London: Climate change is adversely affecting the production of key crops such as wheat and rice, with some countries faring far worse than others, according to researchers including those of Indian origin. The world’s top 10 crops — barley, cassava, maize, oil palm, rapeseed, rice, sorghum, soybean, sugarcane and wheat — supply a combined 83 percent of all calories produced on cropland.
Yields have long been projected to decrease in future climate conditions. The research shows that climate change has already affected the production of these key energy sources. Scientists from the University of Oxford in the UK and the University of Copenhagen in Denmark used weather and reported crop data to evaluate the potential impact of observed climate change. They found that observed climate change causes a significant yield variation in the world’s top 10 crops, ranging from a decrease of 13.4 percent for oil palm to an increase of 3.5 percent for soybean, and resulting in an average reduction of about one percent of consumable food calories from these top 10 crops.
“There are winners and losers, and some countries that are already food insecure fare worse,” said Deepak Ray of the University of Minnesota in the US. “These findings indicate which geographical areas and crops are most at risk, making them relevant to those working to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals of ending hunger and limiting the effects of climate change. Insights like these lead to new questions and crucial next steps,” said Ray.
The impacts of climate change on global food production are mostly negative in Europe, Southern Africa, and Australia, generally positive in Latin America, and mixed in Asia and Northern and Central America. About half of all food-insecure countries are experiencing decreases in crop production — and so are some affluent industrialized countries in Western Europe, the study found.