Impacts of Sand and Dust Storms on Agriculture and Potential ...

Impacts of Sand and Dust Storms on Agriculture and Potential Agricultural Applications of a SDSWS Robert Stefanski Agricultural Meteorology Division World Climate Programme World Meteorological Organization WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Outline • • • •

Introduction Impacts of SDS on Agriculture Measures to Combat SDS Potential Agricultural Applications – Tactical – Strategic – Research

• Final Thoughts

WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Introduction • Wind erosion is a function of weather events interacting with soil (intrinsic properties) and land management (past and present practices) through its effects on soil structure and vegetation cover. • Soil roughness, soil erodibility, soil wetness, and the quantity and orientation of crop residues are parameters that impact the transport of eroded soils. • Over-grazing, over-cultivation and destruction of soil aggregates by mining, construction, and off-road traffic stimulates and accelerates soil wind erosion in dryland regions.


Impacts of Sand and Dust Storms • • • • • •

Crop and Livestock losses Soil productivity losses Economic losses Transport Impacts Environmental Impacts Positive Impacts

Photo credit: Kansas State University

Impacts – Crops & Livestock • Loss of plant tissue and reduced photosynthetic activity as a result of sandblasting • Burial of seedlings under sand deposits • Delayed plant development • Increased end-of-season drought risk • Causing injury and reduced productivity of livestock WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Impacts – Soil Productivity Losses • Loss of the most fertile fraction (K and P) of the topsoil and can be transported long distance

• Increases soil erosion and accelerates the process of land degradation and desertification (UNCCD)


Economic Impacts • Direct economic loss caused by the strong sand-dust storm 5 May, 1993 was 560 million RMB Yuan (Wang Shi-gong et al. 1995) • Annual on-farm costs of wind erosion in the Prairie Provinces of Canada are about USD $249 million


Other Impacts • Filling up irrigation canals with sediments • Covering transportation routes • Affecting water quality of rivers and streams, and affecting air quality


Positive Impacts • Mineral dust has an important role to play in the supply of nutrients and micronutrients to terrestrial ecosystems eg., . 2.5 and 0.2 kg ha-1 of K and P, respectively, from dust deposition in the Sahel. • The accumulation of sand-dust from the Sahara into Amazon Valley brings 1-4 kg of phosphate per ha per year. • Sand and dust from China are the major component of ice crystals which are alkali and neutralize the emergence of acid rain in Japan WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Measures to Combat SDS • Focus on preventing the soil/sand from being picked up in the source area such as: – Reducing the impact of wind speed use of windbreaks or shelterbelts – Protecting loose soil particles by use of crop residues or plastic sheets or chemical adhesives – Increasing cohesion of soil particles by conservation tillage operations or soil mulching

Use of Wind Breaks and Shelterbelts • A "wind break" is any structure that reduces wind speed (ie natural vegetative barrier). Wind speed can be reduced by more than 50% at a leeward distance of 20 times barrier height. • Benefits include decreased soil erosion, increased crop yields, reduced livestock stress, control of drifting snow, building maintenance and energy savings • Wind breaks may also benefit wildlife species by providing food, reproductive sites and shelter from severe weather. WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Crop Residues/Tillage • Surface crop residues help stabilize soils by reducing soil water loss and the erosive force of wind and by shielding the soil from a reduced number of saltating particles. • Vertical residues are much more effective that flat surface cover in controlling soil loss by wind. • Special farming implements, such as chisel-type ploughs, which permit the cultivation of vegetated surfaces and maintain a rough, well-textured surface could be used for this purpose.


Potential Agricultural Applications of a SDSWS • Tactical Applications – After Planting – daily, weekly

• Strategic Applications – Before planting - Long-term planning, investments

• Research


Potential Agricultural Applications of a SDSWS Tactical Applications (Warnings) • Near-term alerts for agricultural communities to take preventive action such as – harvesting maturing crops (vegetables, grain), – sheltering livestock, and – strengthening infrastructure (houses, roads, crop storage) for the storm. WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Potential Agricultural Applications of a SDSWS Strategic Applications • Improved SDS climatologies for long-term planning for agricultural communities such as: – Planning windbreaks and shelterbelts (direction, size, etc) – Planning infrastructure and crops • Post-storm crop damage assessments. WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Potential Agricultural Applications of a SDSWS Research Areas • Forecasting locust movement • Improving Soil / Wind Erosion and Land Degradation Models • Plant and animal pathogen movement and the relationship of SDS to disease outbreaks • Archive of SDSWS products (Forensic Use) WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007


Swarm movement depends on synoptic conditions


www.fao.org/ag/locusts

Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) • WEPS is a process-based, daily time-step, computer model that predicts soil erosion via simulation of the fundamental processes controlling wind erosion. • WEPS can calculate soil movement, estimate plant damage, and predict PM-10 emissions when wind speeds exceed the erosion threshold. It also can provide the user with spatial information regarding soil flux, deposition, and loss from specific regions of a field over time. • WEPS is intended for conservation planning, assessing wind erosion and for aiding the development of regional and national policy.

http://www.weru.ksu.edu/ WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Importance of Plant Pathogen Transport • World agriculture mainly depends on a small fraction of the many 1000s of plant species worldwide • Limited plant genetic diversity of globally distributed crops • Example: Most coffee and banana plantations are from single clones. Original plantation of Arabic coffee in the Americas is traced to a single bush from Java in 1706 • Uniform susceptibility to disease is the problem • Intercontinental dispersal of pathogens may cause diseases of crops on a global scale WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Sugarcane Rust (June 1978) Cameroon to Dom. Rep. Coffee Leaf Rust (1970) Angola to Bahia, Brazil Wheat stem Rust (1969) S. Africa to Australia Source: Brown and Hovemoller Science. July 26 2002. WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Other Diseases • Foot and Mouth Disease (livestock) • Soybean Rust (South America to North America) • Wheat Stem rust (ug99)

• Policy makers need to know source of disease outbreaks (airborne or human transport) to take actions to minimize risk WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007


Final Thoughts on SDSWS • Components of Effective Warning Systems – Monitoring – Forecast – Advisory

• Potential Products should include – – – –

Areal Extent Severity Duration Potential Impacts


Final Thoughts on SDSWS • Other useful products/information: – – – –

Weather Patterns associated with SDS Meso-scale features that ignite storms Vertical Data useful Archives of data and forecast products

• Group models by capability for users • For operational public warning systems, model output are guidance not endProducts (Current Wx Forecasting) • Need another level (Met Services?) between Models and Users WMO/GEO SDSWS Meeting - Barcelona Nov 2007

Input to Presentation • Dr Sivakumar – Chief WMO Agriculture Meteorology Division

• Ray Motha (former President of CAgM) – US Dept of Agriculture (USDA)

• Gary Peterson – USDA – Agricultural Research Service – Plant Pathology

• Keith Cressman – FAO Desert Locust Office, Rome

• Samsul Huda – Australia


[email protected]
