Drought Relief Research Articles

Harnessing Bacillus safensis as biofertilizer for sustainable drought alleviation in Brassica juncea L

Carrier-based biofertilizers, which involve the introduction of plant growth-promoting bacteria into agricultural industry waste materials, are gaining increasing attention due to their profoundly positive impacts on soil health. In current study, various carriers, including dry leaves, sugarcane husk (SCH), rice husk (RH), and a combination/Mixture (MIX) of all three, were employed to support the bacterial strain, Bacillus safensis (SCAL1). This strain was utilized as a bioinoculant in the production of carrier-based biofertilizers. This particular strain was sourced from the Environmental and Microbial Botany Lab at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. Bacillus safensis strain exhibited notable improvements, evident in a high rate of longevity and larger colony-forming units within the carriers, as confirmed by measurements taken after 21 days of incubation. The drought stress was induced using polyethylene glycol solutions with concentrations of 15% and 25% administrated 6 and 15 days after germination, respectively. Four distinct biofertilizer types were formulated in the study: DL + SCAL1, RH + SCAL1, SCH + SCAL1, and MIX + SCAL1. When applied to Brassica juncea L. plants, all of these biofertilizers demonstrated the ability to mitigate drought stress and enhance the quality of Brassica juncea L. The immobilization onto SCAL1 by using SCH showed the best result compared to the liquid inoculum as carrier materials improve stability and shelf life. Furthermore, our results affirmed that carrier-based biofertilizers improved biochemical and physiological attributes of plants during drought conditions, highlighting their importance as a valuable resource for mitigating drought stress in Brassica juncea L. The findings revealed that carrier-based biofertilizers are an excellent source of diverse phytohormones, which are pivotal in alleviating drought stress.

Assessing the Effects of Drought on Livestock Farming Livelihoods in Western Odisha: A Study of Drought and Non Drought Years

The irregular climatic variation, which is causing drought, flood, cyclone, etc., across the globe is increasingly affecting the livestock rearing leading to great distress to livestock farmers financially, socially and economically during the above periods [1,2]. Drought is a recurring phenomenon in Western Odisha, posing significant threats to the livelihoods of livestock farmers. This study investigates the effects of drought on the livelihoods of livestock farmers in the region, exploring the socio-economic and environmental implications. A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions with 72 livestock farmers. Results show that drought leads to reduced livestock productivity, decreased income, and diminished food security. Farmers' coping strategies, such as distress sales of assets and migration, exacerbate their vulnerability. The study highlights the need for drought-specific livestock management practices, improved access to credit and insurance, and enhanced extension services to support climate-resilient livelihoods. The study further revealed that animal rearing in the drought affected areas provides a sense of food security, social status and ability to meet the expenses in social rituals. By understanding the impact of drought on livestock farmers' livelihoods, this research aims to inform targeted interventions to enhance their resilience and adaptive capacity. Therefore, the Government of Odisha may initiate serious efforts to promote animal husbandry activities in these districts to support the farmers to negate the adverse impact of drought and to check the distress migration from these districts during the drought period. Policy recommendations include integrating livestock support into drought relief programs and promoting water harvesting and conservation practices.

Watering the trees for the forest: Drought alleviation in oaks and pines by ancestral ditches

