Impact of climate change on nutritional quality of maize and groundnut genotypes

An increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration and temperature, together with other climate change factors could greatly affects agricultural productivity as well as quality of produce. Understanding the change in atmospheric CO2 and temperature in conjunction with the ongoing global change is crucial to prepare for mitigation and any adoption for future agricultural production. Our study was mainly concentrated on response of maize and groundnut genotypes to climate change with respect to quality aspects. An experiment was conducted in Open Top Chambers (OTC’s) at the Main Agricultural Research Station, University of Agricultural Science, Raichur. Two maize genotypes i.e. CP-818 and Hema and groundnut genotypes TMV-2 and K-9 were evaluated for two CO2 levels (ambient CO2 and elevated CO2 @ 550 ppm) along with combination of temperature (ambient temperature and elevated temperature @ 2 °C) for kharif and rabi seasons of 2015. Results of the experiments were analysed through two factor-CRD design with 5 replications. Maize quality parameters like oil, protein and starch content were analysed by NIR Transmission at UAS, Raichur. Similarly for groundnut oil, protein content and fatty acid profile were analysed at IIOR, Hyderabad. The results showed that under elevated CO2 @ 550 ppm condition, protein content in maize and groundnut was 8.1 and 19.8 per cent where as under ambient CO2 condition it was 9.8 and 22.6 per cent. Carbon compounds (starch, oil content and fatty acids) increased under elevated CO2 conditions. Oil content under elevated CO2 condition of maize and groundnut was 6.7 and 49.4 per cent, whereas under ambient condition it was 6.6 and 45.5 per cent. The elevated temperature had negative effect on quality aspects (decreased protein, oil and fatty acid composition) of the crops.