Global warming a challenge for country's crops

Extreme weather patterns, pests and diseases are impacting food security in China and the world, according to experts at the 7th International Crop Science Congress being hosted in Beijing this week.

Earth's overall temperature rose by about 0.75 C over the last century, according to Zhang Weijian, the chief scientist of agro-ecology at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

The world's agricultural sector is feeling the heat. A 6 percent decline in global wheat production can be expected for every 1 degree rise in the Earth's temperature, said Senthold Asseng, an agricultural engineering professor of agricultural engineering at the University of Florida.