Assessing the impact of climate change on representative field crops in Israeli agriculture: a case study of wheat and cotton |
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Authors: | David Haim Mordechai Shechter Pedro Berliner |
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Institution: | (1) Natural Resource & Environmental Research Center, University of Haifa, Mount Carmel, 31905 Haifa, Israel;(2) Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Israel |
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Abstract: | Climate changes, associated with accumulation of greenhouse gases, are expected to have a profound influence on agricultural
sustainability in Israel, a semi-arid area characterized by a cold wet winter and a dry warm summer. Accordingly this study
explored economic aspects of agricultural production under projected climate-change scenarios by the “production function”
approach, as applied to two representative crops: wheat, as the major crop grown in Israel’s dry southern region, and cotton,
representing the more humid climate in the north. Adjusting outputs of the global climate model HadCM3 to the specific research
locations, we generated projections for 2070–2100 temperatures and precipitations for two climate change scenarios. Results
for wheat vary among climate scenarios; net revenues become negative under the severe scenario (change from −145 to −273%),
but may increase under the moderate one (−43 to +35%), depending on nitrogen applied to the crop. Distribution of rain events
was found to play a major role in determining yields. By contrast, under both scenarios cotton experiences a considerable
decrease in yield with significant economic losses (−240 and −173% in A2 and B2 scenarios, respectively). Additional irrigation
and nitrogen may reduce farming losses, unlike changes in seeding dates. |
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