Soil quality critical to help some U.S. crops weather heat stress

[Linda Poole]

Seems like it just keeps getting hotter every year! How can producers adapt and thrive when the heat is on? Carol Clark writes in Emory University's eScience Commons that:

"Keeping soil healthy is a key component needed to adapt to the climate crisis," says Debjani Sihi, assistant professor in Emory's Department of Environmental Sciences.

The capacity of soil to hold water will be critical to determine how well farms in some regions of the United States manage the problem of prolonged heat stress due to climate change, a new study suggests. The journal Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems published the finding, based on analyses of 30 years of data on four major U.S. crops — corn, soybeans, cotton and wheat.

“The take-home message,” Sihi says, “is that farmers in regions facing added heat stress for their crops may want to proactively focus on the water-holding capacity of their soil.”

Clay soil and soil rich in organic material holds water better than sandy soil, she explains. So farms with sandy soil, or with soils containing less organic material, may want to add more amendments to improve the water-holding capacity of the land. Another possible adaptation is to use more mulch to reduce evaporation.

Find the full article at: https://esciencecommons.blogspot.com/2022/07/soil-quality-critical-to-help-some-us.html