Arugula in 2050: large and toxic leaves: here are the plants of the future between CO2 and climate change

Share

February 24, 2016 There has been talk of climate change and the effects it will have on the life of the Planet for some time and on several occasions, amid the alarms of the scientific community. And if we are already dealing with a crazed and increasingly enemy climate, so far we have only been able to assume the (inevitable) effects of rising temperatures on plants. To give us a more concrete idea of ​​what will be, for example, in 35 years is a sort of time machine, very similar to a refrigerator, developed in Turin.

The

will flower earlier, in March instead of late April. Production will not increase and will be subject to attack by a fungus that will oblige winemakers to 7 pesticide treatments per season instead of the current 5.

The

will transform as a result of the increase in CO2: larger leaves, but it can become toxic.

The

will be devastated by an African parasite.

To grow

they need frequent and abundant watering, sun and fresh, drained soil. In 35 years the situation will be decidedly complicated for them: they will be under attack by molds on the leaves, they will have to select species that are more resistant to parasites and water shortage.

This scenario was drawn by a computer: it raises the temperature, raises carbon dioxide, makes it rain or snow. In essence, it creates the environmental conditions that are assumed to exist in 2050 and provides scientists with the tools to tackle them and create the agriculture of the future. Someone is moving in time. Champagne producers, for example, are buying large territories in Ireland and Scotland, planning to move crops to those lands. “Perhaps it is inevitable that there will be a shift towards the north of the crops - explains Angelo Garibaldi, president of Agroinnova - but we cannot give up the excellent productions for which Italy is famous in the world. We have to make them adapt to climate change ”. And to understand how, here is the study in question. The first species to enter the time machine,in recent years, they have been the vine and the poplar. Now it's the turn of rocket, salad and cabbage and potatoes. Thus we discover that the

of the future will be besieged by parasites,

as well. The increase in carbon dioxide, on the other hand, will be good for some

, especially barley. The

, the

and

may even become toxic due to a toxin already in the southern Mediterranean, which already is moving toward the north: in Biella, for example, have been found in the ground outbreak of widespread pests in Sicily.

We need new plants with precise characteristics, therefore. And actions: prevent the arrival of new parasites (a study in which Agroinnova itself has been engaged for years), due to globalization and rising temperatures. Maintain relations with China for the decrease in the use of pesticides. If all this is not done, we risk finding ourselves growing only dates and peanuts, as explained by Maria Gullino, doctor for plant diseases in force at Agrinnova. “Our projections are based on what has happened so far and what is expected at the international level. - he says in an interview with the Press - Of course we hope to be wrong about the climate, but we must be ready. This is why we study models where the temperature rises by as much as 5 degrees ".