Crop Yield Stability Research Articles

GRAS-Di SNP-based molecular characterization and fingerprinting of a Turkish Corylus avellana core set provide insights into the cultivation and breeding of hazelnut in Turkey

Hazelnut (Corylus avellana L.) is an economically and socially important product for Turkey, the country that leads global production of this crop. The preservation of Turkish hazelnut genetic diversity and informed breeding of new cultivars are crucial for maintaining quality and crop yield stability. In this study, genotyping by random amplicon sequencing (GRAS-Di) was used to identify single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in a panel of 96 individuals representing the Turkish national hazelnut collection. The resulting 7609 high-quality SNPs were physically mapped to the Tombul cultivar reference genome and used for population structure and diversity analyses. These analyses revealed that cultivars are not less diverse than wild accessions and that 44% of the panel had admixed ancestry. The results also indicated that recently released Turkish cultivars are highly similar to each other, suggesting that diversity analysis is an important tool that should be employed to prevent future genetic bottlenecks in this crop. A minimal marker algorithm was used to select a set of seven SNP markers that were capable of differentiating the panel accessions. These fingerprinting markers should be useful for the propagation of true-to-type elite cultivars that can be used to renew Turkey's aging hazelnut orchards.

Solution of a complex of problems of operational planning and management in the conditions of a mining landmark in Azerbaijan

The main direction of the economic and social development of the Republic of Azerbaijan is the intensification of agricultural production. Irrigation is a powerful means of intensifying agricultural production in the context of its specialization. In areas with insufficient moisture (especially typical for mountainous areas), irrigation is one of the decisive factors in growing high and stable crop yields. This requires the development of new technical solutions and the introduction of automated systems for low-intensity irrigation of agricultural crops that meet the requirements of ecology and environmental protection of their habitat, which makes it possible to improve the ecological state of irrigated lands and reduce water consumption. Per unit of production and increasing the yield of individual crops in irrigated fields.

Enhancing Nitrogen Fixating Species as Potential for Crop Nutrition and Yield Stability in Agriculture

Biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) alludes to a microbial intervened process based on an enzymatic "Nitrogenase" change of atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonium promptly absorbable by roots. N2-fixing microorganisms altogether named as "diazotrophs" can fix organically N2 in associate with plant roots.

Abscisic acid and its role in the modulation of plant growth, development, and yield stability.

Abscisic acid (ABA) is known to confer stress tolerance; however, at elevated levels it impairs plant growth under prolonged stress. Paradoxically, at its basal level, ABA plays many vital roles in promoting plant growth and development, including modulation of tillering, flowering, and seed development, as well as seed maturation. In this review, we provide insight into novel discoveries of ABA fluxes, ABA signaling responses, and their impact on yield stability. We discuss ABA homeostasis implicated under pre- and postanthesis drought and its impact on productive tillers, grain number determination, and seed development to address yield stability in cereal crops while considering the new knowledge that emerged from the model plant systems.

An exotic allele of barley EARLY FLOWERING 3 contributes to developmental plasticity at elevated temperatures.

Increase in ambient temperatures caused by climate change affects various morphological and developmental traits of plants, threatening crop yield stability. In the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana, EARLY FLOWERING 3 (ELF3) plays prominent roles in temperature sensing and thermomorphogenesis signal transduction. However, how crop species respond to elevated temperatures is poorly understood. Here, we show that the barley ortholog of AtELF3 interacts with high temperature to control growth and development. We used heterogeneous inbred family (HIF) pairs generated from a segregating mapping population and systematically studied the role of exotic ELF3 variants in barley temperature responses. An exotic ELF3 allele of Syrian origin promoted elongation growth in barley at elevated temperatures, whereas plant area and estimated biomass were drastically reduced, resulting in an open canopy architecture. The same allele accelerated inflorescence development at high temperature, which correlated with early transcriptional induction of MADS-box floral identity genes BM3 and BM8. Consequently, barley plants carrying the exotic ELF3 allele displayed stable total grain number at elevated temperatures. Our findings therefore demonstrate that exotic ELF3 variants can contribute to phenotypic and developmental acclimation to elevated temperatures, providing a stimulus for breeding of climate-resilient crops.

