Revista Temes Rurals núm. 1

Fruit orchard management:
How can we adapt to/face
climate change?
Paisatge i ecosistemes
Alba N. Mininni
alba.mininni@unibas.it
DiCEM - University of Basilicata
Cristos Xiloyannis
cristos.xiloyannis@unibas.it
DiCEM - University of Basilicata
SUMMARY
Climate change (mainly increased temperature and altered
rainfall patterns) will affect plant physiology and production
during the next decades. Soil and water are not renewable
resources and are subject to anthropogenic and climate
change constraints. Agriculture is the largest consumer of
freshwater accounting for 70% of freshwater withdrawals
from rivers, lakes and aquifers – up to more than 90% in
some developing countries (UNESCO, 2009) – and it is also
partially responsible for soil degradation which has occurred
during the last decades. Climate change will have agricultural
consequences due to the interrelations between climate and
soil degradation, land and water use, and landscape changes.
Analysis of water and carbon resource use on a farm scale
could contribute to design practices with no (or minimum)
impact on the environment. Carbon footprint (CF) and water
footprint (WF) are being used to indicate the impacts of the
carbon and water use by production systems. However, agriculture
has a potential role in adaptation and mitigation to
climate change. In particular, fruit orchards could contribute
to face and adapt to climate change through the application
of environmentally friendly practices in the fields, through
the design of orchards according to particular criteria and
through the continuous turnover and selection of new varieties.
Rapid and effective breeding programs to select new
varieties and rootstocks are needed to adapt to climate change
in a short time. Several studies have demonstrated that
the application of sustainable practices improves soil fertility,
increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) and CO 2
removal. But
it will be more difficult to produce fruit respecting the quality
standards applied nowadays, mainly based on size and aesthetic
factors. Ugly fruits often have the same nutritional level
as “beautiful” ones, but they usually represent loss and waste
inside the food production chain because they are discarded
at field and market level. In order to reduce the amount
of fruit waste within the supply chain and to make the supply
chain more sustainable, a definition of new quality standards
is urgently needed, together with education and information
for stakeholders and consumers, with the aim of achieving
consumer appreciation also for suboptimal fruits.
Key words: resource use efficiency, soil fertility, irrigation management, fruit
quality standards, ugly fruits.
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Fruit orchard management: How can we adapt to/face climate change?