“Carbon fertilization” a mirage; only sustainable systems, structure can feed world and fight climate change

“Carbon fertilization” a mirage; only sustainable systems, structural changes, can feed world and fight climate change

Climate change is already crippling food production in some parts of the world. Commodity agriculture production and trade is contributing to the problem, whereas a biologically based mix of techniques and changes in what’s produced could yield more food and cut climate change.

A report by GRAIN recalculates expectations of “carbon fertilization” to improve yields as carbon dioxide levels rise. The result: not only does any initial acceleration in growth slow down significantly after a few days or weeks, but the increase in CO2 reduces nitrogen and protein in the leaves by more than 12 per cent. This means that, with climate change, there will be less protein for humans in major cereals such as wheat and rice. There will also be less nitrogen in the leaves for bugs, which means that bugs will eat more leaf, leading to important reductions in yield.

Adding water shortages and market-influenced price instability for commodity feedgrains, risks to food security increase significantly in the years ahead—unless organic and near-organic systems are given freedom to flourish and commodity grain preference is ended in global trade and development policies.
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Full story: GRAIN