Divergent impacts of crop diversity on caloric and economic yield stability

Food security and the agricultural economy are both dependent on the temporal stability of crop yields. To this end, increasing crop diversity has been suggested as a means to stabilize agricultural yields amidst an ongoing decrease in cropping system diversity across the world. Although diversity confers stability in many natural ecosystems, in agricultural systems the relationship between crop diversity and yield stability is not yet well resolved across spatial scales. Here, we leveraged crop area, production, and price data from 1981 to 2020 to assess the relationship between crop diversity and the stability of both economic and caloric yields at the state level within the USA. We found that, after controlling for climatic instability and differences in irrigated area, crop diversity was positively associated with economic yield stability but negatively associated with caloric yield stability. Further, we found that crops with a propensity for increasing economic yield stability but reducing caloric yield stability were often found in the most diverse states. We propose that price responses to changes in production for high-value crops underly the positive relationship between diversity and economic yield stability. In contrast, spatial concentration of calorie-dense crops in low-diversity states contributes to the negative relationship between diversity and caloric yield stability. Our results suggest that the relationship between crop diversity and yield stability is not universal, but instead dependent on the spatial scale in question and the stability metric of interest.

Tuning of meristem maturation rate increases yield in multiple Triticum aestivum cultivars.

Breeding programs aim to improve crop yield and environmental stability for enhanced food security. The principal methodology in breeding for stable yield gain relies on the indirect selection of beneficial genetics by yield evaluation across diverse environmental conditions. This methodology requires substantial resources while delivering a slow pace of yield gain and environmental adaptation. Alternative methods are required to accelerate gain and adaptation, becoming even more imperative in a changing climate. New molecular tools and approaches can enable accelerated creation and deployment of multiple alleles of genes identified to control key traits. With the advent of tools that enable breeding by targeted allelic selection, identifying gene targets associated with an improved crop performance ideotype will become crucial. Previous studies have shown that altered photoperiod regimes increase yield in wheat (Triticum aestivum). In the current study, we have employed such treatments to study the resulting yield ideotype in five spring wheat cultivars. We found that the photoperiod treatment creates a yield ideotype arising from delayed spike establishment rates that are accompanied by increased early shoot expression of TARGET OF EAT1 (TaTOE1) genes. Genes identified in this way could be used for ideotype-based improve crop performance through targeted allele creation and selection in relevant environments.

Role of Intercropping in Sustainable Insect-Pest Management: A Review

Reduced soil fertility and rising pest and disease pressures are contributing to the already serious problem of global food insecurity. Monoculture is the most labour and resource-intensive form of crop production around the globe. Unfortunately, monocultures are more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and weeds, so the expansion of this system is accompanied by a host of biological issues. Negative effects on the environment, human health, and ecosystem stability are all associated with monocropping because it relies so heavily on the use of chemical plant protection products of all generations of pesticides. Although crop production strategies are important for overall enhancement in production, the intercropping can help farmers in attaining raised economic returns by taking multiple crops in a single season. Intercropping is an alternative strategy for improved resource use efficiency, environmental safety, and sustainable pest management without the use of chemical pesticides that can help mitigate these risks. Intercropping (two or more crop species coexisting) is a cultural practice in pest management that reduces insect pests by increasing ecosystem diversity. Intercropping and planting crops that kill or repel pests, attract natural enemies, or have antibacterial effects can reduce disease and pest damage and pesticide use. Intercropping, where crops grow between main crops, reduces the likelihood of pest infestation. Intercropping is a potential pest management practice because it diversifies crops in an agro-ecosystem to reduce insect populations and attacks. Intercropping relies on a deep understanding of insect ecology and crop traits. Intercropping can be used alone or in combination with host-plant resistance and biological control. Intercropping ensures crop yield stability, protects against crop failure, improves soil fertility, increases soil conservation, and reduces pesticide use, minimizing agriculture's environmental impact. The aim is to define the role and importance of intercropping as a strategy in crop pest management and as a boost for crop production vis-à-vis soil fertility.

Root-Related Genes in Crops and Their Application under Drought Stress Resistance-A Review.

