{"id":254944,"date":"2023-04-27T18:22:13","date_gmt":"2023-04-27T16:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254944"},"modified":"2023-04-27T18:22:16","modified_gmt":"2023-04-27T16:22:16","slug":"wrong-world-grain-indian-crop-data-shows-production-is-increasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=254944","title":{"rendered":"Wrong, World Grain, Indian Crop Data Shows Production Is Increasing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From\u00a0ClimateRealism<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ByLinnea Lueken<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A recent article on World-Grain.com (World Grain<\/em>\u2018s online publication) says Indian crops like rice, corn, and wheat, are being forced to adapt to climate change. This claim is a strange because weather patterns in India haven\u2019t worsened significantly during the recent period of modest warming, and the crops discussed have all increased dramatically over the same time period. Data indicate harvests are not being negatively impacted by stronger or weaker monsoon seasons, or other weather events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article \u201cStudy: Indian crops adapt differently to climate change<\/a>,\u201d reports that the International Food Policy Research Institute\u2019s (IFPRI) recent Global Food Policy 2022 report claims \u201cclimate change may push 90 million Indians toward hunger by 2030 because of a decline in agricultural production and disruption in the food supply chain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supply chain issues, geopolitics, and weather are unpredictable, yet Indian agricultural production trends over the past decades of global warming show a relatively steady increase in the major crops examined. Climate Realism<\/em> has discussed Indian weather and food production, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>, as a sample, indicating that India\u2019s weather has not become more extreme or unpredictable, and its crops are doing well. Nothing has changed since these documents were posted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rice, a major staple food crop for India, has seen a nearly unbroken increase in production and yield since the 1960s. Indian rice production skyrocketed 265 percent, with recent years actually seeing an increase in the slope of production gains. (See figure 1 below)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is despite, and possibly because of, the fact that average global temperatures and CO2 emissions have risen during the same time frame. The growth in CO2 has enhanced crop growth and improved plants\u2019 water use efficiency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World Grain<\/em> article covers a study done by researchers at the University of Illinois which looked at 60 years of crop data in India, focusing on rice, corn, and wheat. They found \u201cfarmers have been able to adapt to temperature changes for their corn and rice crops but not for wheat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is an odd claim, because production and yield data for all three crops show dramatic growth during the period of modest warming. Naturally farmers in different parts of India adapt to different weather events and trends differently, depending on the kind of crop being grown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article reports that highly productive farming regions that use modern industrial farming techniques are less impacted by short term weather events, or the fluctuations of monsoon season, than less developed areas. World Grain<\/em> reports that the researchers say, \u201cthere are two ways by which the crops can adapt: the farmers can change their management practices or switch to varieties that are more resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Again, this seems obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking at the overall trends, between 1960 and 2021, the same time-period covered by the study, corn and wheat, the two crops besides rice discussed in the article, production and yield data show dramatic increases for both:<\/p>\n\n\n\n