Climate change is causing substantial damage to major crops in Pakistan's agricultural sector. The increasing frequency and intensity of droughts have raised adverse impacts on crop production and food security. The study analyzes historical data on rainfall patterns, temperature variations, and crop yields over the past few decades, revealing a clear trend of increasing agricultural drought incidents across various regions of Pakistan. This has led to crop production suffering due to water scarcity, inadequate irrigation facilities, and declining groundwater levels. Major staple crops like wheat, rice, and cotton have been adversely affected, leading to yield losses and diminished farmers' incomes. Climatic data, and crops yield data were collected from 1990 to 2021 Pakistan Metrological Department and Crop reporting service Punjab. Statistical correlation analysis were performed on rainfall patterns, temperature variations, and crop yields of wheat, rice, and cotton. The results reveled that due to shifting patterns of rainfall and increasing in temperature from decade to decade; wheat yield increased from 20 to 30 maunds per acre, rice yield increased 12 to 23 maunds per acre, cotton yield decreased 22 to 20 maunds per acre. Drought years 1998,1999,2000,2001,2002, 2015,2018 and 2019 significantly decreased the crop yields for all crops. The growing threat of agricultural drought poses a significant threat to Pakistan's crop production and food security. Smallholder farmers are particularly vulnerable due to lack of access to credit, technology, and insurance. Climate change has prompted farmers to adopt drought-resistant crop varieties and water conservation practices. A comprehensive approach involving policymakers, researchers, and communities is needed, including improved water management strategies and early drought monitoring systems.
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Agricultural Drought Impacts on Production of Major Crops in Pakistan under Climate Change.
Published:
14 October 2024
by MDPI
in The 8th International Electronic Conference on Water Sciences
session Water Resources Management, Floods and Risk Mitigation
Abstract:
Keywords: Climate change; Agriculture Droughts; Crop production; Food security; Water scarcity; Smallholder farmers; Climate-resilient crop varieties