India meteorological department takes the help of scientists in improving its monsoon prediction skills

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad:  With official monsoon predictions going haywire
year after year, the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences has now turned
to the scientific community in the country seeking its help to design
an effective monsoon prediction model with zero error. The design, an
improved version of the UK and the USA monsoon prediction models, will
help meteorologist at Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to horn
up their monsoon prediction skills.

The Earth Systems Science Organisation (ESSO) and the Indian Institute
of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) are looking for a state-of-the-art
dynamic prediction system for monsoon rainfall on all different time
scales. The proposals sent by researchers from across the country will
be evaluated and the best among them will be selected for research
under the “monsoon mission”.

A monsoon erratum has been increasing every year and meteorologists
often blame the climate change for the error in calculations. The
proposed study will help in designing a scientific model that will
accurately predict the arrival and progression of the monsoon. Monsoon
plays a crucial role in the economy of the country and meteorological
predictions help in chalking out contingency plans for farm operations.

The new design will look at and predict monsoon from two perspectives,
short term (up to two weeks) and long term (more than two weeks to
full season). The city-based Indian National Centre for Ocean
Information Services will provide the ocean observations, and India
Meteorological Department will implement the research results in
operational mode.

According to IMD sources, researchers will get additional funds for
collaboration with international agencies like the Met Office in the
United Kingdom and the National Centers for Environmental Predictions,
USA, for improving prediction skill of monsoon rainfall in short,
medium, extended and seasonal time scales.

Presently, meteorologists have a moderate skill for retrospective
forecast or hindcast of seasonal monsoon rainfall and this skill needs
to be improved to make the forecasts more useful. The IMD needs an
Indian model with an improved hindcast skill, to adapt it self to
generating operational forecasts.

Climate change could seriously affect the water quality and quantity in the Indian rivers due to extreme events like floods and droughts, seawater intrusion and anthropogenic contamination, warn scientists

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: Climate change could seriously affect the water
quality and quantity in the Indian rivers due to extreme events like
floods and droughts, seawater intrusion and anthropogenic
contamination, warn city scientists.

They feel that there is an urgent need of generation of new data and
aquifer modeling of river basins in India for proper understanding of
the effects of climate change on large water bodies. As part of the
drive, eminent earth and water scientists from around the world will
soon converge on the city-based National Geophysical Research
Institute (CSIR-NGRI) where they will gain a better understanding of
the evolution of these river systems, both in recent and geological
past.

According to NGRI senior scientist Dr S Masood Ahmad, “potential
effects of climate change on river basins indicate that construction
of dams or anthropogenic contamination on large river basins like
Godavari will require significant management intervention to protect
ecosystems and people, who are mainly dependent on these river basins.”

Stating that as many as 135 million people inhabit in the river basins
of Godavari and Krishna, Dr Masood Ahmad said the Krishna-Godavari
(K-G) and Kaveri basins present very fascinating examples of
hydrogeological and ecological settings. The process of precipitation,
recharge and storage as well as hydrodynamics of water flow of these
rivers remain quite ambiguous and require detailed investigations due
to the changing climate.

“Godavari, Krishna and Kaveri have experienced dramatic changes in
flow due to the construction of dams, anthropogenic contamination and
other development activities. However, the impact of climate change on
south Indian rivers is relatively less compared to the Himalayan
rivers like Ganges. Water discharge in south Indian rivers is
dependent on monsoon rainfall, whereas Himalayan rivers have
significant contribution from the melting of snow,” he added.

Global warming therefore has more influence on Himalayan rivers with
frequent floods and droughts than South Indian (Peninsular) rivers.
Climate change is expected to reduce the discharge of snow and ice
melt water in Himalayan large rivers (like Ganges, Brahmaputra, Indus
and Yangtze), which is very essential for food security of millions of
people in Asia.

