Agricultural Production in Egypt: Assessing Vulnerability …
215
produce an equivalent amount of biomass. This improvement in water use efficiency
(WUE) is due to a closing of the stomata to regulate the flux of CO 2 molecules and
affects both C3- and C4-plants alike [24].
Wang et al. [25] analyzed 59 peer reviewed papers and found that, elevated CO 2
(between 450 and 800 ppm) significantly increased the yield of wheat grain by 24%.
This yield increase was found to be 44% less in free-air CO 2 enrichment than in
the enclosed experimental environment. They concluded that key targets for future
plant breeding programs are to select new wheat genotypes which have higher sink
capacity for photosynthetic products and are capable of increasing nitrogen uptake
under elevated CO 2 .
Ruiz-Vera et al. [26] investigated the effects of rising CO 2 and warmer temperature, independently and in combination, on Maize grown in the field throughout a
full growing season. Growing Maize, as C4 crop, in mimicking conditions predicted
by the second half of this century, in which both CO 2 and temperature were elevated,
they found that elevated CO 2 did not stimulate the photosynthesis, the biomass, or the
yield of Maize. On the contrary, they found that warming had caused a reduction in
photosynthesis of Maize and it shifted above ground carbon allocation away from the
reproduction processes of the crop, resulting in reduced yield. The study concluded
that future warming would reduce yield in maize, and this will not be mitigated by
higher atmospheric CO 2 unless appropriate adaptation traits can be introduced into
future cultivars.
Ruiz-Vera et al. [26] reviewed more than twenty years of work on open-air enrichment with CO 2 of C3 crops of cotton, wheat, ryegrass, clover, potato, grape, rice,
barley, sugar beet, soybean, cassava and mustard, and C4 crops of sorghum and
maize. They concluded that: elevated CO 2 (550 ppm from an ambient concentration
of about 353 ppm in 1990) biomass and yield were increased by in all C3 species,
but not in C4 species except when water was limiting and that the yields of C3 grain
crops were increased on average about 19%.
4.3 Vulnerability of the Livestock Production System
The livestock production contributes significantly to the national economy of the
countries of the Near East and North Africa region. It has been more than doubled
during the last 40 years from 186 to 412 million head [4]. It has been estimated that
38% of the rural population lives in agro-pastoral livestock production areas, while
59% of the rural population lives in mixed livestock production systems.
The likely impacts of climate change on food production are not limited to crops
and agricultural production. Climate change will have great consequences for dairy,
meat and wool production, mainly arising from its impact on grassland and rangeland
productivity. In areas threatened by global warming such as the Near East and North
Africa, higher incidences of transboundary diseases can illustrate a major challenge
for the animal production system.
215
produce an equivalent amount of biomass. This improvement in water use efficiency
(WUE) is due to a closing of the stomata to regulate the flux of CO 2 molecules and
affects both C3- and C4-plants alike [24].
Wang et al. [25] analyzed 59 peer reviewed papers and found that, elevated CO 2
(between 450 and 800 ppm) significantly increased the yield of wheat grain by 24%.
This yield increase was found to be 44% less in free-air CO 2 enrichment than in
the enclosed experimental environment. They concluded that key targets for future
plant breeding programs are to select new wheat genotypes which have higher sink
capacity for photosynthetic products and are capable of increasing nitrogen uptake
under elevated CO 2 .
Ruiz-Vera et al. [26] investigated the effects of rising CO 2 and warmer temperature, independently and in combination, on Maize grown in the field throughout a
full growing season. Growing Maize, as C4 crop, in mimicking conditions predicted
by the second half of this century, in which both CO 2 and temperature were elevated,
they found that elevated CO 2 did not stimulate the photosynthesis, the biomass, or the
yield of Maize. On the contrary, they found that warming had caused a reduction in
photosynthesis of Maize and it shifted above ground carbon allocation away from the
reproduction processes of the crop, resulting in reduced yield. The study concluded
that future warming would reduce yield in maize, and this will not be mitigated by
higher atmospheric CO 2 unless appropriate adaptation traits can be introduced into
future cultivars.
Ruiz-Vera et al. [26] reviewed more than twenty years of work on open-air enrichment with CO 2 of C3 crops of cotton, wheat, ryegrass, clover, potato, grape, rice,
barley, sugar beet, soybean, cassava and mustard, and C4 crops of sorghum and
maize. They concluded that: elevated CO 2 (550 ppm from an ambient concentration
of about 353 ppm in 1990) biomass and yield were increased by in all C3 species,
but not in C4 species except when water was limiting and that the yields of C3 grain
crops were increased on average about 19%.
4.3 Vulnerability of the Livestock Production System
The livestock production contributes significantly to the national economy of the
countries of the Near East and North Africa region. It has been more than doubled
during the last 40 years from 186 to 412 million head [4]. It has been estimated that
38% of the rural population lives in agro-pastoral livestock production areas, while
59% of the rural population lives in mixed livestock production systems.
The likely impacts of climate change on food production are not limited to crops
and agricultural production. Climate change will have great consequences for dairy,
meat and wool production, mainly arising from its impact on grassland and rangeland
productivity. In areas threatened by global warming such as the Near East and North
Africa, higher incidences of transboundary diseases can illustrate a major challenge
for the animal production system.