Feeding the population of the future
Over the next decades population is expected to rise with a 35% increase by 2050 requiring 50% more food due to changing diets. At the same time climate is also changing — with potentially drastic impacts on food production. Past research has projected substantial decreases in crop yield under this changing climate largely due to hotter temperatures. Adaptations of crop characteristics and management practices have the potential to mitigate some of the decrease in yield. However, a substantial knowledge gap remains for which adaptation techniques are likely to be most effective at any point in time, the mechanisms through which they can mitigate yield loss, and the relative effectiveness of different approaches.
In this research we are investigating how to adapt major agricultural crops to support food production under future climate. We are working to identify a set of adaptation options with an emphasis on novel plant varieties, effective management, and migration that mitigates climate impacts on yield loss and optimizes productivity across the globe over the next century. This research will provide much needed information on developing and prioritizing climate adaptation options for breeders, crop scientists, policy makers, and agronomists benefiting society by mitigating expected declines in food production as climate warms.
Collaborators on this research include Soo-Hyung Kim, Nathan Mueller, and Dennis Timlin. This research is supported by a graduate fellowship award to Jennifer Hsiao from USDA NIFA, and was supported by seed funding from the Royalty Research Fund at the University of Washington.