Traditional ditches (“acequias” in Spanish) derive meltwater and infiltrate groundwater providing ecological services downstream in the semi-arid Sierra Nevada range (SE Spain). Therefore, they may act as a nature-based solution by alleviating drought stress in trees growing near ditches by enhancing growth and reducing their intrinsic water-use efficiency (iWUE). Such a mitigation role of acequias is critical given that some oak (Quercus pyrenaica) and pine (Pinus sylvestris) stands reach their xeric distribution limits in Europe. We compared tree-ring width data and wood δ13C, a proxy of iWUE, in oak and pine stands located near or far (control) from ditches with different infiltration capacity in two watersheds. We assessed how trees responded to climate data, drought stress, and vegetation greenness through correlations and resilience indices. Oak trees located near ditches grew more and responded less to precipitation, soil moisture, a drought index, and greenness than control trees. In pines, we did not find this pattern, and ditch trees grew more than control trees only during an extremely dry year (1995). Climate-growth correlations suggested a longer growing season in ditch pines. Growth of ditch oaks from the “Acequia Nueva” (AN), with high infiltration capacity, responded more to autumn soil moisture and showed the lowest δ13C. Growth was enhanced by cool-wet spring conditions in pines and also by warm-wet conditions in the prior winter in the case of oaks. Control trees showed lower resistance to drought. Control trees presented higher wood δ13C values except for old oaks from the “Acequia Grande” (AG) site which may show long-term acclimation. Traditional ditches alleviate drought stress in oak and pine stands subjected to regional xeric climate conditions.

Evolution Characteristics of Meteorological and Hydrological Drought in an Arid Oasis of Northwest China

In the context of global warming, the acceleration of the water cycle increases the risk of meteorological drought (MD) and hydrological drought (HD) in the arid region of Northwest China. The Manas River Basin is a typical agricultural oasis and the largest oasis farming area in Xinjiang, Northwest China. Droughts in this basin have significant implications for both agricultural production and the livelihoods of inhabitants. To evaluate the MD and HD and provide information for drought relief in the MRB, the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI) and standardized runoff index (SRI) were calculated using long-term rainfall and runoff data. Subsequently, combined with ArcGIS 10.3 software and the trend analysis method, the SPEI and SRI characteristics were evaluated at different time scales (1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month). There were three main findings. First, both MD and HD were alleviated, with significantly more HD alleviation. MDs in spring and autumn exhibited a trend of aggravation. The SRIs in summer, autumn, and winter increased significantly at a confidence level of p < 0.01, with an insignificant decline in spring. In the 2010s, the frequency of light drought of MD was stable at 10% to 20%, while severe and extreme droughts increased. The frequency of HDs has decreased since the 1990s. Second, on annual and seasonal scales, MDs occurred mainly as light and moderate droughts. The highest frequency of MD was 24% of moderate droughts in winter. Spatially, the northern region of the MRB was characterized by more frequent light and extreme droughts. Third, runoff in the Manas River Basin increased significantly during the 1990s, which may have been related to the acceleration of glacial retreat in the Tianshan Mountains. This study can effectively reveal the changes in meteorological and hydrological drought in NWC and provide the basis for risk decision-making and management for watershed managers.

Does drought exposure erode trust in the political system in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of severe droughts. As water scarcity can destroy vital resources such as crops and livestock, droughts pose major challenges to affected societies. Concerns arise that the resulting hardship and suffering could exacerbate social tensions. Trust in the political system, defined as citizens’ overall confidence in the state to deliver satisfactory outcomes, is an integral foundation of stable state-society relations. To illuminate under what conditions droughts might exert a destabilizing effect, investigating their impact on trust in the political system is paramount. Our study is the first to investigate how drought exposure influences citizens´ overall confidence in the political system. Previous research shows that citizens tend to lose trust when dissatisfied with the living conditions and output that a system provides. While droughts emerge gradually and, thus, give states multiple opportunities to intervene, states in the Global South often struggle to master the challenging task of drought management, thereby demonstrating inadequate, dissatisfactory state performance. We argue that failures in successful drought management showcase what goes wrong in a political system, which in turn leads to an erosion of trust in the political system. Using individual-level survey data from Afrobarometer round five, matched with high-resolution water scarcity data, our analysis reveals that recently drought-exposed individuals exhibit significantly lower levels of trust in the political system compared to their unaffected counterparts. This effect is most pronounced in sub-national regions with low state capacity, where the implementation of successful drought relief measures might be particularly difficult.

Agricultural drought-driven mechanism of coupled climate and human activities in the karst basin of southern China.

