Climate Adaptation
Heat to Scorch India’s Wheat Supplies, Adding Food-Shortage Worries to World
- Crop yields likely shrank 10% to 50% this season, survey shows
- ‘No one can guarantee the weather. It’s like gambling for us.’
An Indian farmer carries wheat crop on the outskirts of Jammu.
Photographer: Channi Anand/AP PhotoThis article is for subscribers only.
A blistering heat wave has scorched wheat fields in India, reducing yields in the second-biggest grower and damping expectations for exports that the world is relying on to alleviate a global shortage.
Temperatures soared in March to the highest ever for the month on record going back to 1901, shriveling India’s wheat crop during a crucial growth period. That’s spurring estimates that yields have slumped 10% to 50% this season, according to almost two dozen farmers and local government officials surveyed by Bloomberg.