He said it has been demonstrated by recent studies that the world will
experience changes in the river discharge with some major rivers will
have significant increases in flood flows, while other river basins
may experience drastic reduction in water flow.

“We plan to conduct a group effort to use sedimentary archives, both
onshore and offshore, to trace the evolutionary history of Asian big
river systems,” Dr Masood Ahmad said.

Climate change impacts crop production in Andhra Pradesh and other States in India

By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 25: Alarmed by crop failure and reduction in yields due
to climate change, the Central government has selected six districts
in Andhra Pradesh to study to cropping and production pattern and
introduce remedial measures.

Increase in temperature and negative rainfall trends have been causing
heavy losses to farmers in the State. The districts selected for
climate change studies are West Godavari, Krishna, Mahbubnagar,
Khammam, Srikakulam and Anantapur. Scientists from the Indian Council
of Agricultural Research have selected 1000 farmers in each of these
districts and introduced the latest scientific farm practices to fight
climate change.

At the end of khariff and rabi seasons, scientists will compare the
input cost and the total yield in normal fields with those in the
farms selected by ICAR teams. The comparison will help scientists
understand whether traditional practices are sufficient to beat the
changes triggered by climate change, or they need technological
intervention.

"We have selected both wet and dry districts for our study. We will
know the results next year. Based on the outcome we will device our
strategy to meet the challenges of climate change," said Dr B
Venkateswarlu, director of the Central Research Institute for Dryland
Agriculture.

He said small and marginal farmers had been losing crop and this
raises concern. "We will give suggestions to farmers once the results
from these districts are out," he added.

Climate data collected by the ICAR shows there has been a significant
negative rainfall trend in certain parts of the country, while in
other areas there has been significant increase in rainfall. Also
there has been sharp rise in temperature since the turn of the new
millennium.

Scientists observed that there's impact of high temperature on pollen
sterility and germination in rice. Maximum temperature above 35
degrees C and minimum temperature 23 degrees C at flowering stage
increased the pollen sterility in different varieties of rice.

Lab studies have shown that the degrees of reduction in grain yield
enhanced with rise in ambient temperature at 1, 2 and 3 degrees C. The
reduction of grain yield was to the extent of 70 per cent in certain
rice varieties. High thermal stress during post-flowering duration
manifested 18 per cent reduction in economic yield of wheat and 60 in
case of mustard.

Nalgonda district turning into arid from semi-arid region

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 16: Here's one more bad news for Nalgonda. After
fluoride and uranium contamination of ground water, Nalgonda district
is fast turning into a dry land. Scientists at the city-based International
Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics have found that
Nalgonda district has turned arid from a semi-arid region.

After digging into climate data of four decades and studying the failure
of crops, Icrisat scientists have noticed that the number of "growing
cycle" particularly for the rabi season has come down by 15 days. This
means no crop of duration more than 100 days will be able to survive
during the rabi in the district. If a crop is of 115 days duration either the
yield will fall or the crop fails.

Alarmed at the change in climate pattern in Nalgonda, the Indian
Council of Agricultural Research has decided to take up a full-fledged
study in 100 select districts all over the country. Scientists of ICRISAT
and ICAR attribute the problem in Nalgonda district to climate change.

"The problem is very serious," Icrisat director-general Dr William D
Dar said while describing the climate change pattern in Nalgonda
district. "The impact is more during the rabi season," he added.

Icrisat principal scientist Dr Suhas P Wani said climate and agricultural
data from 1972 onwards revealed that there's a gradual progression
from semi-arid climate to arid climate in Nalgonda. "Without realising
the change in the climate pattern, farmers continue with old agricultural
practices. The crop failed in three of the last five years causing heavy
loss to farmers," Dr Suhas said adding that there's a drastic impact on
farming. Such a phenomenon has not been observed in neighbouring
districts.

Another district, he said that could be compared with Nalgonda is
Parbani in Maharashtra. "Unless remedial measures are not taken
farmers may not be able to grow sorghum in the district," he warned.

