August 31
As José's tractor moves around his crops, João's harvester picks the soy in his fields, the carbon dioxide rises and, together with the emissions of other parts of the world, forms a thick cloud. Sunlight arrives, heats up the earth, and when it tries to leave, it gets trapped under the gas. The result: a warmer planet.It is this movement, described in a simplified manner, that is causing concerns among those working in agriculture in Brazil and worldwide. In the research institutes of the country, some time ago the temperature of the earth became the word of the day. There, there is a race to quickly take to the country recipes to harvest well in a warmer world.
Research shows that temperatures should rise between 1.4ºC and 5.4ºC by 2100. Specialists are already noticing longer dry seasons and rains over a shorter period of time, which run into rivers more easily. These accentuated phenomena should change the geography of Brazilian agriculture, making productive regions inadequate for the kind of culture they are used to.
A study by the Meteorological Centre for Research into Climate Applied Agirculture (Cepagri), at the University of Campinas (Unicamp) and the Agricultural Information unit at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) shows that these changes could cause 7.4 billion reals (US$ 4.6 billion) in losses to Brazilian agriculture in 2020. The country, however, wants to reach the finishing line before losses start.
Embrapa, according to the researcher of the Information Technology Unit, Giampaolo Queiroz Pellegrino, is working in two areas: reduction of emission of gasses that cause the greenhouse effect, stimulating, for example, production of bio energy, like alcohol and biodiesel; and adaptation of products cultivated to higher temperatures and their effects. Then comes research both for seeds more adequate to the heat and floods, water storage techniques and even the integration of crops and livestock farming, which helps maintain the soil damper, due to organic material that is deposited in it.The superintendent of Multiple Uses at the National Water Agency (ANA), Joaquim Gondim, stated that the great challenge of Brazilian agriculture, as against global warming, will be the management of water. "Countries will have to bring water from the flood years for use in drought periods, building infrastructure and reservoirs," he said. According to Gondim, even for use in irrigation, one of the alternatives already used in Brazil in production in dry regions, the planning of water use is necessary.At the Agronomical Institute (IAC), connected to the government of the state of São Paulo, several researches show routes to produce well despite global warming. The organisation works with the possibility of an increase of three degrees in global temperatures. And studies have already resulted in seeds more adapted to the heat in the areas of coffee, fruit, sugarcane and even bean farming.
The research developed in this area in Brazil is already broad. Not all of it, however, has arrived in the countryside. The techniques most used among producers are still the most ancient and popular, like crop rotation and constant cultivation. They also serve, however, to reduce the effects of climate change.
Source
As José's tractor moves around his crops, João's harvester picks the soy in his fields, the carbon dioxide rises and, together with the emissions of other parts of the world, forms a thick cloud. Sunlight arrives, heats up the earth, and when it tries to leave, it gets trapped under the gas. The result: a warmer planet.It is this movement, described in a simplified manner, that is causing concerns among those working in agriculture in Brazil and worldwide. In the research institutes of the country, some time ago the temperature of the earth became the word of the day. There, there is a race to quickly take to the country recipes to harvest well in a warmer world.
Research shows that temperatures should rise between 1.4ºC and 5.4ºC by 2100. Specialists are already noticing longer dry seasons and rains over a shorter period of time, which run into rivers more easily. These accentuated phenomena should change the geography of Brazilian agriculture, making productive regions inadequate for the kind of culture they are used to.
A study by the Meteorological Centre for Research into Climate Applied Agirculture (Cepagri), at the University of Campinas (Unicamp) and the Agricultural Information unit at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) shows that these changes could cause 7.4 billion reals (US$ 4.6 billion) in losses to Brazilian agriculture in 2020. The country, however, wants to reach the finishing line before losses start.
Embrapa, according to the researcher of the Information Technology Unit, Giampaolo Queiroz Pellegrino, is working in two areas: reduction of emission of gasses that cause the greenhouse effect, stimulating, for example, production of bio energy, like alcohol and biodiesel; and adaptation of products cultivated to higher temperatures and their effects. Then comes research both for seeds more adequate to the heat and floods, water storage techniques and even the integration of crops and livestock farming, which helps maintain the soil damper, due to organic material that is deposited in it.The superintendent of Multiple Uses at the National Water Agency (ANA), Joaquim Gondim, stated that the great challenge of Brazilian agriculture, as against global warming, will be the management of water. "Countries will have to bring water from the flood years for use in drought periods, building infrastructure and reservoirs," he said. According to Gondim, even for use in irrigation, one of the alternatives already used in Brazil in production in dry regions, the planning of water use is necessary.At the Agronomical Institute (IAC), connected to the government of the state of São Paulo, several researches show routes to produce well despite global warming. The organisation works with the possibility of an increase of three degrees in global temperatures. And studies have already resulted in seeds more adapted to the heat in the areas of coffee, fruit, sugarcane and even bean farming.
The research developed in this area in Brazil is already broad. Not all of it, however, has arrived in the countryside. The techniques most used among producers are still the most ancient and popular, like crop rotation and constant cultivation. They also serve, however, to reduce the effects of climate change.
Source
