reasons we experience crop failures during drought.

Before this also happens, they become malnourished and susceptible to pest and disease attacks. This is usually a bad way to kill our crops. Failing out of sufficiency is more pardonable than that of starvation.

In general, both extreme and drought cause reduce crop yield, poor quality crops, shortages of food security threats, and economic losses.

Discuss in stages how new pests and diseases are emerging as a result of climate change AND what measures farmers can take to prevent them.

Stages how New Pests and Diseases can Emerge:

The emergence of new pests and diseases can be observed due to climate change variations; the variations we observe in climate change cause the emergence of new outbreaks.

Increase in temperatures allows easy multiplication of pests and diseases. Therefore increase in temperatures does not do our crops and livestock any good. Whereas variations in precipitation patterns help in the incubation of some pests and diseases due to the conducive conditions it provides for them. These temperature variations also **promote the migration or distribution of pests and diseases to places of new comfort.

Stages how pests and diseases can Spread:

As I mentioned lastly in the first stage, climate change and temperature variations can help spread pests and diseases to areas they find conducive. When they are in areas not favorable for their incubation, they could migrate to areas of comfort

Human activities could also be the vector carrying the pest and disease to their new area of outbreak. These are usually done unintentionally, but our involvement with the farm helps this process more easily.

The other is through trade fairs and international trade. This is categorized under the movement of pests and diseases across borders.
In summary, both stages have an impact on crop yield, quality, economic/financial loss, and threat to food security.

Measures Farmers Can Take to Prevent Them

• The use of crop-resilient species during growing seasons can be of great importance. This could also apply to our livestock. Species of greater resilience could be crossed more to help reduce losses during temperature variations.
• The use of best agro practices. Good irrigation management, soil management, and sanitation are good ways of pushing away new entrances that undermine yields and livestock.
• Be on alert to know or dictate when there are variations of this nature. We should be able to change our farming patterns in line with the weather and conditions in our space.
• Better information sharing with other farmers would help solve and avoid outbreaks quicker.

Discuss what changes in irrigation systems are required due to climate change.

Technology advancement has been impactful in solving some of the agro problems we observed in a going concern matter. The introduction of artificial intelligence would also go a long way in preparing farmers for the best model to adopt at any given time. The problems from climate change have brought about solutions in the irrigation system;

• A Water Conservation system has been developed to avoid waste of water during the irrigation process. Water-saving technologies like sprinkler drip and precision irrigation systems are better examples of these changes in irrigation systems.
• Rainwater harvester technology collects and stores water to avoid over-dependence on external water use.
• Water storage facilities that would help conserve excess water during the rains and to be reused during drought periods.
• Use of crop and livestock-resilient species that help reduce irrigation burden and water usage.

Explain the two best ways to respond to climate change.

1. Mitigating Against Climate Change
2. Adapting to Climate Change

I will give a brief explanation of both ways to respond to this climate change.

Mitigating climate change simply implies that we have to reduce indulgence in those things that cause these impacts. Each time mitigation is mentioned, what comes to my mind is reducing greenhouse gas emissions**. This is one primary concern that the world has continued to advocate for. Transiting to a safer and renewable source of energy is the way forward. The use of fossil fuels in powering our industrialization has been a major challenge in this fight.

Another way of giving back positive energy to our dear climate is by encouraging some of the best land practices like agroforestry, reforestation, and afforestation. They help regrow and add value to climate and hence build back the already damaged space.

Adaptation against climate change in this regard simply entails that we have to improvise since we do not have a total charge of the weather situations. This could be done by developing climate-resilient crops and livestock species to help withstand stressors from climate change. Practices like developing best agro practices like agroforestry, reforestation, and afforestation should be practiced. Improvements in irrigation systems, like encouraging water harvester projects, storage facilities, and the use of other water conservation should be ideal.

I want to thank you for this opportunity to test my resolve in attending to this contest. I appreciate the organizers here @xkool24 and @mainuna.

I will invite @eveetim, @hisgeneral and @pretty-precious