Soil Scientists Recommend Cover Crops To Combat Climate Changes

In the next decades, agriculture in Pakistan will move into marginal lands, which won't be suitable for the crops grown in the country.

MULTAN, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 30th Nov, 2018 ) :In the next decades, agriculture in Pakistan will move into marginal lands, which won't be suitable for the crops grown in the country.

This will require a major shift in the current management practices and develop new technologies to ameliorate negative effects of extreme climate by using new chemical (plant growth regulators) and biological (growth promoting bacteria and fungi) as tools.

The soil scientists made these recommendation on the concluding day of "Soil and Crops Health in Changing Climate", organised by the Soli Science and Enviorment Department of Muhammad Nawaz Sharif University of Agriculture.

They recommended increasing soil organic matter and sustaining soil fertility, and judicious residue management for the purpose. Burning of residue should be avoided. The use of organic amendments/green manure crops in conjunction with synthetic fertilizer sources can help reduce fertilizer input, they said.

Growing legume or cover crops can prevent soil degradation and will improve soil fertility and physical health, the experts said, adding that current fertilization practices will unlikely work under predicted climate change scenario.

The current policies and recommendations to growers need to be adjusted to reflect this, and crops with higher nutrient use efficiency under stress conditions need to be developed, they added.

The use of untreated sewage water for crop production, especially vegetables, should be avoided and it should only be used after effective treatment.

They recommended that advanced type of fertilizers, their balanced use and precise site-specific application will lead to economical and ecological benefits while maximizing fertilizer use efficiency.

Pakistan will become warmer and dryer, and agricultural crop production in the country will become drought prone and saline and rely heavily on the use of a low-quality irrigation water, added the scientists. "This warrants the need for developing and using more drought and salt-tolerant cultivators and species by implementing an effective, large-scale crop improvement programs for adaptation and drought/salt tolerance.

Reforestation of wasted saline lands with suitable salt-tolerant tree species could bring economical, environmental and social benefits and should be considered as one of the top priorities for a future. To mitigate climate change effect, it is imperative that soil health is maintained so that it can sustain physical, chemical and biological function and provide ecosystem resilience. This requires a reliable and periodic monitoring of country's land and water resources.

The government and public need to be educated about these challenges, so that they could be able to implement practical measures to minimize the impact of stress on agricultural production and ensure food security in Pakistan. To sustain soil and crop health in a changing climate, adjustments in technology, management and legislation are the need of hour, the experts added.

The experts who spoke on the occasion included Dr Sergey Shabala, University of Tasmania, Australia, Dr Shou Qing Ni of Shandong University of China and others.