Historic climate change trends and impacts on crop yields in key agricultural areas of the prairie provinces in Canada: a literature review

Abstract

The objective of this literature review was to compile research findings on climate change and its impacts on crop production in Prairie Provinces of Canada. Our search strategy included finding primary literature articles from various databases. Seven articles reported increases in average and minimum air temperature over time in the Prairie Provinces of Canada. Increases in maximum air temperature were smaller than that for minimum air temperature. Growing degree days (GDD) and corn heat units (CHU) also increased over time, which has allowed for potential expansion of corn growth northwards. While overall increases in average annual precipitation and growing season precipitation have occurred in Canada between1900 and 2021, western Canada showed increases in some regions but decreases in others. Off-season precipitation and snow cover duration in Canada have decreased since 1950. The number of frost-free days has increased across Canada, on the Prairies and southern Saskatchewan since 1900. Annual snowfall has decreased since 1950 and across Canada the annual maximum snow depth has also decreased. Overall, studies focusing on the Prairie Provinces in Canada have shown accelerated changes in several climate parameters over time, affecting cropping areas and crop yields.

STICS Soil–Crop Model Performance for Predicting Biomass and Nitrogen Status of Spring Barley Cropped for 31 Years in a Gleysolic Soil from Northeastern Quebec (Canada)

“…This underscores the importance of ensuring that the values of the parameters calibrated by optimization are plausible. The sum of GDD between emergence and physiological maturity obtained during calibration falls in the range of GDD values (1268 to 1702 • C d) reported for spring barley grown at three locations in the northern Great Plains of the Canadian province of Alberta (Botha, Lacombe, and Olds) from 1993 to 1996 [11] as well as in the range of values (1250 to 1850 • C d) reported for barley grown in agricultural area of the western Canadian province of Manitoba [70]. The reduction of stlevdrp and stdrpmat is consistent with the shorter growing season characterizing the study location in northeastern Quebec.…”

Effect of Temperature on Frost-Free Days and Length of Crop Growing Season across Southern Ontario

“…In agriculture, climate change has a significant effect on plant water requirement, water quality and available moisture content in the soil. These effects were recently reported in serval reports worldwide (Bennett, 1959;Kundzewicz et al, 2007;Bates et al, 2008;Nelson et al, 2009;IPCC, 2013IPCC, , 2014Rudra et al, 2015;Neelin et al, 2017;Mapfumo et al, 2023). The agricultural sector has been noticeably affected by extreme climate events almost in every region of the world.…”

“…Each crop has specific temperature requirements, including maximum and minimum thresholds, as well as an optimal temperature range for achieving the highest growth rates (Qian et al, 2010;Hatfield et al, 2011). Cool-season crops such as spring wheat, barley, canola, oats, and rye, require lower air temperatures for growth compared to warm-season crops like corn, soybean, and sweet potatoes (Qian et al, 2010;An & Carew, 2015;Mapfumo et al, 2023).…”

Climate change awareness and adaptation by rice farmers in Surallah, South Cotabato

“…For instance, a study conducted in Nepal by Berrang-Ford, Pearce, and Ford (2015) found that only 43% of the surveyed upland farmers had heard of climate change, and 36% knew about its effects on agriculture. Similarly, a study conducted in Ghana by Mapfumo, Chanasyk, Puurveen, Elton, and Acharya (2023) reported that only 40% of the surveyed lowland farmers had heard of climate change, and 35% knew about its effects on their farming activities.…”