India and Pakistan are among the most heavily irrigated nations on earth, producing enough wheat, corn, and other crops to feed their combined populations of 1.5 billion. But in South Asia’s breadbasket, which includes the Punjab region, farmers have pumped water out of the ground so heedlessly for so long that scientists now estimate aquifers there could run dry by mid-century. Add to that the disruptive effects of climate change and it’s clear that South Asian agriculture is facing a perilous future.
India and Pakistan are among the most heavily irrigated nations on earth, producing enough wheat, corn, and other crops to feed their combined populations of 1.5 billion. But in South Asia’s breadbasket, which includes the Punjab region, farmers have pumped water out of the ground so heedlessly for so long that scientists now estimate aquifers there could run dry by mid-century. Add to that the disruptive effects of climate change and it’s clear that South Asian agriculture is facing a perilous future.
Sonali McDermid, a climatologist at New York University, has been working to better understand this gathering threat and help find potential solutions. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, McDermid explains why India and Pakistan have the world’s most overburdened aquifers, describes how the scale of South Asian irrigation is so vast that it’s actually moderating temperature increases and altering the monsoon, and discusses why crop diversification is vital to mitigating the impacts of climate change.
“You are going to have to plant multiple crops in case you lose one,” says McDermid. “Farmers will need to experiment with crops that are heat-tolerant and drought-resistant. Diversification will need to be the leading component of adaptation.”
Read more at Yale Environment 360
Image: Sonali McDermid. (Credit: Yale Environment 360)
