IIT Kharagpur Warns Crop Crisis in the Air
A new IIT Kharagpur study warns of significant yield losses, especially in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and Central India, under future climate change scenarios.
India’s fields might look lush to the untrained eye, but underneath all that green lies a worrying truth: surface ozone pollution is giving the nation’s staple crops a proper battering. According to a recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, wheat, rice and maize – the very backbone of India’s food security – are taking a serious hit, particularly in the Indo-Gangetic Plain and central India.
Led by Prof. Jayanarayanan Kuttipurath at IIT Kharagpur’s Centre for Oceans, River, Atmosphere and Land Sciences (CORAL), the study has pulled back the curtain on a rather under-the-radar but no less formidable menace. The report, titled ‘Surface ozone pollution-driven risks for the yield of major food crops under future climate change scenarios in India’, reveals how this invisible adversary is putting the kibosh on India’s efforts to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically those aiming to eradicate poverty and hunger by 2030.
“Surface ozone is a strong oxidant,” the report says, “which damages plant tissues, causing visible foliar injuries and slashing crop productivity.” In plain English, it’s bad news for anyone who enjoys their chapati, rice or makki di roti.
The research paints a rather grim picture, warning that without prompt and proper action, things could go from bad to pear-shaped in no time. Using data from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase-6 (CMIP6), the team examined past trends and peered into the future. Under high-emission scenarios where mitigation is left on the back burner, wheat yields could drop by a whopping 20%, with rice and maize not far behind at 7% losses. In regions already teetering on the brink, this sort of setback is hardly a walk in the park.
The Indo-Gangetic Plain and Central India, already heavily burdened with environmental stress, are expected to bear the brunt. Surface ozone levels in these areas could exceed safe limits by as much as sixfold. That’s not just a local problem – it’s a spanner in the works for global food supply, given India’s role as a major exporter to Asia and Africa.
While the government has set the ball rolling with the National Clean Air Programme, which zeroes in on urban air quality, the study highlights a glaring oversight – the plight of agricultural regions. Farmlands, it seems, have been left out in the cold. The researchers are urging policymakers to pull their socks up and put in place region-specific policies to monitor and curb ozone and air pollution across agricultural belts.
As the report makes clear, it’s high time we stopped kicking the can down the road. If India hopes to put food on every plate and a bit of change in every pocket, we’ll need more than good intentions. What’s needed is swift, targeted action – otherwise, we risk throwing the baby out with the bathwater and scuppering decades of development.
In short, if we don’t get our act together, we might just find ourselves in deep trouble soon.
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