Climate Change Impacts on Vegetable Crops: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Agriculture is a fundamental aspect of our society, providing food and resources for a growing population. However, climate change is putting this sector at risk through rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. Our study highlights the need to address climate change in a differentiated way, taking into account the specificities of each agricultural sector, and therefore aims not only to organise and summarise current research but also to fill an important gap in the existing literature by focusing on the impact of climate change on vegetable crops. The topic was researched using the Web of Science and Scopus databases, where 219 publications were thoroughly reviewed and only those that fully addressed the impact of climate change on vegetable crops were selected. Of the 219 publications reviewed, only 53 focused exclusively on the effects of climate change on vegetable crops, indicating the need for more specialised research in this area, especially given the complex challenges that climate change poses not only in terms of yield but also non-trivial quality and food safety, and can be considered a future research prospect.