ICAR deputy director-general Dr AK Singh said data on 100
vulnerable districts in the country would be ready by early 2012.

Icrisat on Tuesday held a roundtable meeting on climate change and
rain-fed farming systems. Scientists and private players attending the
roundtable noted that in the last 60 years Asia has been witnessing
"unusual events". Analysis of historical weather data in the continent
shows there have been high intensity rains with the number of rainy
days coming down and temperatures going up.

The experts, however said they had been geared up with appropriate
technologies to meet the challenge of climate change. Varieties
resistant to drought and high temperature have been developed and
farmers need to adopt them to improve productivity despite change in
climate pattern.

NASA Satellites Unlock Secret to Northern India's Vanishing Water

By Syed Akbar
Beneath northern India’s irrigated fields of wheat, rice, and barley ... beneath its densely populated cities of Jaiphur and New Delhi, the groundwater has been disappearing. Halfway around the world, hydrologists, including Matt Rodell of NASA, have been hunting for it.

Where is northern India’s underground water supply going? According to Rodell and colleagues, it is being pumped and consumed by human activities -- principally to irrigate cropland -- faster than the aquifers can be replenished by natural processes. They based their conclusions -- published in the August 20 issue of Nature -- on observations from NASA’s Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE).

"If measures are not taken to ensure sustainable groundwater usage, consequences for the 114 million residents of the region may include a collapse of agricultural output and severe shortages of potable water," said Rodell, who is based at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Groundwater comes from the natural percolation of precipitation and other surface waters down through Earth’s soil and rock, accumulating in aquifers -- cavities and layers of porous rock, gravel, sand, or clay. In some of these subterranean reservoirs, the water may be thousands to millions of years old; in others, water levels decline and rise again naturally each year.


Groundwater levels do not respond to changes in weather as rapidly as lakes, streams, and rivers do. So when groundwater is pumped for irrigation or other uses, recharge to the original levels can take months or years.

Changes in underground water masses affect gravity enough to provide a signal, such that changes in gravity can be translated into a measurement of an equivalent change in water.

"Water below the surface can hide from the naked eye, but not from GRACE," said Rodell. The twin satellites of GRACE can sense tiny changes in Earth’s gravity field and associated mass distribution, including water masses stored above or below Earth’s surface. As the satellites orbit 300 miles above Earth's surface, their positions change -- relative to each other -- in response to variations in the pull of gravity. The satellites fly roughly 137 miles apart, and microwave ranging systems measure every microscopic change in the distance between the two.

With previous research in the United States having proven the accuracy of GRACE in detecting groundwater, Rodell and colleagues Isabella Velicogna, of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of California-Irvine, and James Famiglietti, of UC-Irvine, were looking for a region where they could apply the new technique.

"Using GRACE satellite observations, we can observe and monitor water changes in critical areas of the world, from one month to the next, without leaving our desks," said Velicogna. "These satellites provide a window to underground water storage changes."

The northern Indian states of Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana have all of the ingredients for groundwater depletion: staggering population growth, rapid economic development and water-hungry farms, which account for about 95 percent of groundwater use in the region.

Data provided by India's Ministry of Water Resources suggested groundwater use was exceeding natural replenishment, but the regional rate of depletion was unknown. Rodell and colleagues had their case study. The team analyzed six years of monthly GRACE gravity data for northern India to produce a time series of water storage changes beneath the region’s land surface.

They found that groundwater levels have been declining by an average of one meter every three years (one foot per year). More than 109 cubic km (26 cubic miles) of groundwater disappeared between 2002 and 2008 -- double the capacity of India's largest surface water reservoir, the Upper Wainganga, and triple that of Lake Mead, the largest man-made reservoir in the United States.

"We don’t know the absolute volume of water in the Northern Indian aquifers, but GRACE provides strong evidence that current rates of water extraction are not sustainable," said Rodell. "The region has become dependent on irrigation to maximize agricultural productivity, so we could be looking at more than a water crisis."

