How does climate change affect crop yield and quality?
This UT FieldLab experiment falls under the theme Food security and biodiversity. View all experiments related to this theme.
Introduction
How do we monitor not only how much food we produce, but also how nutritious it is? This long‑term field experiment examines how changing weather patterns and extreme events—such as drought and heatwaves—affect both crop yields and nutritional quality. We aim to use local field measurements to shed light on a global challenge: hidden hunger—a lack of micronutrients, tiny but essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals—that affects more than 3 billion people.
What do we study?
We focus on two core questions:
1. How do yield (biomass, grain yield) and crop development change under climate stress?
2. What happens to nutritional composition—micronutrients (e.g., iron, zinc) and anti‑nutrients (e.g., phytic acid)—when crops experience stress?
By tracking weather, soil, and plant development across seasons and years, we generate evidence for climate‑smart agriculture, plant breeding, and targeted soil management—directly relevant to food security and public health.
How does it work?
We combine aerial and ground measurements:
- Multispectral imagery: photos in several (including non‑visible) colour bands such as near‑infrared that reveal plant health.
- Hyperspectral imagery: hundreds of narrow bands to detect subtle differences in leaf chemistry.
- Thermal imagery: heat maps that show canopy temperature, evaporation, and water stress.
On the ground, we use canopy spectroscopy and compute indices such as Leaf Area Index (LAI) (leaf area per m²) and chlorophyll indices (proxies for photosynthesis and plant vitality). We harvest plants to determine fresh and dry biomass and analyse leaf and grain samples for yield, nutrients, and anti‑nutrients. Soil chemistry (e.g., pH, organic matter, nutrient availability) helps explain differences in growth and quality.
Why does this matter?
Climate stress changes not only how much food we grow, but also how nourishing that food is. By detecting causes and effects early, growers and policymakers can make informed choices—from irrigation and fertilisation to cultivar selection and soil improvements—strengthening resilience to extreme weather while reducing hidden hunger.