Wheat yields may fall by 6-18% by 2020 on climate change

NEW DELHI: The productivity of staple grain wheat could decline by upto 18% by 2020 due to adverse impact of climate change which is causing rise in temperature, Parliament was informed today.

The yield of another major food crop rice might also fall by up to 6 per cent by 2020, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar said in Rajya Sabha quoting from research conducted under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)'s Network Project on Climate Change (NPCC).

"Indian studies conducted under ICAR's NPCC indicate that climate change may reduce yield of timely sown irrigated wheat by about 6 per cent in 2020," Pawar said in a written reply.

He pointed out that in the case of late and very late sown wheat, the projected impact can reduce the productivity by 18 per cent, if no adaptation measures are followed.

India produced a record wheat and rice production at 88.31 million tonnes and 102.75 million tonnes, respectively.

The productivity of kharif maize and sorghum could also be affected by climate change, the minister said.

Pawar referred to reports like Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) and Universal Ecological Fund (2011), which have indicated affect of climate change on agriculture globally.

"According to these reports, there will be 14 per cent deficit in global wheat production, 11 per cent in rice and 9 per cent in maize by 2020," the minister pointed out.