As the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung" reports, an international research team has dealt with the effects of climate change on the world's most important crops. The results were published in the journal "Nature Food". The researchers come to the conclusion that climate change will affect crop yields sooner than previously assumed. This applies in particular to corn and rice, as well as soybeans. According to the study, the first negative effects on the corn harvest could already become apparent as early as 2032.

A multitude of factors

A number of factors are responsible for poor harvests. These include more intense periods of drought and heat, the increase in average temperature, changes in rainfall and the increase in CO2 concentration in the air. As the "NZZ" writes, however, it is difficult to make precise predictions from the complex interactions between the individual factors. For example, an increased CO2 concentration in the atmosphere could even have a positive effect on the growth of corn. However, corn does not like higher temperatures. One thing is clear: Sooner or later, climate change will have a negative impact on agricultural yields.

Global South particularly affected

Matin Quaim, agricultural economist and director of the Center for Development Research in Bonn, told the "NZZ" that the results should be taken seriously. The period for possible adjustments in agricultural production is becoming shorter. Without appropriate changes, some regions were threatened with supply shortages and even starvation. Tropical and subtropical growing areas are particularly affected by climate change. There, the changed climatic conditions have a particularly negative effect on plant growth.

As the "Landfreund" writes, climate change in poorer countries is also having a negative impact on the sometimes already precarious conditions in terms of food security. According to the authors of the study, corn yields, which are mainly generated in the Global South, could fall by up to 25 percent by the end of the century. In the case of wheat, which tends to grow in more northern regions, growing conditions could improve. The authors of the study expect yield increases of 17 percent there. However, it must be emphasized that new plant breeding technologies were not included in the study models. However, it is precisely these that could have a decisive influence on the breeding of drought and heat-resistant plant varieties.

Extensive farming is the wrong approach in view of the threat of reduced yields due to climate change. In addition, higher land use also has a negative impact on biodiversity. A study by the University of Cambridge concludes that that biodiversity is better served with intensive production on smaller areas. In this way, valuable habitat for living beings can be conserved around the globe and left to nature. A country like Switzerland, which has only a small area but sufficient water and good soil in the Swiss Plateau, should use it as optimally and resource-efficiently as possible.