Crop growth and development are frequently affected by biotic and abiotic stresses. The adaptation of crops to stress is mostly achieved by regulating specific genes. The root system is the primary organ for nutrient and water uptake, and has an important role in drought stress response. The improvement of stress tolerance to increase crop yield potential and yield stability is a traditional goal of breeders in cultivar development using integrated breeding methods. An improved understanding of genes that control root development will enable the formulation of strategies to incorporate stress-tolerant genes into breeding for complex agronomic traits and provide opportunities for developing stress-tolerant germplasm. We screened the genes associated with root growth and development from diverse plants including Arabidopsis, rice, maize, pepper and tomato. This paper provides a theoretical basis for the application of root-related genes in molecular breeding to achieve crop drought tolerance by the improvement of root architecture.

Biodiversity-based cropping systems: A long-term perspective is necessary.

Biodiversity-based cropping systems are an interesting option to address the many challenges that agriculture faces. However, benefits of these systems should not obscure the fact that creating biodiversity-based cropping systems represents a major change for farmers. To address this challenge, we argue that designing biodiversity-based cropping systems requires transforming ecological concepts into technical opportunities. Indeed, integrating ecological concepts such as plant-soil feedback and plant functional traits more strongly into cropping system design offers promising opportunities for the provision of ecosystem services, such as pest and disease control, crop production (including crop yield stability), climate regulation and regulation of soil quality. Accordingly, we demonstrate that designing biodiversity-based cropping systems requires considering not only the short term but also the long term. This would ensure that the expected ecosystem services have enough time to build up and provide their full effects, that the cropping systems are resilient and that they avoid the limitations of short-term assessments, which do not sufficiently consider multi-year effects. Considering long-term consequences of system change - induced by biodiversity - is essential to identify potential trade-offs between ecosystem services, as well as agricultural obstacles to and mechanisms of change. Including farmers and other food-chain actors in cropping system design would help find acceptable compromises that consider not only the provision of ecosystem services, but also other dimensions related to economic viability, workload or the technical feasibility of crops, which are identified as major obstacles to crop diversification. This strategy represents an exciting research front for the development of agroecological cropping systems.

Reduced basal and increased topdressing fertilizer rate combined with straw incorporation improves rice yield stability and soil organic carbon sequestration in a rice-wheat system.

Fertilizer management is vital for sustainable agriculture under climate change. Reduced basal and increased topdressing fertilizer rate (RBIT) has been reported to improve the yield of in–season rice or wheat. However, the effect of RBIT on rice and wheat yield stability and soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration potential is unknown, especially when combined with straw incorporation. Here, we report the effect of RBIT with/without straw incorporation on crop yields, yield stability, SOC stock, and SOC fractions in the lower Yangtze River rice–wheat system region over nine years. RBIT with/without straw incorporation significantly increased nine–year average and annual rice yields but not wheat yields. Compared with conventional fertilization (CF), RBIT did not significantly affect wheat or rice yield stability, but combined with straw incorporation, it increased the sustainable yield index (SYI) of wheat and rice by 7.6 and 12.8%, respectively. RBIT produced a higher C sequestration rate (0.20 Mg C ha−1 year−1) than CF (0.06 Mg ha−1 year−1) in the 0–20 cm layer due to higher root C input and lower C mineralization rate, and RBIT in combination with straw incorporation produced the highest C sequestration rate (0.47 Mg ha−1 year−1). Long–term RBIT had a greater positive effect on silt+clay (0.053 mm)–associated C, microbial biomass C (MBC), dissolved organic C, and hot water organic C in the surface layer (0–10 cm) than in the subsurface layer (10–20 cm). In particular, the increases in SOC pools and mean weight diameter (MWD) of soil aggregates were greater when RBIT was combined with straw incorporation. Correlation analysis indicated that topsoil SOC fractions and MWD were positively correlated with the SYI of wheat and rice. Our findings suggest that the long–term application of RBIT combined with straw incorporation contributed to improving the sustainability of rice production and SOC sequestration in a rice–wheat system.

