Discuss the effect of climate change in agriculture.

There is no doubt that the earth is warming up. Eleven of the hottest years in the last half century have been recorded after 1990.

 This is certain to impact the way our agriculture is managed. It has been reported that wheat yield declined by 5 percent when average temperature during March increased by 1° C in Punjab. At the same time the rice yield increased to the tune of 12%. In Rajasthan 2 degree Celsius rise in temperature is projected to reduce the production of grains by 15%. Studies conducted by the ICAR project a loss of 4.5 billion tons of overall wheat production with each degree rise in temperature throughout the growing period. Evidence also shows that most of the warming that is bringing about such changes in agriculture can be attributable to human activities. As per the report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the net increase in temperature is likely to be 5.8 degrees Celsius by AD 2100. This is likely to impact a series of inter-related environmental systems like global hydro-eco-systems, sea level, crop production and related agricultural activities.