Timely and accurate agricultural drought monitoring and drought-driven mechanism analysis in karst basins in the context of global warming are highly important for drought disaster monitoring and sustainable ecological development in a basin. In this study, based on MODIS data, meteorological and topographic data and land use data from 2001 to 2020, we used the Sen slope, the Mann-Kendall test and a geographic detector to explore the driving mechanisms of agricultural drought caused by climate change and human activities in the karst basin of southern China from 2001 to 2020. The results showed that (1) the spatial distribution of the TVDI in the karst basin in southern China has obvious regional characteristics, showing a decreasing trend from west to east. (2) According to the interannual trend of drought, the degree of drought in the South China karst basin exhibited a weakening trend over the last 20 years, with the most severe drought occurring in 2003. Regarding the seasonal change in the TVDI, drought in spring, summer and autumn exhibited a decreasing trend, while that in winter exhibited an increasing trend, and the drought intensity decreased in the following order: spring (0.58) > autumn (0.53) > summer (0.5) > winter (0.48). (3) Single-factor detection the results showed that rainfall, temperature and elevation were the main factors driving aridification in the study area; multifactor coupling (mean) drove drought in descending order: rainfall (q = 0.424) > temperature (q = 0.340) > elevation (q = 0.219) > land use (q = 0.188) > population density (q = 0.061) > slope (q = 0.057). Therefore, revealing the mechanism of agricultural drought in karst basins through the study of this paper has important theoretical significance and provides technical guidance for drought relief in karst areas.

Improving the growth parameters, yield, and oil quality of camelina in rainfed farming due to the combined use of biochar and supplementary irrigation

The main concerns for agricultural production nowadays are excessive crop cultivation, water scarcity, and poor soil quality. It is possible to amend agronomic soil with activated biochar (BC) to achieve high water-fertilizer availability and Camelina crop production under rainfed conditions by using an efficient and environmentally safe technology. A split plot experiment was arranged on a randomized complete block design with nine treatments and three replications. The main and second factors were supplementary irrigation (SI) and BC, respectively, with SI comprising of no irrigation (control), irrigation at the flowering stage and seed-filling stage, while BC included control (BC0), 5 (BC5), and 10 (BC10) t ha−1. The number of lateral branches and seeds in the silique, seed yield (2751.8 kg ha−1), 1000-seed weight (1.16 g) and oil yield (991.50 kg ha−1) were highest in response to irrigation at the flowering stage and the application of BC10. The gas chromatography analysis showed that the highest amount of unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, linolenic, eicosadienoic and palmitic acids) was obtained in response to BC10 and irrigation at the seed-filling stage. Finally, the results showed that BC10 and the application of SI at the flowering stage increased the seed and oil yield, and unsaturated fatty acid content in Camelina. This study demonstrates that BC amendments can improve plant performance and preserve the environment, with significant implications for the alleviation of drought and sustainable Camelina production in arid regions. The study provides a practical way to produce Camelina in rainfed areas, which can benefit farmers economically.

Spatiotemporal drought characteristics during growing seasons of the winter wheat and summer maize in the North China Plain

The North China plain (NCP) is an important production base for winter wheat and summer maize in China. Severe droughts seriously restrict agricultural production in this region, threatening food security. Based on the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI), this study explored the spatial and temporal drought characteristics during the winter wheat and summer maize growing seasons in the region. The study found that: 1) From 1980 to 2013, the drought trend of the winter wheat growing season in the NCP has intensified, with Huang-Huai Plain agricultural area (HH_P) showing the most significant drought trend. However, the summer maize growing season has become wetter, with the Shandong hilly agricultural and forestry area (SD_Q) showing the most significant wetting trend. 2) After the year 2003, the results from Mann-Kendall trend analysis revealed that the drought trend of HH_P during the winter wheat growing season became particularly pronounced, but the wetting trend of SD_Q and HH_P during the summer maize growing season became more evident. 3) The dominant spatial patterns observed in the NCP during the growing seasons of winter wheat and summer maize were marked by a consistent distribution of drought and wetness conditions. For winter wheat, the southern regions of the foothill plain area of Yanshan and Taihang Mountains (YT_P) and the low-lying plain area of Hebei, Shandong, and Henan (JLY_P) were more sensitive to the changes of drought and wet conditions. For summer maize, SD_Q was more sensitive to the changes of the drought and wet conditions. The results of this study could provide references for the formulation of drought relief strategies of winter wheat and summer maize in the NCP.