Long term effects of crop rotation and fertilization on crop yield stability in southeast China

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of different fertilizer treatments and crop rotations on crop yield stability. A 9 years field experiment was conducted from 2013 to 2021 to evaluate the effects of combinations of two annual crop rotations and two methods of applying fertilizer on crop yield stability. Crop rotations were kidney bean–mustard–rice (P–B–O) and kidney bean–mustard–cowpea (P–B–V) each year. Fertilization methods were recommended fertilization (RF) and conventional fertilization (CF). The indexes Wi2 (Wricke’s ecovalance), coefficient of variation (CV), and sustainable yield index (SYI) were used to quantify the long term effects of crop rotation and fertilization on crop yield stability, and a yield change trend model was used to predict future production. For fertilization program RF, average kidney bean and mustard yields in rotation P–B–O increased respectively by 7.47% and 19.37% over P–B–V in the 9 years of the project. For CF, average kidney bean and mustard yields for P–B–O increased respectively by 14.99% and 18.33% over P–B–V. Wi2 indexes of kidney bean and mustard for P–B–O (respectively 116 and 956) were significantly less than for P–B–V (respectively 147.87 and 1259.67). SYI for kidney beans and mustard in P–B–O (respectively 0.63 and 0.57) were significantly greater than for P–B–V (respectively 0.50 and 0.42). The trends of crop average yields for RF and CF show that the average yield trends of kidney bean in P–B–O (respectively 32.41 and 32.34) were greater than in P–B–V (respectively 29.56 and 27.45). The trends of average yields of mustard for RF and CF in P–B–O (respectively 64.18 and 60.87) were greater than in P–B–V (respectively 51.74 and 51.87). The preceding results led to the conclusion that long term annual P–B–O rotation combined with RF considerably increased yield and maintained yield stability, thus establishing the sustainability of this cropping system.

In-Season Monitoring of Maize Leaf Water Content Using Ground-Based and UAV-Based Hyperspectral Data

China is one the largest maize (Zea mays L.) producer worldwide. Considering water deficit as one of the most important limiting factors for crop yield stability, remote sensing technology has been successfully used to monitor water relations in the soil–plant–atmosphere system through canopy and leaf reflectance, contributing to the better management of water under precision agriculture practices and the quantification of dynamic traits. This research was aimed to evaluate the relation between maize leaf water content (LWC) and ground-based and unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV)-based hyperspectral data using the following approaches: (I) single wavelengths, (II) broadband reflectance and vegetation indices, (III) optimum hyperspectral vegetation indices (HVIs), and (IV) partial least squares regression (PLSR). A field experiment was undertaken at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China, during the 2020 cropping season following a split plot model in a randomized complete block design with three blocks. Three maize varieties were subjected to three differential irrigation schedules. Leaf-based reflectance (400–2500 nm) was measured with a FieldSpec 4 spectroradiometer, and canopy-based reflectance (400–1000 nm) was collected with a Pika-L hyperspectral camera mounted on a UAV at three assessment days. Both sensors demonstrated similar shapes in the spectral response from the leaves and canopy, with differences in reflectance intensity across near-infrared wavelengths. Ground-based hyperspectral data outperformed UAV-based data for LWC monitoring, especially when using the full spectra (Vis–NIR–SWIR). The HVI and the PLSR models were demonstrated to be more suitable for LWC monitoring, with a higher HVI accuracy. The optimal band combinations for HVI were centered between 628 and 824 nm (R2 from 0.28 to 0.49) using the UAV-based sensor and were consistently located around 1431–1464 nm and 2115–2331 nm (R2 from 0.59 to 0.80) using the ground-based sensor on the three assessment days. The obtained results indicate the potential for the complementary use of ground-based and UAV-based hyperspectral data for maize LWC monitoring.

Higher landscape diversity associated with improved crop production resilience in Kansas-USA

Cropland expansion and agriculture intensification have been the primary methods to increase food production since the 19th century. The resulting landscape simplification, however, can impede long-term agricultural crop productivity. This paper examines the role of landscape diversification on resilience of corn, soy, and winter wheat production, in terms of crop yield and yield variability, in the state of Kansas. The study uses panel data analysis with county fixed effects and time trends to estimate the relationship between landscape diversity and crop production resilience. Results show that diversity has a significant positive effect on yields after controlling for weather, irrigation, and chemical inputs. We find that the yields of winter wheat increase, on average, by 28% at high levels of landscape diversity, while corn and soy yields increase 7% and 5%, respectively. In addition, we find that increases in landscape diversity are significantly associated with reduced yield variability for winter wheat and corn, and that landscape diversity mitigates the effect of extreme weather conditions on yield. Study findings suggest that within a single, relatively low diversity state, increasing landscape diversity is positively associated with crop production resilience. Future extreme climate conditions may reduce crop yields and yield stability, requiring appropriate policies to ensure food security. Our findings suggest that landscape diversification may be an important tool within a portfolio of approaches to increase crop resilience under highly variable weather conditions.

