Lower yields due to hotter weather have meant India has to import wheat for the first time in six years
A worker sifts wheat before filling in sacks at the market yard of the Agriculture Product Marketing Committee on the outskirts of Ahmedabad, India on May 16, 2022.When all else fails, Satveer Singh knows his family will manage if they have a sack of wheat flour in the kitchen to make rotis. Served hot and stuffed with sliced raw onion, the simple meal of Indian flatbreads keeps hunger at bay.
In 2022, hot weather arrived early in India’s major wheat growing regions, shrivelling crops and leading the government to ban wheat exports and reduce rations of the grain under the food distribution program to protect domestic stocks. Traditionally, crop breeding programmes focused on boosting yield, “but that alone is no longer enough," said Aditi Mukherji, director for climate change adaptation and mitigation at the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research , a research partnership on food systems.
Studies have shown how temperature increases linked to climate change could reduce global wheat yields by up to 30% by mid-century, potentially slashing exports from major producers such as India and driving up global food prices. In 2023, as other farmers in Haryana counted their climate-related harvest losses for a second consecutive year, Sukha Singh’s wheat crop had a healthy yield of 25 quintals per acre – in line with his long-term average.“ are the first line of defence” for the country’s food security and the income of millions of farmers, he said.
It takes three to four years to develop a new variety, with another two-three years for testing and a further three-four years for widespread distribution, said a government agriculture scientist working on the climate-proof wheat development. But under a new approach implemented by the IIWBR, small-scale seed dealers with a strong local network of farmer clients – people like Palvinder Singh – are being brought into supply channels, significantly accelerating the process.
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