A heat wave sweeps through a city and people swelter, running indoors to find air conditioning. But crops out in a field aren’t so lucky. For them, there is no escape.
A heat wave sweeps through a city and people swelter, running indoors to find air conditioning. But crops out in a field aren’t so lucky. For them, there is no escape.
Scientists in Australia are working to understand how heat waves impact wheat. They are mixing observational studies with techniques from computer science. This will allow them to create models to understand how wheat will respond in certain conditions.
Heat can affect plants and the soil, water, air, and microbes around them in many different ways. Knowing how all of these factors affect crops could help farmers protect their plants against heat waves' effects.
“Heat waves can greatly reduce wheat in growing regions and modeling could aid in finding strategies to limit the impact of extreme weather and climate change,” says James Nuttall. Nuttall works for Australia’s Agriculture Victoria, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. “This can specifically come in handy during the sensitive periods of crop flowering and the grain filling phase.”
Read more at American Society of Agronomy
Image: Nutall applies acute high temperature treatments to wheat, Agriculture Victoria, Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. (Credit: Piotr Trebicki)