Animal pollination increases stability of crop yield across spatial scales.

The benefits of animal pollination to crop yield are well known. In contrast, the effects of animal pollination on the spatial or temporal stability (the opposite of variability) of crop yield remain poorly understood. We use meta‐analysis to combine variability information from 215 experimental comparisons between animal‐pollinated and wind‐ or self‐pollinated control plants in apple, oilseed rape and faba bean. Animal pollination increased yield stability (by an average of 32% per unit of yield) at between‐flower, ‐plant, ‐plot and ‐field scales. Evidence suggests this occurs because yield benefits of animal pollination become progressively constrained closer to the maximum potential yield in a given context, causing clustering. The increase in yield stability with animal pollination is greatest when yield benefits of animal pollination are greatest, indicating that managing crop pollination to increase yield also increases yield stability. These additional pollination benefits have not yet been included in economic assessments but provide further justification for policies to protect pollinators.

Combined slag and biochar amendments to subtropical paddy soils lead to a short-term change of bacteria community structure and rise of soil organic carbon

Applying industrial waste amendments, such as steel slag and biochar, to soils is an increasingly common practice to improve soil fertility, crop yield, and soil carbon (C) pool storage and stability. However, the effects of separate and combined applications of slag and biochar on total and active soil organic C (SOC) pools and the associated relationships between soil microorganisms and C cycling are unclear. Therefore, this study examined the effects of steel slag, rice straw biochar, and slag+biochar amendments to subtropical early and late rice paddy soils on total and active SOC concentrations and microbial abundance and diversity. The results showed that slag+biochar increased SOC content in early and late rice, with increases in dissolved organic C of 28.7 and 52.6 % in the early and late rice jointing stages, respectively. Soil organic C was positively correlated with soil C:N ratios in the two crop seasons. Applications of slag and biochar alone increased the diversity of soil bacteria in early rice but decreased in late rice. Meanwhile, the combined application of slag and biochar decreased diversity of soil bacterial community diversity and increased the relative abundance of some beneficial bacterial taxa, such as Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Flavisolibacter, and Ferruginibacte which are related to SOC cycling and sequestration. The results highlight that the combined slag and biochar amendments can improve soil specific properties, such as pH and SOC stocks, which elicit alterations in soil bacterial composition, especially of some keystone genera, altogether resulting in enhanced soil C sequestration and C pool stability.

Farm-scale practical strategies to increase nitrogen use efficiency and reduce nitrogen footprint in crop production across the North China Plain

Achieving a pathway for green development is a critically important challenge for agriculture in China and beyond. The current study evaluates the effects of a range of management interventions including planting, fertilizer nitrogen (N) rate optimization and increasing farm size to promote agricultural green development across the North China Plain (NCP) based on large-scale farm surveys. Our results showed that the mean annual N fertilizer rate for wheat-soybean rotation was much lower than that of wheat-maize and wheat-peanut. Interestingly, our study indicated strong pre-crop effects of summer soybean ( Glycine max (Linn.) Merr.) on the following winter wheat ( Triticum aestivum Linn.) in N saving compared to summer maize ( Zea mays Linn.) and summer peanuts ( Arachis hypogaea Linn.), the low N rate for summer soybean and its ‘legume’ carryover effects led to the low N rate, N surplus and N footprint, and high N use efficiency (NUE) in wheat-soybean. The survey results showed that the optimal N rates for achieving maximum yield of summer maize, summer peanuts and winter wheat were 229, 249 and 236–260 kg ha −1 across the NCP, respectively. Moreover, better N management is beneficial for reducing the N surplus and leads to higher NUE and lower N footprint. Generally, large farms applied less N fertilizer than small farms, thus leading to a lower N surplus and higher N partial factor productivity with the same yield level. Here we show for the first time that the combinations of crop rotation design, optimizing N rate application and increasing farm size are very efficient in reducing N fertilizer applications and the N footprint with stable crop yields. N management should play a more important role in agricultural green development across the NCP and similar regions around the world. • The mean annual N rate, N surplus and N footprint of wheat-soybean was lowest among the three major crop rotations. • Pre-crop effects of soybean on winter wheat increased PFP and reduced N footprint without affecting wheat yield. • The optimal N rate for the maximum crop yield of maize, peanut, wheat were 229, 249, 236–260 kg N ha −1 , respectively. • The NUE was higher and N footprint was lower in large farms compared with small farms.

