UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Environment Centre Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK.
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK.
Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 5;14(1):8026. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-58144-1.
Air quality negatively impacts agriculture, reducing the yield of staple food crops. While measured data on African ground-level ozone levels are scarce, experimental studies demonstrate the damaging impact of ozone on crops. Common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris), an ozone-sensitive crop, are widely grown in Uganda. Using modelled ozone flux, agricultural surveys, and a flux-effect relationship, this study estimates yield and production losses due to ozone for Ugandan beans in 2015. Analysis at this scale allows the use of localised data, and results can be presented at a sub-regional level. Soil nutrient stress, drought, flood risk, temperature and deprivation were also mapped to investigate where stresses may coincide. Average bean yield losses due to ozone were 17% and 14% (first and second growing season respectively), equating to 184 thousand tonnes production loss. However, for some sub-regions, losses were up to 27.5% and other crop stresses also coincided in these areas. This methodology could be applied widely, allowing estimates of ozone impact for countries lacking air quality and/or experimental data. As crop productivity is below its potential in many areas of the world, changing agricultural practices to mitigate against losses due to ozone could help to reduce the crop yield gap.
空气质量对农业产生负面影响，降低了主食作物的产量。虽然非洲地面臭氧水平的测量数据稀缺，但实验研究表明臭氧对作物具有破坏性影响。普通豆类（Phaseolus vulgaris）是一种对臭氧敏感的作物，在乌干达广泛种植。本研究使用模拟臭氧通量、农业调查和通量-效应关系，估算了 2015 年乌干达豆类因臭氧造成的产量和生产损失。在这种规模上进行分析可以利用本地化数据，并可以在次区域一级呈现结果。还绘制了土壤养分胁迫、干旱、洪水风险、温度和贫困数据，以调查压力可能重合的地方。臭氧导致的豆类平均产量损失分别为 17%和 14%（第一和第二生长季节分别），相当于 18.4 万吨的产量损失。然而，对于一些次区域，损失高达 27.5%，并且这些地区也同时存在其他作物压力。这种方法可以广泛应用，允许对缺乏空气质量和/或实验数据的国家进行臭氧影响估计。由于世界上许多地区的作物生产力低于其潜力，改变农业实践以减轻臭氧造成的损失可能有助于缩小作物产量差距。
