Marie Dorline Desir

English 1121

Prof. Penner

Citation: ” Preparing plants for climate change.” Southwest Farm Press, 28, Feb. 2020, Agriculture, https://www.farmprogress

Summary: The article, preparing plants for climate change discusses how farmers are planning to grow crops under different weather conditions due to climate change.

The most important information of this article is that carbon dioxide has its benefits. Plants use carbon dioxide to help them grow. The more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the faster crops will grow. Raja Teddy, a professor at Mississippi State College is studying how climate change has an effect on how plants will respond when there is more carbon dioxide in the air. Researchers set up a greenhouse and set up an experiment where they increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the earth’s future atmosphere. The research team used realistic conditions of what carbon gas levels could be in the future. The researchers used warmer weather temperatures, less water and light that would represent actual environmental stresses that could be applied to crops in the future. The researchers measured plant growth, height, leaf, area and the root systems .The results of this study demonstrated that increased plant growth with higher carbon dioxide levels does not effect how plants handles stress. Professor Reddy feels this is positive news and stated, “What breeders are doing for the future should hold up well”.

Reflection: I don’t agree with the results of this this study made by professor Reddy and his colleagues. My research shows that carbon dioxide is a primary greenhouse gas caused by human activity. It is harmful to the environment. According to NASA carbon dioxide concentrations are rising, causing the earth to heat up. (p. 5). https://eathobservatory.nasa.gov

Professor Reddy stated that, “What breeders are doing for the future should hold up well”. I think that farmers need to do more to have their farms become more sustainable in the future. This includes using solar run tractors and using less harmful pesticides.

One thought I have about the research discussed in the article is that Prof. Reddy’s study does not include any information on how the researchers collected their data, how they analyzed their data, and what the limitations they found. I would ask the author how reliable is this study? And I would want to know if most farmers living across America believe they are well prepared to cope with the earth’s changing climate. And if not, how should they upgrade their farming methods to cope with changing climate.

Other information I would need to understand this article better is to understand how greenhouse gas emissions work on the environment. This article states that efforts are being made to reduce gas emissions but what are they and should we reduce gas emissions like NASA believes?

I believe the author’s intended audience is the farmers and ranchers. They are the community that would prepare their plant for climate change. The purpose of this article is to inform. This article give us detail and does not use poetry like Douglas’ speech. I believe this type of genre is effective and makes sense for what the author wants to accomplish.

I think this article is credible but certain facts written needs further investigating. This article was written in Southwest Farm Press and I researched this organization. I found that it has may premier sponsors like AGCO. I believe these sponsors might bias the articles to benefit themselves. For example, AGCO designs, manufactures, and distributes agriculture equipment. I have to think about why they would print an article that justifies the earth having high carbon dioxide gas levels. Maybe they can’t produce solar or wind powered farm equipment?

Quotation: “Rice is one of the most important grain crops in the world, so it is particularly important to know how rice will respond to new climate.” Explains Reddy.