I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, inventing, and doing, great things.
I don’t endorse. Only disseminate.
The 411: Successfully Funded: Climate-Smart Coffee Planting
Found on: https://experiment.com/projects/is-there-climate-smart-coffee-a-search-for-resilient-arabica-varietals-in-costa-rica?s=discover
About This Project
Over 80% of adults in the US drink coffee, and it also plays a key role in the livelihoods of farmers all over the world. Unfortunately, it's predicted that climate change could devastate the coffee industry through changes in rainfall and temperature. One of the main issues will be drought, so we need to know which coffee varietals will respond best in the field. Such information will inform climate-smart planting decisions for vulnerable producers under new growing conditions.
Ask the Scientists
What is the context of this research?
Under climate change, changes in rainfall and higher temperatures are expected to impact coffee lands disproportionally hard. Without adequate response to the threat of climate change, we could lose up to half the land suitable for growing coffee! One possible solution is to move coffee production to higher elevations, but suitable high elevation land is limited and often contains threatened forest ecosystems with important biodiversity. My research seeks to identify a solution that allows producers to continue growing high quality coffee on their current land.
My drive to work on this issue comes from almost a decade of experience in the coffee industry. Witnessing the good that coffee can do, I am committed to defend coffee for future generations!
What is the significance of this project?
One limitation of predicting coffee production under climate change is that Arabica coffee has many significantly different varietals. Each varietal likely has a different response to drought, and those that respond better to drier conditions in the field would be less risky for farmers to plant in regions where increased drought is predicted. My research will identify drought tolerant Arabica varietals.
With more resilient farms, there will be less pressure to move coffee production to higher elevations, thereby protecting biodiverse forests and offering a low-cost solution to protect the livelihoods of coffee producers. My research also will inform further research on development of new coffee cultivars that can better withstand extreme climate conditions.
What are the goals of the project?
My biggest goal in this project, and in my career, is to protect coffee production from the impacts of climate change. In my research, I hope to achieve that goal by answering a key question: which coffee varietals will best withstand drought?
To answer that question, I will plant experimental plots of four coffee varietals high in the mountains of Costa Rica. Half of these plots will be covered by "rain-out" shelters to impose drought. Over time I will collect and analyze data on plant growth and resilience of the different varietals under these stressed conditions.
An equally important goal for my project is to engage the coffee community, both locally and globally, in tackling the issue of climate change. We can only do it together.
No comments:
Post a Comment