Table Of ContentClimate Change and
Crop Production
Foundations for Agroecosystem
Resilience
Climate Change and
Crop Production
Foundations for Agroecosystem
Resilience
Edited by
Noureddine Benkeblia
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2019 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
Printed on acid-free paper
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-138-03234-7 (Hardback)
This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reasonable efforts have been
made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and publisher cannot assume responsibility for the
validity of all materials or the consequences of their use. The authors and publishers have attempted to trace the
copyright holders of all material reproduced in this publication and apologize to copyright holders if permission to
publish in this form has not been obtained. If any copyright material has not been acknowledged please write and let
us know so we may rectify in any future reprint.
Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Law, no part of this book may be reprinted, reproduced, transmitted, or
utilized in any form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including pho-
tocopying, microfilming, and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission
from the publishers.
For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www.copyright.com (http://
www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA
01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organization that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users.
For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been
arranged.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for
identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Benkeblia, Noureddine, editor.
Title: Climate change and crop production : foundations for agroecosystem resilience / editor:
Noureddine Benkeblia.
Other titles: Advances in agroecology.
Description: Boca Raton, FL : Taylor & Francis, 2018. | Series: Advances in agroecology
Identifiers: LCCN 2018031117| ISBN 9781138032347 (hardback : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781315391854 (pdf) | ISBN 9781315391847 (epub) | ISBN 9781315391830
(mobi/kindle)
Subjects: LCSH: Agricultural ecology. | Climatic change.
Classification: LCC S589.7 .C55 2018 | DDC 577.4--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018031117
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the CRC Press Web site at
http://www.crcpress.com
“The real threats of climate change are not those predicted by
our models and scenarios, but those that are unpredictable”
To my daughter Faten Zahra for her big passion for science
Contents
Series Preface ....................................................................................................................................ix
Preface...............................................................................................................................................xi
Contributors ...................................................................................................................................xiii
Chapter 1
Climate Change and Crop Production: Set the Stage for Resilience .................................................1
Noureddine Benkeblia, Rachel E. Schattman, Sarah Wiener, and
Gabrielle Roesch-McNally
Chapter 2
Crop Species Responses and Adaptation to Rise in Carbon Dioxide and Temperature .................19
Noureddine Benkeblia and Charles A. Francis
Chapter 3
Physiological and Morphological Mechanisms Mediating Plant Tolerance to Osmotic Stress:
Balancing Tolerance and Productivity .............................................................................................35
Md. Hasanuzzaman, Meixue Zhou, and Sergey Shabala
Chapter 4
Physiological Mechanisms of Crops’ Mediating Defense Response under Elevated CO ..............59
2
Xin Li and Kai Shi
Chapter 5
Wild Relative Species and Genetic Engineering: Improving Crops in Response to
Climate Change ...............................................................................................................................71
Noureddine Benkeblia
Chapter 6
Tropical Crops and Resilience to Climate Change ..........................................................................83
Noureddine Benkeblia, Melinda McHenry, Jake Crisp, and Philippe Roudier
Chapter 7
Climate Change and Resilience of Agroecosystems: Mitigation through Agroforestry,
Permaculture, and Perennial Polyculture Systems ........................................................................105
Noureddine Benkeblia and Donka Radeva
Chapter 8
Dynamics of Crop Production in a Heterogeneous Landscape: What Are the Opportunities
for Enhancing Communal Farmers’ Resilience to Climate Change Impacts? ..............................131
Munyaradzi Chitakira and Luxon Nhamo
vii
viii CONTENTS
Chapter 9
The Pulse of Pulses under Climate Change: From Physiology to Phenology ...............................143
Archana Joshi-Saha and Kandali S. Reddy
Chapter 10
Diversifying Agriculture with Novel Crop Introductions to Abandoned Lands with
Suboptimal Conditions ..................................................................................................................163
Sarah C. Davis, Jacqueline E. Kloepfer, Jesse A. Mayer, and John C. Cushman
Chapter 11
Agroecology Education to Sustain Resilient Food Production .....................................................173
Charles A. Francis, Tor Arvid Breland, Geir Lieblein, and
Anna Marie Nicolaysen
Index ..............................................................................................................................................187
Series Preface
The reality of climate change confronts humankind more directly every day, with extremes in
weather conditions becoming more the norm rather than only rare events. Global CO levels in the
2
atmosphere continue to rise, and global shifts in temperature are becoming more evident. Weather
seems to have become more unpredictable despite the advances in observation and forecasting.
Farmers are especially susceptible to the vagaries of weather, from drought to floods, from high
temperatures to frosts, and to pest and disease outbreaks associated with changing conditions.
But farmers are also innovators, trying new varieties, inputs, and practices as they transition their
farming systems for increased adaptability and resiliency.
Professor Benkeblia provides the reader with many of the foundational elements researchers are
currently using to provide farmers with more options to confront the challenges of climate change.
Contributed chapters from around the world with different climates provide the reader with up-to-date
examples of the approaches being taken to expand the ecological, physiological, morphological, and
productive potential of a range of crop types. By understanding the mechanisms of plant resilience
to climate change, not only can the productivity of an individual crop species be improved, but the
opportunity for bringing resistance and resiliency to the entire agroecosystem is also increased.
Multiple chapters deal with the basic ecophysiology of adaptation to increased drought stress, higher
temperatures, elevated atmospheric CO , and other stressors in the environment. Other chapters
2
look more holistically at diverse farming systems, such as agroforestry and perennial polycultures,
and how they can provide even greater resistance to change. Even the larger issue of climate change
mitigation is dealt with in one chapter where moving carbon into biomass for bioenergy production
can lessen the dependence on non-renewable fossil fuel. Ultimately, however, the success of any
adaptive process to address climate change will depend on how well we develop education programs
that provide the understanding of how climate change can impact our food systems. The chapter
linking education and climate change does this.
From the perspective of agroecology, this book provides a strong foundation for changing
research and education programs so that they think and act beyond maximization of yields and
instead build both the resistance and resilience that will be needed for the uncertain climate future
ahead. Ultimately, these programs will help us move beyond the farm and reach all parts of the food
system, creating the multiple elements of resilience we need for change to occur.
Stephen R. Gliessman
Professor Emeritus of Agroecology
University of California, Santa Cruz
ix
