Reconciling adaptation and mitigation to climate change in agriculture

An effective adaptation to the changing climate at farm, sector and policy level is a prerequisite for reducing negative impacts and for obtaining possible benefits. These adaptations include land use and land management, as well as changes in inputs of water, nutrients and pesticides. Some of the most wide ranging adaptations involve changes in water management and water conservation, which involves issues such as changing irrigation, adoption of drought tolerant crops and water saving cropping methods (e.g. mulching and minimum tillage). Many of these adaptation options have substantial effects on greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture. However, so far few studies have attempted to link the issue of adaptation and mitigation in agriculture. This is primarily because the issues have so far been dealt with by different research communities and within different policy contexts. As both issues are becoming increasingly relevant from a policy perspective, these issues will have to be reconciled. Dealing with these issues requires a highly interdisciplinary approach.