The ramifications of our planet's changing climate affect us all, but farmers may be the ones who bear the brunt of these consequences.
Farmers in India are at the mercy of extreme weather, losing entire fields of crops to weather whiplash, decreasing water supply, and crop disease, Mongabay reported.
What's happening?
The most recent winter season has left farmers in Uttarakhand districts with little rainfall to work with. According to the India Meteorological Department, 89% of districts experienced deficient or no rainfall at all this past winter, making it the fifth-driest winter since 1901, per Mongabay.
Rabi crops, such as wheat, barley, lentils, and maize, that are sown in the winter (around mid-November) and harvested in the spring (around April or May) before the next monsoon season (typically from May to October), rely on groundwater irrigation during the wintertime to grow. However, a lack of winter rain strains natural aquifers as they deplete more quickly, leading to water shortages and reduced crop yields.
Following these dry spells, the land is immediately drenched with intense rainfall and flooding during the monsoon season, which also wipes out more food crops.
Arjun Ram, a farmer in Uttarakhand's Almora district, lost an entire field of lemon and orange trees (about 1,000 square feet) to heavy rain. "This is the first time in years that our fields are barren. We could only keep a kitchen garden for our entire family," Ram said, per Mongabay.
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Indian farmers are also losing produce to insect pests, disease, and weeds, which causes even more strain for these farmers who make their living selling the food they grow, and increases food supply shortages.
"Even the wheat that we grow now is basically mandusi weed (Phalaris minor). The field would look like it's growing wheat, but half of it is just unusable," Maan Devi Kashyap, another farmer, told Mongabay.
Why is water scarcity concerning?
Drought conditions starve the land of moisture, causing the soil to become dry and hard, which makes it difficult to absorb water when it is available. As a result, farmlands become increasingly unsuitable for farming, which affects crop yields and the available food supply. Farmers experience dwindling crop profits, which makes the available food supply more expensive for consumers.
Farmers in Australia experiencing water price hikes know firsthand how water scarcity affects every stage of the food supply chain.
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I'd pay for it myself 💪 As the planet continues to warm and more regions face water shortages, our crops and food supply become increasingly vulnerable.
What can I do to help?
The global water crisis requires solutions that promote the conservation of our clean water sources, innovation to source or produce new usable water, and implementation of policies to encourage strategic water solutions on a global scale.
Some simple solutions you can adopt on an individual level include upgrading your home appliances to water-efficient machines and planting more native plant species in your lawn, which are less water-hungry than non-native plants.
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