New techniques keep crops growing despite unpredictable weather

Mar 31st, 2011 3:20 PM UTC
By Tamara Coger

What if we could adapt to, even mitigate, unpredictable weather and increase food security at the same time? Wouldn’t that be a dream come true? Well, according to USAID, we can.

Harvesting natural resource management while simultaneously harvesting higher crop yields is more than just a possibility, it is happening now. I learned all about it yesterday at the first event in “A Series on Integrating Climate Change and Natural Resource Management into Feed the Future,” sponsored by USAID, CARE USA, the Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group.

Julie Kunen kicked-off the panel discussion with the story of the little Columbian coffee farm that could. The farm has managed to maintain high crop yields in spite of changes in rainfall patterns, less frequent dry periods needed for fruit to set, and the rapid spread of harmful parasites, such as leaf rust fungus.

Their secret to success? Capitalizing on the diversity of their peers’ skills. In other words, Feed the Future organizes farmer-to-farmer exchanges and supports training services so that farmers learn strategies to prevent changing weather from decreasing their productivity. Some specific strategies that farmers share with one another through exchanges and that advisors teach in workshops include techniques for controlling pests, improving local weather predictions, breeding disease-resistant plants, and conservation agriculture.

Conservation agriculture, in particular, is crucial to strengthening food security and building farm and farmer resilience. Conservation agriculture entails using zero or very little tillage, leaving soil covered all year, and rotating crops.

As a result, the soil is able to absorb more water, less time and physical effort are required by farmers, and environmentally detrimental run-off is eliminated. Eliminating plowing is particularly important for the many women farmers around the world who have many responsibilities in addition to growing food.

In drier years, conservation agriculture has proved to allow farmers to produce twice as much than they would have had they been using standard farming practices. Not only is it a more sustainable option, it also reduces, or even prevents, soil erosion hilly areas, such as Laos. On top of all that, conservation agriculture has the potential to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. By increasing biomass we can also increase carbon sequestration, and in turn, food security.

Combating soil degradation, hunger, and poverty all at once is a daunting task, but Feed the Future’s programs are making it a real possibility. Feed the Future is promoting integration strategies such as these in order to create sustainable solutions in the fight against global poverty and hunger, proving that through smart application of knowledge and skills, efficient land and water use, and new mitigation and adaptation techniques, we can save lives and save our planet.

Feed the Future’s funding is threatened by budget cuts, putting human lives and the environment at risk. You can raise your voice to keep life-saving programs such as Feed the Future by signing ONE’s petition to the Senate. [/EXPAND]

TAGS: Agriculture, ONE