Response of the Soil Microbe Community to Maize Residue Management Strategies Under Double-Cropping Systems

Sustainable agriculture has become a common trend in countries around the world. This includes returning straw to the field as part of sustainable crop production. However, it is not known whether changing the amount of straw returned to the field will lead to changes in the microbial community during decomposition and subsequent nutrient use by the next season's crop. The design included three treatments: (1) all the summer maize stalks returned to the field (SR); (2) half the summer maize stalks returned to the field (HSR); and (3) no summer maize stalks returned to the field (control: CK), base on all the winter wheat stalks were returned to the field. Compared with CK, the annual yield of SR treatment and HSR treatment increased by 18.8 and 17.3%, respectively. However, there are no significant difference in crop yield between the SR and HSR treatments. Compared with CK, the Proteobacteria increased by 29.9% in SR and 31.2% in HSR, which is the second most common bacterium during the maturity stage of maize season. Different crops season have an important impact on soil microbial community function (ANOSIM, R = 0.5209, P = 0.001). The PCoA analysis of the Faprotax function prediction found that the functional composition in the wheat planting period (wheat jointing and wheat harvest) was more similar, and the functional composition of maize planting period (maize tasseling and maize harvest) was more similar. The HSR can significantly increase the diversity of species in the soil to meet the nutritional demands for crop growth for achieve high and stable crop yield.

Subsoil water use to attain stable high yields of winter wheat in drylands Loess Plateau of China

In drylands, rainfed crops generally produce low yield due to low and irregular annual precipitation. It is challenging to obtain both high and stable crop yield in drylands. Soil water storage and consumption are crucial affecting crop yield in drylands. However, the relationship between yield and the degree of subsoil water consumption is still unclear. To clarify the contribution of subsoil water on yield performance under different conditions of WS (water supply during the growing season), we analyzed the relationship between grain yield of winter wheat and SWC1–2 (1–2 m subsoil water consumption) under different WS conditions, from published studies on a typical dryland habitat (Loess Plateau of China). The results showed that increasing SWC1–2 during late growth stage had a great potential to increase wheat yield. Moreover, the probability of low wheat yield decreased as more subsoil water was used. When the residual subsoil water storage reduced from (270–210) to (150–90) mm at harvest time, the probability of yield falling below 4000 kg ha−1 was decreased from 100 % to 48.01 % under < 666 mm WS conditions; and the probability of exceeding 5000 kg ha−1 was greatly increased from 0.55 % to 99.59 % under > 666 mm WS conditions. In addition, SWC1–2 was significantly increased with increasing number of spikes or shoot biomass, which suggests that it is necessary to ensure a sufficient plant population for higher consumption of subsoil water. Our study indicates that wheat yield can be greatly enhanced by using more subsoil water under high WS conditions, and the probability of low wheat yield can be decreased with increasing subsoil water consumption under low WS conditions.

Soil quality both increases crop production and improves resilience to climate change

Interactions between soil quality and climate change may influence the capacity of croplands to produce sufficient food. Here, we address this issue by using a new dataset of soil, climate and associated yield observations for 12,115 site-years representing 90% of total cereal production in China. Across crops and environmental conditions, we show that high-quality soils reduced the sensitivity of crop yield to climate variability leading to both higher mean crop yield (10.3 ± 6.7%) and higher yield stability (decreasing variability by 15.6 ± 14.4%). High-quality soils improve the outcome for yields under climate change by 1.7% (0.5–4.0%), compared to low-quality soils. Climate-driven yield change could result in reductions of national cereal production of 11.4 Mt annually under representative concentration pathway RCP 8.5 by 2080–2099. While this production reduction was exacerbated by 14% due to soil degradation, it can be reduced by 21% through soil improvement. This study emphasizes the vital role of soil quality in agriculture under climate change. Food demand is increasing, while climate change is impacting the magnitude and stability of crop yields. High-quality soils are able to buffer the negative impacts of climate change and lead to smaller yield reduction and higher yield stability, indicating a potential adaptation strategy.