International Cooperation in North America for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation.

A recent USDA report published on February 5th, 2013 suggests that by the middle of the 21st century climate change will significantly impact agricultural systems in the USA and northern parts of Mexico, and that it could threaten food security and national security. Some of the impacts of climate change projected for the western U.S. and northern Mexico include extreme events such as drought. This will put further stress on systems already under pressure due to decreased availability of water, even in the irrigated areas of this region, where water resources for irrigation have been decreasing due to overexploitation of underground water resources  and increased demands associated with population growth. It is clear that implementation of good policies and practices for air, soil, and water conservation will be needed for climate change mitigation and adaptation (Delgado et al. 2011). There is a bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico in a new, joint program to expand the implementation of conservation agriculture (CA) for climate change adaptation across Mexico. As part of this cooperation, a new, improved version of the Mexico Nitrogen Index that has: i) an N₂O index; ii) a sustainability index; iii) the capability of making nitrogen fertilizer recommendations; and iv) a P index, is being transferred to potential users. This is a good tool to help users implement climate change mitigation and adaptation practices. This presentation will cover a prototype of this new tool, as well as how the tool can be used to help enhance communication between technical personnel and farmers across Mexico, and to increase application of CA for climate change adaptation.