Research on Downstream Safety Risk Warning Model for Small Reservoirs Based on Granger Probabilistic Radial Basis Function Neural Network

Early warning of safety risks downstream of small reservoirs is directly related to the safety of people’s lives and property and the economic and social development of the region. The lack of data and low collaboration in downstream safety management of small reservoirs makes the existing safety risk warning methods for small reservoirs no longer fully applicable. The data from flood control and drought relief departments, small reservoir operation and management departments, etc., are used comprehensively. A machine learning model suitable for a large number of samples, a small amount of data, and the condition of incomplete information is applied and innovated, and from the holistic perspective of ‘upstream reservoir—downstream region’, the safety risk factors of the upstream reservoir are identified with the help of the Granger causality test. The risk losses of the disaster behavior are predicted with the three-dimensional k~ε two-equation model coupled with the VOF (Volume of fluid) method and the neural network model. The safety risk dynamics prediction, the prediction of the disaster-causing environment, and the prediction of the risk losses are integrated to construct the early warning method of the downstream safety risk of small reservoirs, and the simulation effect is verified with the example of the J Reservoir. The results show that the model can clarify the causal relationships and time lag dependencies between hydro-meteorological factors and the water level of small reservoirs, and calculate the inundation depth, inundation range, and flood velocity downstream of small reservoirs. The downstream safety warning model of small reservoirs constructed in this article can effectively integrate upstream and downstream information, further improve the timeliness and accuracy of warning, and provide a reference for downstream safety risk management of small reservoirs.

Study on the evolution law and stage response relationship between meteorological elements and hydrological drought in Xiangtan area

Studying the propagation law and response relationship between meteorological elements and hydrological drought is conducive to exploring the propagation mechanism and transmission time of drought, and providing a basis for reasonable and efficient drought relief work. In this paper, the area above Xiangtan station is taken as the research area, and the temperature and precipitation are selected as the meteorological elements. The standardized flow index (SDI) is used to characterize the hydrological drought. The linear regression method and Mann-Kendall trend test are used to analyze the evolution sequence of meteorological elements and hydrological drought at different scales. The characteristics and laws of drought propagation are revealed, and the hydrological drought is divided into stages by combining the ordered cluster analysis method and the sliding t-test method. The Pearson correlation analysis method is used to analyze the stage correlation degree between meteorological elements and hydrological drought, reflecting the response relationship between meteorological elements and hydrological drought under different types and different scales, and the response period of hydrological drought to meteorological elements at different time scales is obtained. Studying the development trend and evolution law of meteorological elements and hydrological drought, and deeply exploring the phased response relationship are conducive to improving the drought resistance ability and drought disaster reduction management ability of Xiangtan area.

Microbial formulations for drought alleviation in Sunflower

An experiment was conducted with 3 microbial formulations (CRIDA resilia 1, CRIDA resilia 2 and one from NBAIM) to alleviate the drought effects on sunflower. Drought affected all the parameters except plant height, leaf number and days to flowering. Seed yield was the most affected with 58% reduction followed by LAI with 52% due to stress. Seed treatment with CRIDA resilia 2 increased seed yield in control by 35% but the same is not effective in ameliorating drought effect.

