Climate-smart agriculture (CSA) represents a comprehensive approach to farming that aims to address the challenges posed by climate change while ensuring sustainable agricultural productivity and resilience. It encompasses a range of practices and technologies tailored to specific environmental conditions, including drought-resistant crops, precision agriculture, agroforestry, and water management strategies. CSA emphasizes the importance of maximizing resource use efficiency, minimizing carbon emissions, and adapting to changing climatic conditions to ensure food security and livelihoods for present and future generations. By integrating climate adaptation and mitigation strategies into agricultural systems, CSA not only helps farmers cope with the impacts of climate change but also contributes to mitigating its effects by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promoting carbon sequestration in soils and vegetation. Moreover, CSA fosters innovation and collaboration among various stakeholders, including farmers, researchers, policymakers, and private sector actors, to develop and scale up sustainable agricultural practices that contribute to both climate resilience and agricultural productivity. Through holistic approaches that prioritize environmental sustainability, economic viability, and social equity, climate-smart agriculture offers a pathway towards building more resilient and sustainable food systems in the face of a changing climate.
Title : Preventing/minimizing development of resistance in fungal plant pathogens to fungicides
Mohammad Babadoost, University of Illinois, United States
Title : Mycorrhizae and their role in climate resilience in agricultural systems
Mary Cole, The University of Melbourne, Australia