Rising average temperature and extreme weather events have become more frequent in the past decade. The agricultural sector is one of the most affected due to the consequences of climate change as the rainfall patterns have been severely deterred.

The report ‘Climate Change and Agriculture in India’ highlighted that the Indian average temperature could increase by 2.5 to 4.9 degrees Celsius by the mid and end of the century. The warming temperature levels across the country could lead to a decline of 41 to 52 percent in wheat production, and a 32 to 40 percent dip in the production of rice.

Arun Joshi, the Asia representative at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center highlights that climate change is impacting water availability as it decreases the seasonal rainfall patterns and also pushes more extreme rains which significantly dents India’s total crop production.