The loss is particularly alarming because it occurred when there were no unusual trends in rainfall. In fact, rainfall was slightly above normal for the period
The researchers examined data and models of soil moisture, lake and reservoir storage, vegetation and glaciers in the nearby Himalayas, in order to confirm that the apparent groundwater trend was real. Nothing unusual showed up in the natural environment.

The only influence they couldn’t rule out was human.

"At its core, this dilemma is an age-old cycle of human need and activity -- particularly the need for irrigation to produce food," said Bridget Scanlon, a hydrologist at the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas in Austin. "That cycle is now overwhelming fresh water reserves all over the world. Even one region’s water problem has implications beyond its borders."

"For the first time, we can observe water use on land with no additional ground-based data collection," Famiglietti said. "This is critical because in many developing countries, where hydrological data are both sparse and hard to access, space-based methods provide perhaps the only opportunity to assess changes in fresh water availability across large regions."

Climate change: Interesting, whacky ideas to fight ill effects of global warming

By Syed Akbar


Idea No. 1
===========


Injecting sulphur into the sky

What's the colour of the sky? Blue, of course. But if global warming
turns worse shooting up temperatures, mankind may have to explore this option to keep the human planet cool: Inject sulphur into the sky. Temperatures will come
down, but the sky will change its colour. May be to yellow. No matter how the sky appears, it will halt climate change.

Scientists the world over are now giving a deep thought to injecting sulphur or "global dimming" after Australian scientist Tim Flannery proposed this radical solution, which may no longer keep the sky blue.

According to him, climate change is taking place so fast that we may have to pump sulphur into the atmosphere if we want to survive on the earth. Sulphur when injected in its gaseous form into the earth's stratosphere will help prevent
harmful sun rays from falling on us. It will also slow down global warming.

Flannery is confident that this technology will become a reality in the next five years. The process is quite simple. Add sulphur to the fuel of jet engines or aeroplanes. Since the exhaust contains sulphur, it will settle down in the
stratosphere, reflecting back the sunlight.

As Flannery argues, adding sulphur to the atmosphere should be the
last barrier to climate collapse.

Sulphur emissions through automobiles may have been harmful for human and animal health. But this pollutant may become a saviour of mankind, if scientists like Flannery have their way.

Idea No. 2
==========
Feed the sea with iron

Human health and iron are synonymous. Iron keeps us alive by fixing atmospheric oxygen to the blood. In fact, our blood gets is red colour because of the presence of iron.

Now two different batches of marine biologists from the University of Hawaii and Oregon State University are exploring methods to feed the sea with iron. Not to boost its strength, but to save humanity from imminent fallout of global warming and climate change.

Dr Brian von Herzen of The Climate Foundation strongly believes that iron could play a major role in the blooming of phyto and zoo plankton. The blooming plankton will help in obsorption of a large quantity of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, thus bringing down the over all temperatures on the blue planet.

The plankton are capable of utilising large quantities of CO2 through hotosynthesis. Aquatic plankton, particularly, phyto plankton, are known to obsorb many times more carbon dioxide than plants and trees that grow on the land. Just have a small bloom of phyto plankton through iron feeding and this simply equals the task of planting trees on scores of acres of land.

Oceanographers and marine biologists already know that iron will help in plankton bloom. The plankton works in several ways. After obsorbing the harmful CO2 from the atmosphere, it stores the gas in its cells. As the plankton dies it settles down in the ocean's bed, safely carrying the carbon dioxide. A bloom in plankton also means more aquatic life as many marine animals including fish feed on them.

The formula works well in oceanic areas where there's iron deficiency. Who said, oceans and seas are not anaemic, like we humans?

Idea No. 3
===========
Space Umbrellas to the rescue

We have heard our leaders urging us to come under one umbrella. Though it's not literally possible for all to come under one single umbrella, geo-engineers believe it could be possible, scientifically.

