Agriculture sector was most affected by extreme weather events
Most affected by extreme weather events the government’s data on crop losses and damages in recent years gives the following information:
- Since 2016, 36 million hectares of agricultural land has been affected due to hydro-meteorological disasters including heavy rainfall and floods.
- The farmers have suffered a loss of Rs 29,939 crore.
- How do climate change and disasters affect agriculture?
Yield drop:
Extreme heat, floods and droughts result in yield declines. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), disasters have already resulted in the loss of up to 4 percent of potential crop and livestock production in the world.
Effects on Fisheries: Changes in water temperature make the water favorable for invasive species. This changes the range of variation or life span of some fish species.
Impact on Livestock:
- This creates a double problem for the livestock. Under direct impact they face overheating and under indirect effect the quality of their food supply declines.
- Inflation due to crop loss: According to the Asian Development Bank, a 1% increase in food inflation leads to a 0.3% increase in infant and child mortality and a 0.5% increase in undernutrition.
Measures taken by the Government:
- The Ministry of Earth Sciences has launched the National Monsoon Mission (NMI). The objective is to develop a state-of-the-art dynamic forecasting system for monsoon rainfall over different periods.
- High-performance computing facilities have been established for data analysis, sophisticated forecast modeling, etc. on weather systems.
Source – The Hindu
