Agricultural transitions under climate change
Land is a limiting resource in many countries, in terms of both food production and urban development. Reconciling the increased demand for biofuels with the food security and conservation agendas is proving a major challenge. In addition, variation in land quality across the globe, coupled with local biotic and abiotic pressures often limit the available options for plant cultivation. As weather patterns and temperatures across the globe are influenced by climate change, it is likely that new agricultural practices and crop varieties must be adopted in different regions of the world. As yet, however, it is unclear just what the conservation and socio-economic implications of this could be.
The expertise within the Alliance is ideally placed to develop both practical, crop-based solutions to these challenges as well as policy frameworks to shape decision-making about future land use. Traditionally these two approaches have not been aligned; however the Alliance provides a forum through which the communications and knowledge gaps between them are being addressed.
Within UEA there is significant expertise spanning the decision-support process, using qualitative and quantitative tools to develop participatory stakeholder approaches to policy changes. These skills are uniquely complemented by JIC’s leading position in plant and microbial sciences relevant to the production of new and improved crops. Experience with model crop systems is being translated to commercially relevant plant species to improve plant performance in the field.
Specifically, the Alliance is focussing on the role played by fundamental plant sciences in shaping agriculture in the future, namely the potential to develop sustainable crop regimes and agricultural practices that complement the conservation agenda. A key goal is to ensure that high quality plant research is utilised in agriculture systems and underpins future policy decisions within crop production.
Changes in agricultural practices and land-use, by definition, require accompanying policy decisions that influence global land-use. The aim of this pillar of the Alliance is to ensure these changes take place in tandem, by helping to model the implications of changes to land-use in the face of new approaches to land-use and climate change, and by ensuring suitable consultation and participation in the decision-making process.