Yes, these geo-engineers, a new breed of scientists who want to tinker with the Nature to save mankind from global warming and the resultant climate change, have conceptualised what they call space umbrellas to bounce back the harmful radiation from the sun.

Scientists from the University of Arizona argue that space umbrellas will gradually reduce earth's temperature, and thus the harmful effects of global warming.

The university wants to launch a trillion tiny umbrellas or sunshields into the outer space. Each umbrella will be a small, light spacecraft, weighing about a gram. It carries a sunshade with a diametre of 30 cms. When such mini space umbrellas come together, they act as a sunscreen, filtering harmful radiation.

The area such a sunscreen each covers will extend to one lakh square km. These umbrellas will hover around the earth at a safe distance of 15 lakh km. The geo-engineers believe that such mini space umbrellas will reduce the sunlight's intensity by 1.8 per cent, sufficient to fight global warming.

The university group, which is working on the model, says it could happen by 2035.

Idea No. 4
============

Power from snow

With the threat of global warming looming large on the future of humanity, environmentalists feel that snow-fed rivers can be easily tackled to generate electricity.

Most of the hydroelectricity plants in the world are located on rivers fed by rains. Since monsoons have been playing truant of late, upsetting the calculations of planners, eco-experts suggest that it's high time policy- makers turned their attention to rivers fed by glaciers and snow.

While rivers fed on rains in their catchment are seasonal, those securing supplies from snow-covered mountains and glaciers are perennial. The runoff from snow-fed rivers is comparatively quite high. If these rivers are harvested for hydel power, the dependence on thermal energy will gradually come down. This will ultimately check rising
temperatures because of carbon emission from thermal energy plants.

As senior environmentalist R Ravi put its, India have a vast potential of energy generation from snow. All the rivers in the north India are fed by snow melt. If mini hydel plants are set up, the energy crisis in the country can easily be
overcome.

Also experts in global warming warn of snow and glacial melt if carbon emissions are not checked. The time is now apt to act. Before the snow melts under influence of global warming, we should set up hydel plants all along the snow-fed rivers.

Idea No. 5
============

Chimneys that cool the house

Ever heard of a chimney that's cool to touch. While conventional chimneys attached to our kitchen and industries are hot with pollutants loaded with carbondioxide and carbon monoxide and other gases, scientists in the United States have patented a
chimney that consumes internal energy and reduces temperatures, thus keeping the earth cool.

The latest chimney device for houses and industries is being touted as one of the simple tools to fight global warming.

This patented chimney will also induce water precipitation and produces electricity. It helps in climate control, production of fresh water and energy that's needed to
keep the house and industry cool. When set up in large numbers, such devices will
ultimately bring down the globaltemperatures.

It sucks in warm air from the earth surface and lifts it to a height. Later, it expels the air into the upper atmosphere. The lifting of warm air to higher altitude causes the atmosphere to shed some of its heat. This keeps the earth cool.

"When the air is expelled from the chimney, it is oversaturated with water vapors. Therefore, when it mixes with surrounding air and cools down, water naturally
precipitates causing precipitation in the surrounding area. The amount of that
precipitation can be substantial enough to sustain agriculture in areas such as deserts," claim the inventors

Crida warns of severe climate change impact on agriculture in India

2009
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 12: Climate change will severely affect agricultural production in Andhra Pradesh with a fall in yield ranging from eight to 30 per cent, according to city-based Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture.

Crida has conducted studies on the effect of climate change on sorghum production. Says B Venkateswarlu, Crida director, "rainfed sorghum yields in Rayalaseema may reduce eight to 10 per cent by 2020 and 18 to 30 per cent by 2050 and 2080
respectively. In Telangana region the productivity of sorghum will reduce by three, five and 10 per cent by 2020, 2050 and 2080".

