How are agriculture and climate change linked?

Ans.

Agriculture contributes to climate change and is also equally affected by climate change. Climate change one of the many pressures on agriculture. Food is a basic human need, and a healthy diet is a key component of our health and wellbeing. A complex and increasingly globalized system of production and delivery has developed over time to meet our need for food and for different flavors.
Agriculture contributes to climate change
Farming releases significant amounts of methane and nitrous oxide, two powerful greenhouse gases. Methane is produced by livestock during digestion due to enteric fermentation and is released via belches. Greenhouse-gas emissions, livestock, and fodder production each generate more than 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
Climate change affects agriculture
Crops need good soil, water, sunlight, and heat to grow. Warmer air temperatures affect the length of the growing season. Flowering and harvest dates for cereal crops are now happening several days earlier in the season. These changes are expected to continue in many regions. Due to extreme heat and water stress in the summer months, some summer crops are cultivated in winter instead. Changes in temperatures and growing seasons affect the proliferation and the spreading of some species, which might in turn affect crop yields. A part of the potential yield losses is farming practices, such as rotating crops to match water availability, adjusting sowing dates to temperature and rainfall patterns, and using crop varieties better suited to new conditions.

   02-Jan-2021 |   Answer by: Ram