Soybean production and yield in the context of global climatic changes

Abstract

Abstract The global context of climate change predicts increases in the risk of important climatic factors that could directly influence plant survival and crop yields. Such projections are made using models of plant growth and development, climate, and possible future scenarios. However, the use of different models and methodologies, combined with different scenarios, produces an infinity of contrasting results, considering different combinations of temperature, water distribution, and CO 2 concentration in the atmosphere. This work makes projections of the possible climatic and environmental effects on the development and the yield of the soybean considering different scenarios. For maintenance and yield improvements, the needs and possibilities of using techniques related to the climate and the use and protection of soils and cultivars already adapted to different environments are emphasized. It is also expected that science will evolve to adapt plants to the expected stresses. Science should act to select genotypes that can respond to stresses by initiating processes that result in the activation of responses at the molecular, biochemical, and physiological level, in the fight to increase tolerance to abiotic stresses. Such advances lead us to believe that the exploration of the existing genetic variability will enable the selection of genotypes tolerant to drought, saline soils, and high temperatures. It is concluded that the set of knowledge that we have today, together with the scientific advances that are yet to come, allows humanity to continue having the hope of having a better future than those predicted in the most pessimistic scenarios.