Green transition key for agri-food sector

A global panel of agrarians has called for innovation-driven green transition of the world's agri-food system as part of the efforts to curb carbon emissions and mitigate the impact of climate change on food production.

While some food-producing regions have initially benefited from warmer weather, the substantial uncertainties caused by global warming are disrupting agriculture across Asia, Africa and South America, the experts said.

They made the remarks on the sidelines of the 2024 World AgriFood Innovation Conference, or WAFI, held in Beijing earlier this month. The event was organized by China Agricultural University.

Sun Qixin, president of China Agricultural University and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told China Daily that mainstream models indicate a 6 to 8 percent decrease in food production for every 1 C increase in global temperatures, unless technological innovations are introduced to alleviate these effects.

"However, the impact of a warmer climate is not uniform across the globe," he said.

Despite instances of warmer and wetter climate boosting food production in some areas, which were previously cold and prone to drought, the sudden and extreme shifts in weather patterns are causing widespread disruptions in food production globally, Sun noted.

For example, unprecedented droughts and prolonged heat waves this year led to crop failures in Brazil and China's Henan and Shandong provinces. "Undoubtedly, the impact has a dual aspect," he said.

Given that green transition necessitates a substantial reduction in agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, it is crucial to invest in research and technological innovations to ensure that these reforms do not result in decreased output, Sun said.

"We must proceed in this direction despite the challenges," he added.

An estimate by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the United Nations body for evaluating climate science, showed that the agri-food sector, covering the entire cycle from food cultivation to consumption, contributes one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Fu Wenge, a professor at China Agricultural University, said the innovations facilitating green transition do not always require groundbreaking scientific discoveries, adding that sometimes, minor and cost-effective reforms in management models and other fields could bring significant changes.

Fu cited the university's Science and Technology Backyard project, which encourages students to live and work alongside smallholding farmers in rural areas as part of their education programs. The arrangement aims to help promote high-yielding crop varieties and environmentally friendly farming practices among rural farming communities. "This model has been implemented in Africa and other regions," he said.