What is low temperature stress in plants and maintain crops in cold weather and does cold temperature affect farming?
Plants encounter two forms of low-temperature stress i.e., chilling and freezing. For plants, chilling temperatures are low but positive temperatures (0–15 °C) that could vary with the plant's tolerance level and variety. Frost can cause low crop yields by restricting stem growth. At emergence, crops can be vulnerable to hard frost and growth may be restricted. Livestock can suffer from cold stress which can result in injury to limbs and require increased energy to sustain their growth. Make sure your crops are well watered, especially if you're expecting frost. After the plants have absorbed the water, they'll be able to retain more heat and insulate themselves against the cold. Dampened soil holds heat, protects roots and warms the surrounding air. Low temperature affects several aspects of crop growth viz., survival, cell division, photosynthesis, water transport, growth and finally yield. If the plants grown in hot temperature are exposed to low temperature, they will be killed (or) severely injured.
Cold stress severely curbs the physiological and biochemical reactions in the plant cell, which results in leaf chlorosis, wilting, and even necrosis of plant cells. Plants respond to cold temperatures by activating metabolic pathways that protect their cells from cold and freezing conditions. One protection strategy is to accumulate sugars, which decreases the temperature at which ice forms, similar to the effect of putting salt on roads. Chilling can delay crop blooming, cause direct damage, or reduce plant vigor. Light freeze - 29° to 32° Fahrenheit will kill tender plants. Moderate freeze - 25° to 28° Fahrenheit is widely destructive to most vegetation. Severe or hard freeze - 25° Fahrenheit and colder causes heavy damage to most plants. Plants are killed in winter by frost as there is desiccation and mechanical damage to the tissues. Desiccation is the state of extreme dryness, or the process of extreme drying. Because the enzymes driving biochemical reactions don't function well in winter, dipping temperatures and lack of sunlight slows plants' metabolism. Photosynthesis and respiration decelerate, and growth halts. There are any number of adoptions plants have developed to survive sub-freezing temperatures, and probably the first that comes to mind is dormancy. Dormancy is an adaptation used by many plants to conserve resources and survive winter weather extremes by entering in to a period of rest or metabolic inactivity. Low temperature affects several aspects of crop growth viz., survival, cell division, photosynthesis, water transport, growth and finally yield. If the plants grown in hot temperature are exposed to low temperature, they will be killed (or) severely injured. When the temperature drops below 0ºC (frost), the environmental condition becomes critical for the development of the physiological processes of plants and their tissues, which can be severely damaged by freezing. Thus, plants should generally be grown at warm temperatures of 70°F to 75°F to avoid excessively long production times. By growing cold-sensitive crops at warm temperatures, you can actually reduce the amount of energy used for heating on a per-crop basis than if they were grown at cooler temperatures. Colder weather can decrease plant enzyme activity. This then disrupts plant nutrient intake because plants secrete enzymes to digest surrounding materials for soil. Consequently, this can stunt growth or more severely cause them to die. Farmers are finding ways to grow vegetables during the cold months and they're doing so with large unheated hoop houses, heated greenhouses, or small “low tunnels.” These structures provide farmers with an attractive environment protected from snow, frost, wind, and excess rain, and allow the grower. The main limiting factor at this time of year is sunlight. While temperature is also a factor, you can address these using greenhouses, cold frames, cloches, and row covers. A good benchmark to remember is that if your winter temperatures routinely drop below 25 F (- 4 C), you'll need protection the plants.
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