Title: CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON CROP YIELDS AND ADAPTIVE MEASURES FOR AGRICULTURAL SECTOR IN THE LOWLANDS OF LESOTHO.
Abstract:Summary: Climate change has emerged as the most outstanding of the environmental challenges and there
is a necessity to evaluate its impacts on the vulnerable development sectors such as agriculture....Summary: Climate change has emerged as the most outstanding of the environmental challenges and there
is a necessity to evaluate its impacts on the vulnerable development sectors such as agriculture.
In this study, spatially adjusted general circulation models and crop models were used to
simulate climate change scenarios and the associated cereal crops yields for the western lowlands
of Lesotho for the year 2030-2050 and 2080-2100. Focus was placed on three main cereal crops
namely sorghum, wheat and maize. The models predicted an increase in monthly mean
temperature and a decline in monthly rainfall for the area. With these variations on temperature
and rainfall, the study indicated that the yield per hector for the three cereals would decline
considerably. These findings suggest that Lesotho should initiate adaptive measures, such as
switching to drought resistant crops, in order to offset the negative impacts of climate change on
crop yields. The government is advised to organise small farming groups into larger farming
communities and to strife for efficient irrigation. Research geared towards the development of
technologies that may equip farmers to adapt to climate change effects is recommended for the
country.Read More
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 15
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