Impacts of Sand and Dust Storms on Agriculture and Potential

Transcription

Impacts of Sand and Dust
Storms on Agriculture and
Potential Agricultural
Applications of a SDSWS
Robert Stefanski
Agricultural Meteorology Division
World Climate Programme
World Meteorological Organization
WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007
Outline
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Impacts of SDS on Agriculture
Measures to Combat SDS
Potential Agricultural Applications
– Tactical
– Strategic
– Research
• Final Thoughts
Introduction
• Wind erosion is a function of weather events
interacting with soil (intrinsic properties) and land
management (past and present practices) through its
effects on soil structure and vegetation cover.
• Soil roughness, soil erodibility, soil wetness, and the
quantity and orientation of crop residues are
parameters that impact the transport of eroded soils.
• Over-grazing, over-cultivation and destruction of soil
aggregates by mining, construction, and off-road
traffic stimulates and accelerates soil wind erosion
in dryland regions.
Impacts of Sand and Dust
Storms
•
•
•
•
•
•
Crop and Livestock losses
Soil productivity losses
Economic losses
Transport Impacts
Environmental Impacts
Positive Impacts
Photo credit: Kansas State University
Impacts – Crops & Livestock
• Loss of plant tissue and reduced
photosynthetic activity as a result of
sandblasting
• Burial of seedlings under sand deposits
• Delayed plant development
• Increased end-of-season drought risk
• Causing injury and reduced productivity of
livestock
Impacts – Soil Productivity
Losses
• Loss of the most fertile
fraction (K and P) of the
topsoil and can be
transported long distance
• Increases soil erosion and
accelerates the process of
land degradation and
desertification (UNCCD)
Economic Impacts
• Direct economic loss caused by the strong
sand-dust storm 5 May, 1993 was 560
million RMB Yuan (Wang Shi-gong et al.
1995)
• Annual on-farm costs of wind erosion in
the Prairie Provinces of Canada are about
USD $249 million
Other Impacts
• Filling up irrigation canals with sediments
• Covering transportation routes
• Affecting water quality of rivers and streams,
and affecting air quality
Positive Impacts
• Mineral dust has an important role to play in the
supply of nutrients and micronutrients to terrestrial
ecosystems eg., . 2.5 and 0.2 kg ha-1 of K and P,
respectively, from dust deposition in the Sahel.
• The accumulation of sand-dust from the Sahara into
Amazon Valley brings 1-4 kg of phosphate per ha per
year.
• Sand and dust from China are the major component
of ice crystals which are alkali and neutralize the
emergence of acid rain in Japan
Measures to Combat SDS
• Focus on preventing the soil/sand from being
picked up in the source area such as:
– Reducing the impact of wind speed use of
windbreaks or shelterbelts
– Protecting loose soil particles by use of crop
residues or plastic sheets or chemical adhesives
– Increasing cohesion of soil particles by
conservation tillage operations or soil mulching
Use of Wind Breaks and
Shelterbelts
• A "wind break" is any structure that reduces wind
speed (ie natural vegetative barrier). Wind speed can
be reduced by more than 50% at a leeward distance
of 20 times barrier height.
• Benefits include decreased soil erosion, increased
crop yields, reduced livestock stress, control of
drifting snow, building maintenance and energy
savings
• Wind breaks may also benefit wildlife species by
providing food, reproductive sites and shelter from
severe weather.
Crop Residues/Tillage
• Surface crop residues help stabilize soils by reducing
soil water loss and the erosive force of wind and by
shielding the soil from a reduced number of saltating
particles.
• Vertical residues are much more effective that flat
surface cover in controlling soil loss by wind.
• Special farming implements, such as chisel-type
ploughs, which permit the cultivation of vegetated
surfaces and maintain a rough, well-textured surface
could be used for this purpose.
• Tactical Applications
– After Planting – daily, weekly
• Strategic Applications
– Before planting - Long-term planning, investments
• Research
Tactical Applications (Warnings)
• Near-term alerts for agricultural communities
to take preventive action such as
– harvesting maturing crops (vegetables,
grain),
– sheltering livestock, and
– strengthening infrastructure (houses,
roads, crop storage) for the storm.
Strategic Applications
• Improved SDS climatologies for long-term
planning for agricultural communities such as:
– Planning windbreaks and shelterbelts
(direction, size, etc)
– Planning infrastructure and crops
• Post-storm crop damage assessments.
Research Areas
• Forecasting locust movement
• Improving Soil / Wind Erosion and Land
Degradation Models
• Plant and animal pathogen movement and
the relationship of SDS to disease outbreaks
• Archive of SDSWS products (Forensic Use)
Swarm movement depends on
synoptic conditions
www.fao.org/ag/locusts
Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS)
• WEPS is a process-based, daily time-step, computer
model that predicts soil erosion via simulation of the
fundamental processes controlling wind erosion.
• WEPS can calculate soil movement, estimate plant
damage, and predict PM-10 emissions when wind
speeds exceed the erosion threshold. It also can
provide the user with spatial information regarding
soil flux, deposition, and loss from specific regions
of a field over time.
• WEPS is intended for conservation planning,
assessing wind erosion and for aiding the
development of regional and national policy.
http://www.weru.ksu.edu/
Importance of Plant Pathogen
Transport
• World agriculture mainly depends on a small fraction
of the many 1000s of plant species worldwide
• Limited plant genetic diversity of globally distributed
crops
• Example: Most coffee and banana plantations are
from single clones. Original plantation of Arabic
coffee in the Americas is traced to a single bush from
Java in 1706
• Uniform susceptibility to disease is the problem
• Intercontinental dispersal of pathogens may cause
diseases of crops on a global scale
Sugarcane Rust (June 1978) Cameroon to Dom. Rep.
Coffee Leaf Rust (1970) Angola to Bahia, Brazil
Wheat stem Rust (1969) S. Africa to Australia
Source: Brown and Hovemoller Science. July 26 2002.
Other Diseases
• Foot and Mouth Disease (livestock)
• Soybean Rust (South America to North
America)
• Wheat Stem rust (ug99)
• Policy makers need to know source of
disease outbreaks (airborne or human
transport) to take actions to minimize risk
Final Thoughts on SDSWS
• Components of Effective Warning Systems
– Monitoring
– Forecast
– Advisory
• Potential Products should include
–
–
–
–
Areal Extent
Severity
Duration
Potential Impacts
Final Thoughts on SDSWS
• Other useful products/information:
–
–
–
–
Weather Patterns associated with SDS
Meso-scale features that ignite storms
Vertical Data useful
Archives of data and forecast products
• Group models by capability for users
• For operational public warning systems,
model output are guidance not endProducts (Current Wx Forecasting)
• Need another level (Met Services?) between
Models and Users
Input to Presentation
• Dr Sivakumar
– Chief WMO Agriculture Meteorology Division
• Ray Motha (former President of CAgM)
– US Dept of Agriculture (USDA)
• Gary Peterson
– USDA – Agricultural Research Service – Plant Pathology
• Keith Cressman
– FAO Desert Locust Office, Rome
• Samsul Huda
– Australia
[email protected]

Impacts of Sand and Dust Storms on Agriculture and Potential

Transcription

Similar documents

The specialists tour operators` perspective on sense of place

Barcelona Bus Turistic 2011 Barça

PDF - AlbertGood.Com

Barcelona - outandabouttravel.com.au

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Angiosperm Latin Name: Cyperus involucratus Common Name

Holiday Houses Costa Brava Airport bus to Barcelona

brochure - Career Virtual Fair

Angiosperm Latin Name: Clivia miniata Common Name: Kaffir Lily