How does the rainfull affect the agriculture in yout region now -a-days
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Answer:
The relationship between rainfall and agriculture
So how are these predicted changes in rainfall patterns going to affect food production? An important aspect to be understood regarding the relationship between rainfall and agriculture is that rainfall is the major factor in the growth and production of food crops both at the germination and fruit development stage. But with a change in the world’s climate, temperatures will rise and rainfall will increase in some places. In other places, rainfall will decrease. Other than the effect of high and low rainfall on cropping patterns, it is predicted that phenomena such as coastal flooding will reduce the amount of land available for agriculture. Farmers are already finding it difficult to cope with these environmental changes, as almost all crops are season-dependent and rainfall-dependent. Temperature and rainfall changes induced by climate change are likely to further react with other parameters of plant growth like atmospheric gases, fertilizers, insects, plant pathogens, weeds, and the soil’s organic matter. This again is expected to produce unanticipated responses.
How will changing rainfall patterns affect crop patterns?
Currently, about 60 per cent of the world and 90 per cent sub-Saharan African staple food production are under direct rainfed agriculture. If we go by the predicted climate models, then in central and eastern Africa, increased yields of 10 to 30 per cent are possible if rainfall increases and improved agricultural technologies are adopted. Even these projected increases, however, will not be sufficient to provide adequate food for Africa’s growing population. In North America, on the other hand, projections show that average rainfall in central North America will be 10 per cent lower than now. It is such regional variations that make it difficult to propose general strategies for adapting new agricultural technologies to combat this change.
On the whole, in those parts of the world where water availability is set to increase due to higher rainfall, there would not be much problem. This water can be stored efficiently through check dams, bunds, ponds and reservoirs. It will help irrigation in the surrounding areas and increase crop production. Unfortunately, a good proportion of this excess rainfall comes with hurricanes and floods, doing more damage than good. This is what happened in 2009 in the Philippines, when two back-to-back typhoons unleashed heavy rains. Many farmers in the Philippines lack post-harvest storage and drying facilities and spread their unhusked grains on concrete streets to dry in the sun. Due to this the grain was of poorer quality and fetched lower prices. To add to it, the damage and excess rain made it impossible for them to plant the next crop. The cumulative loss as a result of these typhoons was to the tune of USD 27 million.
Hurricanes like El Nino provide another example of how agricultural production patterns and food securities are impacted.