Miller Magazine Issue 109 / January 2019

52 MILLER / JANUARY 2019 “There is substantial evidence that trends in change in climate variables can negatively or positively affect crop yield trends despite advances in technology and other yield-influencing variables. These changes can exhibit substantial deviation for local/regional scales than global values. Thus, trends and magnitudes of changes in these primary climate variables must be quantified for local scales so that relevant mitigation and adoption strategies and best agricultural practices can be researched, developed and implemented to enhance agricultural productivity for a local region. The associated policy and decision-making should also engage in developing these strategies so that research and development and policy and decision-making processes can be established simultaneously.” Some of the primary drivers of agricul- tural productivity and their variability inc- lude technology, genetics, climate, soil characteristics, diseases, stresses, field management practices and associated de- cision-making such as fertilizer applications (timing, type and amount), tillage (timing and type), hybrid selection, irrigation met- hod and management, planting row spa- cing, planting date and depth, planting Change in Climate Variables and Impacts on Agriculture Suat Irmak, Ph.D. Harold W. Eberhard Distinguished Professor Department of Biological Systems Engineering Courtesy Professor of Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Courtesy Professor of Department of Agronomy and Horticulture University of Nebraska–Lincoln E-mail: sirmak2@unl.edu