Rising temperatures put India’s rice farming at risk, says FAO-WMO report
A joint report by Food and Agriculture Organization and World Meteorological Organization warns rising heat extremes will intensify across India, threatening rice farming. With rice supplying 70% of calories and monsoon rains critical, recurring droughts and heatwaves pose serious risks to agriculture, livelihoods, and economic stability.
A joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has said that high temperature extremes are anticipated to be more frequent and more intense throughout the Indian subcontinent, making rice farming increasingly vulnerable to heat stress.
The report titled ‘Extreme heat and agriculture’ said 70 per cent of the caloric intake in India comes from rice. Summer monsoon rainfall provides up to 80 per cent of the annual precipitation in India. Compound hot and dry extremes are a major threat to Indian agriculture, it said.
Citing historical records, the report said the most severe events during the major summer monsoon were observed in 1972, 1987, 2002, 2009, 2014, and 2015. The 20-percent deficit of monsoon rainfall in 2002 resulted in billions of dollars in economic damages and affected more than a billion people, it said.
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Source : The Hindu Business line