Inter-comparison of global precipitation data products at the river basin scale

Abstract While many studies have compared global precipitation datasets at national, continental, and global scales, few have evaluated these data at river basin scales. This study explored differences in precipitation estimates and trends of 12 widely applied precipitation datasets, including gauge-, satellite-, and reanalysis-based products, for the world's 6,292 river basins. Results showed that disparities between 12 precipitation datasets were considerable. A total of 3,125 river basins, with a land area of 5,989.1×104 km2, had differences in estimated annual average precipitation exceeding 500 mm yr−1, and these basins were mainly distributed in Greenland, Africa, Oceania, and West Asia. Disparities between the precipitation datasets were particularly large during the dry season when the percentage difference between the highest and lowest precipitation estimates exceeded 500% in 1,390 river basins (4,839.7×104 km2) expected due to numerical reasons. Differences in rainfall trends also varied markedly between data sources. The data products do not agree on precipitation trends for all river basins. These findings illustrate the importance of accurate precipitation data to ensure effective policy and planning in term of hydropower generation, domestic water supply, flood protection, and drought relief at river basin scales and highlight the uncertainty that exists in current global precipitation data.

Viability of Artificial Rain for Air Pollution Control: Insights from Natural Rains and Roadside Sprinkling

Artificial rain, a technology primarily used for drought relief, has recently been used for combating regional air pollution. However, there are limited available measurement data to confirm the effectiveness of this control practice. In this study, we summarize control theories and indirect but relevant observations/findings, including air pollutant reduction after natural rain events and roadside sprinkling. A brief review of artificial rain basics is also provided. Our work shows that artificial rain appears to be a promising management strategy for air pollution control. However, field measurements are needed to further assess the cost-effectiveness of the practice, as well as the other benefits or challenges it may create.

Trehalose alleviates the inhibition of adventitious root formation caused by drought stress in cucumber through regulating ROS metabolism and activating trehalose and plant hormone biosynthesis

Trehalose (Tre) plays a vital role in response to drought stress in plants but its regulatory mechanism remains unclear. Here, this study explores the mechanism of re-regulated drought tolerance during cucumber adventitious root formation. Our results indicate that 2 mM Tre displays remarkable drought alleviation in the aspect of root number, root length, fresh weight, and dry weight. Under drought stress, Tre could inhibit greatly the MDA, H2O2, and O2− accumulation, enhance obviously the activities of SOD, POD, and CAT enzymes and up-regulate significantly the transcript levels of SOD, POD, and CAT genes. Furthermore, Tre treatment also promotes Tre metabolism during drought stress: significantly increases starch and Tre contents and decreases glucose content, the biosynthesis enzymatic activity of the Tre metabolic pathway including TPS and TPP are enhanced and the activity of degradation enzyme THL is decreased, and corresponding genes TPS1, TPS2, TPPA, and TPPB are up-regulated. Tre significantly reversed the decrease caused by PEG in IAA, ethylene, ABA, and BR contents and the increase caused by PEG in GA3 and KT contents. Collectively, Tre appears to be the effective treatment in counteracting the negative effects of drought stress during adventitious root formation by regulating ROS, Tre metabolisms and plant hormones.

Variation of hydro-climatic extremes in headwater regions of Hei River basin under climate change

Study regionHeadwater regions of Hei River basin, located in the northeast of Tibetan Plateau. Study focusHydro-climatic extremes analysis for historical (1971–2015) and future (2024–2100) period. New hydrological insights for the regionRemarkable climate change has been observed in high mountain areas, which may result in more frequent hydro-climatic extremes. Investigating hydro-climatic extremes variations is important for mitigating hydro-climatic disasters and implementing water resource management. Warm extremes present an increasing trend in frequency and magnitude for historical and future period, while the cold extremes show a decreasing trend in the study area. Meanwhile, frequency and amount of precipitation extremes present an increasing trend for historical and future period. As a result, the intensity of meteorological and hydrological droughts show decreasing trends while floods present an increasing trend, indicating a certain drought relief in the study area. But future occurrence of extreme droughts or floods will increase. Moreover, floods for different return periods will rise with different change rate under different scenarios (SSP 1–2.6, SSP 2–4.5, SSP 3–7.0 and SSP 5–8.5). Therefore, extreme floods or droughts risks should not be underestimated and need be addressed accordingly. The findings highlight the importance of adaptive strategies to cope with more frequent hydro-climatic extremes under climate change.