Referring to the estimation of water surplus amounts in different regions of the State during 2020 and 2050 compared with the present levels, Crida warns that water surplus availability may reduce by five to nine per cent and 10 and 15 per cent in north Telangana regions during the period. In north coastal regions the availability may reduce by 14 to 49 per cent and 41 to 100 per cent in 2020 and 2050 respectively. This means reduction in runoff into river flows.

"Largescale shifts in cropping patterns may take place in future. We need to use water more judiciously and several new agricultural technologies need to be developed to cope with climate change. Weather insurance has to be adopted on a massive scale in the country," Dr Venkateswarlu said.

Crop simulation models indicate that an increase of two degree Celsius in temperature during the rabi season may decrease the wheat yields by 15 to 17 per cent in wheat crop in Punjab region. Similarly for Gujarat region, two degree Celsius may decrease the wheat yield by 19 per cent under optimum irrigated conditions. In Chhattisgarh region, the increase in temperature by one to two
degree Celsius during the reproductive stage will reduce the yield by three to four quintals per hectare.

In Tamil Nadu during kharif season about 10 to 15 per cent decrease in rice yields is expected by 2020 due to increase in thermal regime, further reduction in yields up to 30 to 38 per cent is expected by 2050. In Orissa the rice crop yields are expected to fall by 10 per cent by 2020 compared to the yield levels of 2006, he
said.

ICRISAT develops climate change ready varieties

2009
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 6: When the world gets warmer with climate change, the dryland tracts will become even drier making it more difficult for the farmers to grow crops in this region.

The improved crops developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and its partners, are able to withstand severe droughts, tolerate higher temperatures and mature early, enabling the farmers to be ready to meet the challenges of climate change.

According to Dr William Dar, Director General of ICRISAT, the current research strategy at the Institute is to improve the heat-tolerance and drought-resistance qualities of ICRISAT’s mandate crops.

“As the world celebrates the Environment Day, we at ICRISAT, along with our NARS partners, strengthen our efforts to develop crop varieties that will overcome the adversities of climate change, and thereby reinforce the food and income security for the poor in the developing countries,” said Dr Dar.

ICRISAT’s research is focused on crops that are important for the livelihoods of the people in the dryland areas. They are pearl millet, sorghum, chickpea, pigeonpea and groundnut. These crops have several natural evolutionary advantages for the global warming scenarios.

Both pearl millet and sorghum have high levels of salinity tolerance, and hence are better adapted to areas that are becoming saline due to global warming. Some of the pearl millet varieties and hybrids, developed from ICRISAT’s germplasm, are able to flower and set seeds at temperatures more than 42 degrees centigrade, in areas such as Western Rajasthan and Gujarat in India. Improved sorghum lines have also been developed that are capable of producing good yields in temperatures of 42 degrees C, and have stay-green traits that can enhance terminal drought tolerance.

Short-duration groundnut varieties such as ICGV 91114 have good levels of drought tolerance, and are already replacing more susceptible older varieties. For chickpea, ICRISAT has developed extra-early (85 to 90 days to maturity) and super-early (75 to 80 days) varieties that can escape terminal drought. More recently, ICRISAT researchers have identified chickpea lines that have high levels of heat tolerance, which will enable them to be grown in areas with higher temperatures during heat-sensitive pod filling stage.

Climate change will have a serious impact on the agricultural scenario in Andhra Pradesh

2009
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 5: Climate change will have a serious impact on the agricultural scenario in Andhra Pradesh, affecting the incomes of farmers by as much as 20 per cent.

According to the latest World Bank report on the impact of climate change on India, dryland farmers in Andhra Pradesh may see their incomes plunge by 20 per cent. The WB report, one of the first of its kind in South Asia, finds that climate change will have a serious impact on India where about one-third of the land is already drought or flood prone.

