Presenter: Denise Zivkovic
Authors: Denise Živković, Isaiah Barnett-Moreno, Pachynne Ignacio, Caleb Ortega, Greg Barron-Gafford
Faculty Advisor: Greg Barron-Gafford
Institution: Westminster College
The impacts of climate change extend to new patterns in weather and seasonality that constrain conventional agriculture in the Southwest United States. Agrivoltaics- the combination of food crop growth and photovoltaic panels have been shown to yield smaller diurnal temperature shifts in soil and air, thus modulating the effects of climate change. Plant stress response to harsh environments include early flowering, crop death/failure, and decreased productivity. To understand the effect of temperature stress in terms of photosynthetic rates, transpirational water loss, and water use efficiency (carbon uptake per unit water loss), Anasazi red beans and Caribe` potatoes were measured using a LI-COR 6400 on clear and sunny days in the mid-summer season. Both crops in Agrivoltaics performed at near constant rates of photosynthesis across water treatments. Crops under control conditions outperformed Agrivoltaics crops 75% of the time for photosynthetic rates. Similarly, control crops exhibited higher rates of transpiration 75% of the time across both water treatments. Ultimately, the water use efficiency of crops reflects greater success in Agrivoltaics. High temperatures which represent most summer days impair a plants ability to photosynthesize efficiently as greater water loss occurs during the process. A milder microclimate in Agrivoltaics curbs the loss of water, allowing crops to maintain levels of photosynthesis under sever temperature conditions. As climate change continues to impact local and global seasonality, an Agrivoltaics approach to large scale agriculture holds great potential in plant efficiency and production.