Physiological and RNA-Seq Analyses on Exogenous Strigolactones Alleviating Drought by Improving Antioxidation and Photosynthesis in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.).

Drought poses a significant challenge to global wheat production, and the application of exogenous phytohormones offers a convenient approach to enhancing drought tolerance of wheat. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism by which strigolactones (SLs), newly discovered phytohormones, alleviate drought stress in wheat. Therefore, this study is aimed at elucidating the physiological and molecular mechanisms operating in wheat and gaining insights into the specific role of SLs in ameliorating responses to the stress. The results showed that SLs application upregulated the expression of genes associated with the antioxidant defense system (Fe/Mn-SOD, PER1, PER22, SPC4, CAT2, APX1, APX7, GSTU6, GST4, GOR, GRXC1, and GRXC15), chlorophyll biogenesis (CHLH, and CPX), light-harvesting chlorophyll A-B binding proteins (WHAB1.6, and LHC Ib-21), electron transfer (PNSL2), E3 ubiquitin-protein ligase (BB, CHIP, and RHY1A), heat stress transcription factor (HSFA1, HSFA4D, and HSFC2B), heat shock proteins (HSP23.2, HSP16.9A, HSP17.9A, HSP21, HSP70, HSP70-16, HSP70-17, HSP70-8, HSP90-5, and HSP90-6), DnaJ family members (ATJ1, ATJ3, and DJA6), as well as other chaperones (BAG1, CIP73, CIPB1, and CPN60I). but the expression level of genes involved in chlorophyll degradation (SGR, NOL, PPH, PAO, TIC55, and PTC52) as well as photorespiration (AGT2) was found to be downregulated by SLs priming. As a result, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) were enhanced, and chlorophyll content and photosynthetic rate were increased, which indicated the alleviation of drought stress in wheat. These findings demonstrated that SLs alleviate drought stress by promoting photosynthesis through enhancing chlorophyll levels, and by facilitating ROS scavenging through modulation of the antioxidant system. The study advances understandings of the molecular mechanism underlying SLs-mediated drought alleviation and provides valuable insights for implementing sustainable farming practice under water restriction.

Estimating Land Use Change Effects on Groundwater Recharge in Nadi and Kabinburi, Thailand

The effect of land use change on groundwater recharge in Nadi and Kabinburi Districts, Prachinburi Province, Thailand was studied by forecasting land use change using the CLUE model and estimating groundwater recharge using the H08 model. The results suggested that compared to the current average groundwater recharge, the groundwater recharge estimates from scenario 1 (changing the miscellaneous areas of mostly wasteland to mixed perennial areas) and scenario 2 (predicting the land use scenario for the next 10 years based on trends of land use change from the past to the present) were greater by 1.46 and 2.25%, respectively. In scenario 1, the increase in forest and mixed perennial areas increased the groundwater recharge by helping to slow down the surface runoff and, thus, increased the chances of water seepage into the soil. However, increasing the perennial area or turning wasteland into mixed perennial area (scenario 1), resulted in an increase in the groundwater recharge that was similar to the results from simulating future land use scenarios in the next 10 years (scenario 2). Therefore, to increase the efficiency of groundwater management and drought relief, the relevant agencies should adopt appropriate land use planning, be encouraged to plant perennials or support mixed farming on wasteland, restore degraded forest areas, and improve the management of water use concurrently.

