Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in India
Indian agriculture is globally well-documented to reflect the impacts of changing climate significantly. However, climate adaptation efforts are often hindered due to the inadequate assessment of coupled human-environment interactions. In this study, we propose a novel unified country-level framewor...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2020-01-01
|
| Series: | Environmental Research Letters |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab63e1 |
| _version_ | 1797747621643681792 |
|---|---|
| author | Tarul Sharma H Vittal Subhankar Karmakar Subimal Ghosh |
| author_facet | Tarul Sharma H Vittal Subhankar Karmakar Subimal Ghosh |
| author_sort | Tarul Sharma |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Indian agriculture is globally well-documented to reflect the impacts of changing climate significantly. However, climate adaptation efforts are often hindered due to the inadequate assessment of coupled human-environment interactions. In this study, we propose a novel unified country-level framework to quantify the decadal agricultural risks derived from multiple hydro-meteorological exposures and adaptive consequences. We identify, for the first time, that rice and wheat risks have increased in the recent decade, with wheat at a twofold higher magnitude than rice. Increasing crops risk is found to be predominantly driven by the decreasing number of cultivators; in particular, the wheat risk is also attributed to increasing minimum temperatures during the crop growing season. We provide convincing evidence indicating that the hydro-climatic hazards related to precipitation extremes and droughts are specifically alarming the crops risk as compared to temperature extremes. These observation-based results highlight the sensitivity of India’s agriculture and the risk associated with multiple agro-ecological and climatic components. We recommend these findings to facilitate the informed planning of adaptive measures and ensure sustainable food security of the nation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:54:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d19b6535d1df4beea1ec262236c5971e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1748-9326 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T15:54:06Z |
| publishDate | 2020-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Environmental Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-d19b6535d1df4beea1ec262236c5971e2023-08-09T15:02:27ZengIOP PublishingEnvironmental Research Letters1748-93262020-01-0115303401010.1088/1748-9326/ab63e1Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in IndiaTarul Sharma0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9574-4170H Vittal1https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8754-0488Subhankar Karmakar2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1132-1403Subimal Ghosh3https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5722-1440Interdisciplinary Programme in Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, IndiaEnvironmental Science and Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India; UFZ–Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Leipzig D-04318, Germany; IIHR-Hydroscience and Engineering, The University of Iowa , Iowa City, IA 52242, United States of AmericaInterdisciplinary Programme in Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India; Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India; Centre for Urban Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, IndiaInterdisciplinary Programme in Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India; Centre for Urban Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, India; Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400 076, IndiaIndian agriculture is globally well-documented to reflect the impacts of changing climate significantly. However, climate adaptation efforts are often hindered due to the inadequate assessment of coupled human-environment interactions. In this study, we propose a novel unified country-level framework to quantify the decadal agricultural risks derived from multiple hydro-meteorological exposures and adaptive consequences. We identify, for the first time, that rice and wheat risks have increased in the recent decade, with wheat at a twofold higher magnitude than rice. Increasing crops risk is found to be predominantly driven by the decreasing number of cultivators; in particular, the wheat risk is also attributed to increasing minimum temperatures during the crop growing season. We provide convincing evidence indicating that the hydro-climatic hazards related to precipitation extremes and droughts are specifically alarming the crops risk as compared to temperature extremes. These observation-based results highlight the sensitivity of India’s agriculture and the risk associated with multiple agro-ecological and climatic components. We recommend these findings to facilitate the informed planning of adaptive measures and ensure sustainable food security of the nation.https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab63e1Agricultural vulnerabilityhydro-climatic extremesIndiaricerisk mappingwheat |
| spellingShingle | Tarul Sharma H Vittal Subhankar Karmakar Subimal Ghosh Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in India Environmental Research Letters Agricultural vulnerability hydro-climatic extremes India rice risk mapping wheat |
| title | Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in India |
| title_full | Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in India |
| title_fullStr | Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in India |
| title_short | Increasing agricultural risk to hydro-climatic extremes in India |
| title_sort | increasing agricultural risk to hydro climatic extremes in india |
| topic | Agricultural vulnerability hydro-climatic extremes India rice risk mapping wheat |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab63e1 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tarulsharma increasingagriculturalrisktohydroclimaticextremesinindia AT hvittal increasingagriculturalrisktohydroclimaticextremesinindia AT subhankarkarmakar increasingagriculturalrisktohydroclimaticextremesinindia AT subimalghosh increasingagriculturalrisktohydroclimaticextremesinindia |