RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – It’s no secret that agriculture is highly dependent on climate, and the effects of global warming on crops are a complex problem.

Those recognitions were jumping-off points for discussions from executives of two of North Carolina’s leading global agricultural biotechnology companies during the North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s February Ag Tech Professional Forum on Climate Change: Consequences for Ag and Industry’s Response.

Luke Bozeman, director of BASF’s North America crop protection division, noted, “Climate change is a large topic that can be difficult to get your mind around and gets political quickly.” Bozeman worked for Monsanto for 11 years before joining BASF, and comes from a family of farmers “going back to sharecropping in the 1930s and 1940s.”

Today’s farmers face a range of challenges in addition to climate change, said Bozeman. Despite the use of crop protection products, he noted, 20 to 40 percent of harvests are lost to weeds, diseases, and pests. “Post-harvest losses would feed 2 billion people,” he said. But pests and weeds adapt quickly to climate.

On the other hand, he said, “The adaptive potential of agriculture has been demonstrated throughout history.” Successful new crop introductions include soybeans in the United States and Canola in Canada, for instance. And, since the 1950s, improvements in crop genetics, fertilizer, pesticides, and mechanization have resulted in steeper yield gains.

The rise in carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas largely responsible for global warming, much of it caused by human activity, has also shown a dramatic increase, he noted. So has the global mean temperature. “The data is compelling,” Bozeman said. “We’ve seen five of the hottest years on record since 2010.”

Rising Temperatures Increase Water Stress

Increasing CO2 levels can actually have a positive effect on some crops, such as rice and soybeans, while negatively affecting corn and sorghum. But rising temperatures create numerous problems for agriculture.

Luke Bozeman

Rising temperatures lead to growing water use and are expected to increase water stress in many agricultural areas, he said, negatively affecting crop yields, “especially in the hungriest parts of the world such as sub-Saharan Africa.”

In an almost counterintuitive effect, global warming can actually lead to excess moisture problems in some areas. “Lots of farmers we work with have had to put in drainage tiles,” Bozeman said.

Better cropping practices, such as modified crop rotations and more cover crops and a technology focus can counterbalance some of the impacts of climate change, he said. Technology can help develop crop varieties with drought and moisture tolerant traits so they perform better under stressful conditions.

“Increased conservation of tillage, irrigation and nitrogen efficiency are all key areas farmers can use to offset some effects of climate change,” he said.

Today, he pointed out, six crops (sugar cane, corn, wheat, rice and potatoes) account for 57 percent of total production worldwide, with the remaining 155 reported crops accounting for only 43 percent, according to United Nations figures. “As we’re faced with climate variance, industry needs to be more proactive in identifying other varieties of crops that might be more suitable,” said Bozeman.

One company can’t do everything needed, he said. “We’re going to see a lot more collaborations, sharing the cost and risk of investing in innovations.” Those include new breeding tools to enhance plant traits and overcome stress. Innovation is also coming in precision agriculture and digitalization of data. “We’re already seeing more integrated solutions,” he concluded.

The Challenge of Producing More with Less

It’s easy to get caught up in trying to find a magic bullet that will change everything at once confronted with climate change, “But I try to break it down into something we can measure,” said Lee West, agronomy manager in the agriculture and bioenergy division of Novozymes, NA.

Lee West

Novozymes, he said, is focused on reducing the carbon footprint per unit of production.

He agreed with Bozeman that the solution “won’t come from just one group and not just from technology groups. Regulators need to be involved to put guard rails on these things, yet allow enough risk to use powerful new tools.”

Novozymes’ core competency is producing enzymes. Enzymes lower the activation of energy in reactions and the company applies that to many different industry segments. In its Ag division it applies its expertise to animal health and nutrition, crop yields and protection, and renewable fuels and materials.

Among other approaches, Novozymes has turned to “the humble microbe.” Its work with the microbiome helps enhance root growth, supply beneficial phosphorus, provide tolerance against heat and drought and protect crops from disease and pests, West said.

The company has conducted more than 250 field trials in many countries to test specific products on specific crops using “life-cycle analysis” (LCA). “Honed by rigorous debate and a peer-review process, we have used LCA since 2004 to estimate the impact of our solutions,” West said.

“We have helped our customers save 60 million tons of CO2 through the application of Novozyme products since 2015, equivalent to taking 25 million cars off the road,” he said. Industries affected in addition to agriculture include beverages, textiles, leather, paper-making, vegetable oils, starch and biomass-based biofuels, cosmetics, cereals and detergents.

In a one-acre study of corn, using Novozyme products saved just over one metric ton of CO2 per acre. What happens if you apply that to the 95 million acres of corn planted in the U.S. alone, West asked.

“We look for ways to quantify these technologies because it will be very important going forward, due to the regulatory environment.”