Global warming could slash yields for staple crops by up to 30 per cent in the coming years according to the UN Environmental Programme. It could also force coffee and tea farmers to abandon plantations, writes Science Editor Dick Ahlstrom.
Delegates to climate change negotiations in Marrakech, Morocco yesterday heard a bleak forecast for the future of farming in the tropics. Projections by researchers looking at rice, maize and wheat production and cash crops such as tea and coffee suggest yields will tumble as higher temperatures interfere with pollination and seed setting.
The findings came from the International Rice Research Institute based in Manila. Dr John Sheehy, a crop ecologist, heads the research.
"Initial results indicate that yields in the Tropics might fall as much as 30 per cent over the next 50 years," he said. These were only predictions, he said, "but even a small decline could be potentially devastating."