Researchers at the University of Houston are currently training future agricultural scientists in new methods of protecting the world’s foodcrops.
The team-which is funded by a $995,805 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-is expanding research knowledge and building a new curriculum for students, many from communities currently underrepresented among the agriculture industry’s leadership.
“With this new project, we hope to expand opportunities in agricultural science and increase representation by opening doors for inspired scientists of many backgrounds,” said Abdul Latif Khan, assistant professor of plant biotechnology at the UH Cullen College of Engineering’s Division of Technology.
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Khan, who doubles as the project’s principal investigator, said that frequent threats to the world’s food supply stem from weather events, such as freezes, floods, prolonged heat waves and droughts.
“For example, 10 or 15 years ago, droughts lasted 10 to 14 days. But now we experience droughts of one or two months,” Khan said.
Speaking further, he said that while plants can endure such harsh conditions for days, they cannot continue for weeks and months. Once they stop thriving, their growth slows and productivity diminishes. In addition, droughts and heat waves leave an indirect but lingering threat: As heat continues to evaporate moisture, salts concentrate in soil, creating a hyper-saline environment not favorable to existing crops.
These problems can hit hard as declining harvests decrease a farmer’s income. Soil that is losing its fertility becomes more costly to maintain as agricultural land. When farming the land becomes a financial burden, the owner faces a dilemma. Ultimately, the only viable option might be to sell the land for housing developments or other commercial endeavors. One by one, lost farmland contributes to global food insecurities.
“Climate change is affecting the entire earth, and it’s leaving us with less land to produce food. By the beginning of the next century, the world food demand will be almost 30% to 35% higher than what we are growing now. To reach that higher level, we will need novel tools in our agriculture system that do two things: First, safeguard the soil system. And second, not lose our farms, which future generations will need to meet food demands,” he said.
Story was adapted from University of Houston.
