152
PLANT HEALTH
Ancient farming, modern lessons: adapting Australian agriculture to climate change
By Dr. Gintarė Bidlauskienė
A recent study published in the international science journal Scientific Reports explores how pre-industrial communities in north-eastern Europe adapted their farming strategies in response to climatic shifts over the past two millennia. The research highlights how these early farmers mitigated risks associated with crop failures by strategically selecting and cultivating buffer crops. With climate change bringing more extreme weather conditions, including prolonged droughts and heat waves, Australian farmers could gain valuable insights from these historical strategies to enhance productivity and profitability in modern agriculture.
Agricultural Adaptation in the Face of Climate Change Led by Professor Dr. Giedrė Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė of Vil- nius University, the oldest and largest university in Lithuania, the study examines how cli- mate change influenced crop choices and agricultural re- silience in historical European communities. The findings reveal that as temperatures cooled during the onset of the Little Ice Age, that occurred
Dr. Motuzaitė Matuzevičiūtė, senior author of the study and principal investigator of the European Research Council (ERC) Consolidator Grant pro- ject called MILWAYS. While this research focuses on European agricultural his- tory, its findings resonate globally—especially in regions like Australia, where farmers grapple with shifting climate patterns. The strategies used by ancient farmers to diversify
from the early 14th century through the mid-19th century, farmers shifted from thermo- philic (heat-loving) millet to more cold-resistant crops like buckwheat and rye. “This study shows quite vividly that due to climate change, the thermophilic millet crop, which was a staple food during the first millennium AD, was replaced by other, more cold-resistant crops such as buckwheat,” says Professor
Powered by FlippingBook