The impact was most visible in key rice-producing states including Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Odisha. The study also found that sorghum and pearl millet yields declined by more than 10% in 36 districts each during such climate events, highlighting the vulnerability of monsoon-dependent agriculture.
El Niño is a climate pattern of warming of the ocean surface in central and eastern tropical Pacific. It is associated with weaker monsoon in India. The study, published in Climate Services journal by Elsevier in 2023, looked at three El Niño years — 2002, 2004 and 2009 — and may provide insights to policymakers and other stakeholders in preparing short- and long-term contingency plans to cope with the situation.
“The study revealed that El Niño years cause significant spatial and temporal variability in Indian summer monsoon rainfall, leading to substantial reductions in the productivity of major kharif crops such as rice, maize, pearl millet and sorghum across several districts of India. It identified many highly vulnerable districts where crop yields declined by more than 10% during recent El Niño years, emphasizing the need for climate-resilient agricultural planning at the district level,” Pillai told TOI on Sunday.
Pillai, currently serving as head of the division of Agricultural Physics at ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, said, “As El Niño conditions are likely to prevail this year, policymakers should strengthen contingency planning through promotion of drought-tolerant crop varieties, weather-based agro-advisory services, efficient water management and location-specific adaptation strategies to minimise agricultural losses and safeguard farmers’ livelihoods.”
(With inputs from TOI)