N Harshadeep, World Bank senior environmental specialist for South Asia, said, "If climate projections are indicative of future trends, the risks associated with water-related climate variability are likely to intensify and worsen."

Besides farmers in Andhra Pradesh, agriculturists in neighbouring Maharashtra and Orissa will also be hit badly. "In Andhra Pradesh, dryland farmers may see their incomes plunge by 20 per cent. In Maharashtra, sugarcane yields may fall dramatically by 25-30 per cent. In Orissa, flooding will rise dramatically leading to a drop in rice yields by as much as 12 per cent in some districts," the WB report warned.

It said other climate hotspots in India like the fragile Himalayas, the biodiverse Western Ghats, the vast coastal areas, and the prolific agricultural lands of the Gangetic plains will need to be looked at in subsequent studies. Harshadeep said "monsoonal rainfall over India has decreased by approximately five to eight per cent since the 1950s, and combined with impending climate change, this might contribute to more intense, longer, or more widespread droughts across the region."

Emphasising the ill-impact of climate change on agricultural productivity in Andhra Pradesh, the WB report pointed out that in the arid regions of Andhra Pradesh, the yields of all the major crops like rice, groundnut, and jowar are expected to decline, although groundnut is expected to fare better than others.
Under a modest to harsh climate change scenario - a substantial rise in temperatures (2.3 C - 3.4 C) and a modest but erratic increase in rainfall (four per cent to eight per cent) - small farmer incomes could decline by as much as 20 per cent.

"Agriculture as it is practised today will no longer be able to sustain large
populations on small rain-fed farms," the report predicted.

To arrest the problem the World Bank suggested that unrestrained competition for ground water should be regulated and there should be aggressive pursuit of water conservation. "While much research is being conducted for rice, horticulture, and other crops, farmers will need greater support with knowledge and policy assistance to make the transition to sustainable dryland farming on a large scale. They could also diversify into agro-forestry which is more resilient, as well as livestock production," it said.

Global warming hits mango production, taste

2009
Syed Akbar
Hyderabad: For the first time the "king of fruits" has lost its sheen, both in terms of colour and taste and overall output. Mango production is expected to be down by about 20 per cent over last year's yield across the country.

Though there's no full-fledged scientific study as yet, environmentalists and those in mango production blame global warming for mango woes. Like many fruits, mango is a seasonal crop, which in other words means dependent on optimum temperatures for yield. Any major change in the optimum temperature, which in the case of mango is between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius, will affect flowering (inflorescence)
and thus the total production.

According to Insram Ali, president of All-India Mango Growers' Association, global
warming has affected mango production this time. "The inflorescence was hit by increase in temperature during the flowering period in November-December. This explains a considerable fall in the overall production this season," he said. The temperature has also affected the texture, sugar content and taste of the fruit
in many parts of the country, including Andhra Pradesh.

AP has the highest per acreage mango production in India, though Uttar Pradesh leads the country in terms of total acreage under mango cultivation. In Krishna district, the epicentre of mango crop in Andhra Pradesh, production is expected at 5000 tons this season, as against 6,000 tons last season.

B Suhasini, deputy director of horticulture, Vijayawada, said though good quality mangoes are expected this season due to no pests and untimely rains, there will be a fall in the overall production by 20 per cent. Agrees senior entomologist Dr NBV Chalapathi Rao of Mango Research Centre, Nuzvid. He said the fall was due to
global warming and sudden change or fluctuation in temperatures.

Though global warming is blamed for fall in production, principal scientist Dr Y
Satyanarayana Reddy of Fruit Research Centre, Sangareddy, finds fault with growers and traders for lack of sweetness in the fruit. "It takes between 116 to 120 days for the mango fruit to ripe. The best and tasty fruit is expected only in the
fourth week of April or the first week of May. The fruit should have nine per cent sugar content to tastegood," he said.

The total acreage under mango in the State is 2.76 lakhs hectares with an annual
production of 3.25 lakhs tonnes.