2015 ASHS Annual Conference

August 02 - 07, 2015

By understanding recent trends in climate, we can gain insight into the challenges that climate change is likely to bring to horticultural production over the next several decades.  Horticultural crop value is derived from both the quantity and the quality of the harvested plant material, and both quantity and quality are affected by climate.  Because of this there are increasing concerns about how climate change will impact the sustainability of our horticultural production systems.  This colloquium will look at trends in climate that are most likely to continue or intensify, and the use of models to predict how near-term changes in climate might impact the physiology of temperate to tropical crops.  Perennial crops (apple, grape, citrus, coffee, banana/plantain, and cacao) and one annual crop (lettuce) will be discussed.  In all cases, unanticipated stresses may occur, and new breeding techniques and genetic resources may need to be adopted or developed to accelerate the breeding of new cultivars.  All of this will lead toward a discussion of climate smart agriculture, which is the alignment of food security, sustainable production, climate resiliency, and greenhouse gas mitigation.