Each year, an external body is invited by the Faculty of Agriculture (University of Mauritius) to assess final year students on their dissertation and also the quality of the programmes being run at the Faculty. This year (2012), Professor Richard Ellis was invited as assessor at the University of Mauritius.
Professor R.Ellis is the Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Reading. Besides teaching, he is also involved in a wide range of research areas (Crop physiology, Agronomy etc.) and has over 300 publications on his research works. Read more HERE.A talk by Professor R.Ellis on “Climate Change: impacts on agricultural production with emphasis on grain and seed production” was organised by the Faculty of Agriculture on Thursday 14th June 2012 at the R. Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre, Reduit. Various stakeholders of the agricultural sector in Mauritius were present, including lecturers and students of the Faculty of Agriculture, other organisations involved in Research and Extension, Farmer Organizations among others.
Professor R.Ellis is the Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Reading. Besides teaching, he is also involved in a wide range of research areas (Crop physiology, Agronomy etc.) and has over 300 publications on his research works. Read more HERE.A talk by Professor R.Ellis on “Climate Change: impacts on agricultural production with emphasis on grain and seed production” was organised by the Faculty of Agriculture on Thursday 14th June 2012 at the R. Burrenchobay Lecture Theatre, Reduit. Various stakeholders of the agricultural sector in Mauritius were present, including lecturers and students of the Faculty of Agriculture, other organisations involved in Research and Extension, Farmer Organizations among others.
In his welcome note, Professor Ellis said that it was a great pleasure for him to meet and interact with final year students of the Faculty and he is glad that the future of the agricultural sector lies in good hands.
The presentation delivered by professor Ellis was a scientific one, whereby he shared some results obtained from research, showing that over the past years,
- the mean temperature has increased
- the mean sea level has increased
The evidence is here and from the results, it it can be deduced that man-made climate change is happening. In order to have a sustainable agriculture, and hence sustainable future, it will very much depend on how we are using and managing our resources for the next 30 years or so. Some of the direct effects of climate change on Agriculture would be on markets, labour, land, animal production, crop production (food, fuel, fibre) and Environmental services.
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| Participants listening to Professor Ellis |
Challenges
Due to climate change, there have been changes in carbon dioxide level and variability of climate present new challenges to Agribusiness. Under the effect of climate change, animals and crops in many regions over the world would be exposed to environmental stresses that are not observed today and therefore it is difficult to forecast what exactly will happen. We should change our behaviours for mitigating the impacts of climate change.
In Animal production, different regions will have different issues. For example, the efficiency of feed utilisation at higher temperatures would be different in tropical and temperate areas. Moreover, the housing system (regarding ventilation) and health aspect of the animal (vectors of disease) will also differ.
In the crop sector, experimentation is done on small plots and the results obtained may not adapt in other scenarios. Furthermore, with climate change, the impact of heavy rainfall is severe on Agriculture. There is a need for crop producers to ADAPT to climate change.
We should know how to grow crops economically and environmentally.
Adaptation by crop producers
To manage the water requirement of the crop, irrigation and drainage systems can be added or improved. In Mauritius and other regions over the world, one of the impacts of climate change is that the seasons (summer and winter) have shifted, and to adapt to this situation, crop producers have to change crop sowing times and and growing periods to increase the yield. Also, cultivars or crops grown and crop protection strategies are altered.
The choice of seed and planting material (crop genotype) is also an important factor to consider. We should choose seeds which are more tolerant to environmental stress and new pests, and better suited for new environments.
Other measures of adaptation consist of post-harvest and storage practices.
Crop Productivity and Climate change
In his presentation, Professor Ellis explained the dynamics of temperature and the level of carbon dioxide on crop productivity (vegetative and reproductive yield). More carbon dioxide in the environment means more photosynthesis, and when coupled with higher temperatures of shorter durations, the plants are stressed and result in flower abortion (case of groundnut). The effects of carbon dioxide and temperature on vegetative yield tend to be more amenable to estimation than those on reproductive yield. Hence, there is a need for crop adaptation to climate change.
One of the examples given was that in UK, Spanish tunnel houses are being used to produce English strawberries (by modifying the environment – photoperiod, temperature and level of carbon dioxide), so that they are available off-season.
Other examples on modifying temperature and level of carbon dioxide (wheat) to adapt to climate change were given in the presentation.
After the presentation by Professor Ellis, the was a question and answer session.
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| Question and answer session |
Some of the points discussed during the Q&A Session are al follows:
- In Mauritius, there is a huge debate on Quality Declared Seed (QDS), and farmers are encouraged to go towards it and produce their own seeds. The guidelines on seed production have been prepared by the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU). The farmers are guided in the field and the process is monitored and evaluated by AREU. A seed test is done and the seed is certified and put on the market
- It was agreed that any problem is an opportunity to someone else. Similarly, climate change can be considered as an opportunity to adapt to its effects and improve yields. Example of Global opportunities: With climate change, Northern Canada and Russia will become productive and this will have an impact of world trade.
- Africa and climate change: although the increase in temperature will be small, crop production is on the edge in Africa. In parts of Africa, there is desertification of land, migration etc. But despite these, there is tremendous opportunity in the African continent; With telephone revolution and ICT development, there is extreme scope for Agriculture in Africa to be more productive.
Other discussions were focused on seed regulation and standards, and the different stakeholders present (mainly university, research and farmer organization) shared their views and experiences on the subject.
With this, the moderator of the session thanked Professor Ellis for his presentation and participants got a nice over-view on the effect on climate change on Agricultural production and the different strategies that can be used for adaptation.
