The climatic and agricultural reality of the 21st century in the Iberian Peninsula’s Mediterranean

Abstract

Climate change, which is already a climate reality, constitutes a great challenge for agrifood production in Spain and Catalonia, especially in the Mediterranean area. Despite notable advances in recent years, the sector faces important challenges, such as reducing the use of chemical pesticides, fertilizers, etc. in agriculture, increasing energy and water efficiency, improving animal welfare or promoting the consumption of healthier foods and a production system that uses less resources. It is and will continue to be very important to value the adaptive plasticity of species, including both crops and livestock. Thus, broadly speaking, the agricultural sector will see production reduced. Moreover, the organoleptic attributes of its products will be modified and the territorial distribution of some crops will change. Even so, it is one of the sectors that has the greatest potential to adapt to climate change in Catalonia and Spain, in integration with human, animal and plant health, along with other areas such as citizen education and active, positive and determined policies to prevent rural depopulation.