Severe floods in recent decades have significantly reduced global rice production. This threatens the food security of billions of people it said in a Stanford University study published in the journal Science Advances.
According to scientists, losses amount to about 4.3%, equivalent to 18 million tons of rice per year (from 1980 to 2015).
Damages have increased rapidly since 2000 due to more frequent extreme flooding in rice growing areas. Climate change is exacerbating this trend.
Crops are most at risk in India, North Korea, Indonesia, China, the Philippines and Nepal, where flooding has increased in recent decades.
In Japan, people line up for hours to buy rice.
Previously, it was believed that drought was more dangerous for rice. A new study has found that rice plants benefit from shallow flooding during the early stages of growth, but “too much water for too long can be devastating.”
“The scientific community's focus on rice yield losses due to drought and the impacts of floods has not received enough attention,” said Stephen Gorelick, co-senior author of the study.
He said widespread adoption of flood-resistant rice varieties could help avoid crop failures.
