by PressWheat yields are declining: causes
Scientists: wheat yields are affected by global warming
The effects of climate change are affecting more and more industries every year. Air and water pollution, shrinking animal habitats, and, consequently, a decrease in their numbers — this is by no means a complete list of how human activity affects the environment. Scientists are now turning more and more public attention to the agricultural sector, where the climate crisis is already leading to a decrease in production. For example, global warming is having a negative impact on wheat yields, gradually reducing them.
Etienne Bucher, a scientist who deals with plant genetic research, has found that climate change degrades the quality of modern grain varieties. This makes the breeding process itself less effective.
According to the study, a large number of varieties are currently used for world wheat production, capable of increasing yields annually by about 1-1.5%. However, they are extremely sensitive to climate change, which significantly reduces their productivity. To avoid this problem, new varieties can be bred with lower yields, but they will be resistant to climate change. In this case, all the breeding successes of recent decades can be ignored. The fact is that the main emphasis in the work of experts was to increase yields, which was supposed to solve the problem of providing the world population with a strategically important product. However, global warming has made its adjustments, and now it is important to understand how to simultaneously maintain high yields and sustainability of grain.
According to analysts, a temperature increase of just one degree on the planet reduces wheat yields by 4%. And if urgent measures are not taken to prevent global warming, mankind may face food shortages decades from now. One of the solutions is the use of various breeding methods, including gene editing. The essence of such technology is that a gene in one crop variety that carries the desired trait is transferred to another, making it stronger.
Despite the fact that gene editing is used in many countries and shows good results, scientists are not supported by the state, although it could speed up development. Due to the serious problem with wheat production, it is necessary to start working as soon as possible on developing new varieties that will be heat and drought resistant but still produce high yields. In addition, it is important to understand that the production problem is not limited to wheat, but is increasingly affecting other crops such as soybeans and corn.