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Climate change is predicted to adversely affect plant
production in most of the agricultural areas around the
world. Many established agricultural production
systems are being questioned for their vulnerability to
climate change, forcing farmers to adopt new
management practices and modify their accustomed
cropping systems. “Climate Change, Plant Health and
Food Security’’ course will study the individual climate
change variables in two sections. The first section will
discuss the variables that have a broader and direct
effect, viz., (i) elevating atmospheric carbon dioxide
(eCO2) and (ii) rising global temperature. The second
section will highlight localized effects of climate
change (i.e. changing precipitation patterns, heat
waves, frequency of agricultural droughts) on plant
health and food security. In the first section, the
contradictory interactions of eCO2 and high
temperatures will be examined in light of recent
literature. It is known that eCO2 alone can bring about
significant profit in gross agricultural production,
mostly by means of cultivation of C3 crop species and
due to increased carbon abundance and the concomitant
water-use efficiency. However, students will
comprehend that the rising global temperatures
challenge any optimistic predictions about the effect of
global climate change on crop productivity. In the final
part of the first section students will be given the task
of performing a literature review on effects of major
climate change variables on deterioration of the
nutritional value of cereal grains (i.e. due to enhanced
carbohydrate accumulation and thus dilution of protein
and micronutrients in grain tissue). The second section
will focus on increases in frequency and severity of
abiotic stressors including but not limited to heat,
drought, waterlogging, and salinity as a consequence of
changes in the local climate. Topics will extend to
impact of global and local climate change variables on
crop pests and diseases. Potential effects of climate
change-induced biotic stress factors will be discussed in
particular of farm biosecurity and food security. In the
final section of the course, mitigation and adaptation
strategies for tackling local and global climate change
variables will be introduced. Strengths and weaknesses
of current breeding and agricultural management
strategies will be discussed.
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| Last Offered Terms |
Course Name |
SU Credit |
| Spring 2024-2025 |
Climate Change, Plant Health & Food Security |
3 |
| Spring 2023-2024 |
Climate Change, Plant Health & Food Security |
3 |
| Spring 2022-2023 |
Special Topics in BIO: Climate Change, Plant Health and Food Security (BIO58000) |
3 |
| Spring 2021-2022 |
Special Topics in BIO: Climate Change, Plant Health and Food Security (BIO58000) |
3 |
| Spring 2020-2021 |
Special Topics in BIO: Climate Change, Plant Health and Food Security (BIO58000) |
3 |
| Fall 2019-2020 |
Special Topics in BIO: Climate Change, Plant Health and Food Security (BIO58000) |
3 |
| Fall 2018-2019 |
Special Topics in BIO: Climate Change, Plant Health and Food Security (BIO58000) |
3 |
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