25/10/2016

Weather and Climate

Impact of Climate on
Crop Production
By

Dr. Tasneem Khaliq

Climate and Agriculture

Climate is the major driver of agriculture

What

to plant?

Where
How

to plant it?

to manage it?

Soil climate also play a major role

Other factors
Human

needs, market availability & access, etc.

Weather:
It is atmospheric conditions of locality at specific time
such as today it is so cold in Faisalabad

Climate:

It is the long term weather conditions of a locality. May

be for 10, 20, 30 year or more than that. E.g. It is
always cold in December and January in Pakistan

Climate is actually measure of weather for a long term

Microclimate: It is the atmospheric state in a small area

or near the ground surface such as the climates of a
field or around a plant or leaf surface

Why study of climate is essential

Farming is a Risky Business
Excess Rainfall, Flooding
Drought
Freezes
Wind
Hurricanes, Tornados
Seasonal variations in temperature, timing and
amounts of rainfall not as dramatic, but major
impacts

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Climate Classification
1)

Tropical climate (Solar Climate): High

2)

Arid Climate (Desert Climate): High

3)

Humid mild-temperate climate: It

4)

Humid temperate Climate: Cold,

5)

Polar Climate: Severe

temperature, Low Rainfall and

Humidity and windy such as Thal (Punjab)
has hot, dry, summer, mild winters with
rainfall and brilliant sunshine such as Bannu (KPK)
snowy winter, mild summer, heavy
rainfalls such as Gilget Baltistan
cold and heavy snowfall at north and south poles
of equator, not suitable for agriculture

1) Temperature

Temperature is measure of intensity of light

Temperature affects crop from seed germination to harvesting

Seed of the most crop germinate between the range of 15-35c

Crop should be sown at appropriate time to fulfill its

temperature requirements for normal germination and growth

It also affects plants functions such as

Photosynthesis (This is slow at low temperature)

Climate and crop production interaction

temperature, High rainfall, high

humidity and cloudy weather such as climate of Thatha (Sind)

Respiration
Cell wall permeability

Crop production is always on the mercy of weather

conditions
Climate determines the crop which can be grown
Climate and weather tells that when it should be
grown
Management practices depends upon the weather
conditions
Weather affects the yield in different in many ways

Continue..

Transpiration rate: (low at low temperature and

high at high temperature)

Absorption of water

Absorption of salutes

Soil microbial activity

Rabi season and kharif season react differently to

temperature
Exposure of winter crops to low temperature (37C) for initiation of flowering is called
Vernalization

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Continue.
and reproductive development
Duration of crop season
Leaf area expansion
Dry matter partitioning, grain vs.
vegetative
water stress
Soil organic matter transformations

2) Humidity

Vegetative

Absolute humidity: It is the mass of water vapors per

id directly related to transpiration

of plant
It affects the water requirement of the plant
Low humidity (15% around midday) adversely
affect the growth of crop and decrease land
productivity
High humidity causes the incident of diseases
because more pathogenic fungi thrive best.

3) Rainfall and Snowfall (Precipitation)

Rain and snow are the source of water for soil and plant

Water is required for synthesis of carbohydrates and

transportation of nutrients

to that of saturated humidity usually calculated in %age

Rain water regulate soil and atmospheric temperature

Saturated Humidity: It refers to the maximum amount

Moisture stress cause reduction in cell division and cell

elongation

Rain creates the problem during harvesting/fruit picking

It promotes the fungal disease and lowers the crop quality

Heavy rainfalls causes floods which result nutrient losses

unit volume of air, usually expressed as gram of water

held by a unit volume of air

Humidity

Relative Humidity: It is the ratio of absolute humidity

of water vapours held by a unit volume of air

Hygrometer is used to measure the humidity

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4) Pressure

moisture, the solid water or ice falls as snow

Dew: the formation of dew occurs at night mainly

depends on radiontional cooling of leaf or soil surface

It refers to the force per unit area exerted upon a surface

Atmospheric pressure is weight of Air
When mercury column of barometer falls (low pressure) wind
may be expected
A rising column (high pressure) is usually indicator of fair
weather
Low pressure may cause the strong wind and reduce crop yield
e.g. lodging
It is measured with the Barometer

Snow: when temperature of air is too low to freeze its

Fog/mist: When a warm, saturated air mass rapidly

replaces a cool, dry air mass over a cool surface, fog or
mist results

5) Wind

It affects the crops by influencing pollination and fertilization

Wind facilitates the dispersal of wheat seed and fungal spores

6) Light

Duration of light has major importance to the growth and

development of crop
Fundamental processes of photosynthesis in green plants
depends on light intensity

Wind also affects the bee activity e.g. pollination

Hot and dry wind increase the transpiration in the plant

Closure of stomata

Light also affects the rate of transpiration by influence of

stomata

Decrease the gaseous exchange

Leaf development, its expansion and thickness in the cereals

increase with the increasing radiation

Tillering in wheat is also influenced by light intensity

Sunshine hours are measured by Cambel Stroke

Photosynthesis reduction

Wind speed is measured by the Anemometer

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Potential evapotranspiration, thus actual evapotranspiration

and plant water stress
Temperature in soil & canopy (microclimate)

Crop Development

Day length

Reproductive development

Dry matter partitioning

Vegetative Growth Period

Plant

Emerge

Reproductive Growth Period Harvest

1st Flower 1st Seed

Maturity

Phys. Maturity

Time
Vegetative Development is mainly affected by Temperature
such as appearance of leaves on main stem)
Reproductive Development is affected by temperature
and daylength (such as duration of seed growth phase)
Stresses reduce dry matter accumulation and yield; crop
sensitivities vary considerably with stage of growth

Confusions??????
Questions???????