Analisis Ketersediaan dan Kebutuhan Sumber Daya Air di Kecamatan Mamasa Kabupaten Mamasa

The availability of water in Indonesia, especially clean water, is still difficult to reach in some areas. The main problem of water resources in Indonesia is the availability of clean water from time to time becomes an unsolved problem. Residents who are dominated by the middle and lower economic circles, are forced to make choices in meeting their clean water needs. In addition, the problem of water resources in Indonesia still relies on flood and drought relief. The availability of water in Mamasa sub-district, especially clean water, is still a problem in the region. The increasing population in Mamasa District is one of the factors causing the increasing need for water. As it is known that Mamasa Subdistrict is the Capital of Mamasa Regency which has an area of ​​25,065 where the land area affects the availability of water in Mamasa Subdistrict. As the population increases in Mamasa District, it can cause the depletion of clean water in the region. Therefore, it is necessary to know the Water Carrying Capacity (DDA), Run Off, and the Maximum Capacity Value according to the Type of Land Use in order to know the quality and quantity of water availability in Mamasa District.

Drought in Afghanistan: exploring the vulnerability and drought coping capacity of the farmers of Arabmazari village, Chamtal district, Balkh Province, Afghanistan

Drought is one of the impacts of climate change which affects the productivity of agriculture and eventually of farmers in Afghanistan. The farming system in most part of the country, practices old farming methods, that is why the farming system is vulnerable to natural climatic conditions. With the lack of facilities and financial capacity of the government in Afghanistan, farmers are forced to rely on their own to plan and survive natural disasters i.e. drought, with minimum governmental intervention. The common intervention received is through drought relief, which in the long-run, is not sustainable. In this case, what then is the drought vulnerability and coping capacity of these farmers? This study will assess the vulnerability of the farmers and how efficient or inefficient the coping strategies, practiced by the farmers, are. The study also covers governmental intervention, if any. The study targets small-scale farmers of Chamtal district, Balkh Province in Afghanistan. The research considers non-probability purposive sampling method, selecting around 30-40 participants for the survey. The majority of the participants will be farmers of different wealth status. The data collection will take place through conducting Focused Group Discussion and survey through questionnaire. To assist with the qualitative and quantitative nature of the study, the research will adopt descriptive and correlational statistics. The result of the research finds that in general farmers are highly vulnerable to drought specifically the farmers with poor background. The coping capacity is, although temporarily efficient, but in the long-term, it’s not efficient. For a long-term solution, they require governments intervention which so far, they have not received any help.

Relationships between xylem embolism and tree functioning during drought, recovery, and recurring drought in Aleppo pine.

Recent findings suggest that trees can survive high levels of drought-induced xylem embolism. In many cases, the embolism is irreversible and, therefore, can potentially affect post-drought recovery and tree function under recurring droughts. We examined the development of embolism in potted Aleppo pines, a common species in hot, dry Mediterranean habitats. We asked (1) how post-drought recovery is affected by different levels of embolism and (2) what consequences this drought-induced damage has under a recurring drought scenario. Young trees were dehydrated to target water potential (Ψx ) values of -3.5, -5.2 and -9.5 MPa (which corresponded to ~6%, ~41% and ~76% embolism), and recovery of the surviving trees was measured over an 8-months period (i.e., embolism, leaf gas-exchange, Ψx ). An additional group of trees was exposed to Ψx of -6.0 MPa, either with or without preceding drought (Ψx of -5.2 MPa) to test the effect of hydraulic damage during repeated drought. Trees that reached -9.5 MPa died, but none from the other groups. Embolism levels in dying trees were on average 76% of conductive xylem and no tree was dying below 62% embolism. Stomatal recovery was negatively proportional to the level of hydraulic damage sustained during drought, for at least a month after drought relief. Trees that experienced drought for the second time took longer to reach fatal Ψx levels than first-time dehydrating trees. Decreased stomatal conductance following drought can be seen as "drought legacy," impeding recovery of tree functioning, but also as a safety mechanism during a consecutive drought.