Climate change worsening rice harvest, with smaller yields and poorer quality

Japanese researchers wanted to find out how climate change would affect the rice harvest, so they analysed several scenarios and the warmest scenario is a cause for concern. — dpa

GLOBAL warming is leading to smaller yields and poorer quality in rice crops, according to new research that suggests rice harvests could decrease by up to 35% and quality by up to 85% compared to plants in 1990s climate conditions.

A study by the Japanese organisation for agriculture and food research in Tsukuba analysing five Japanese rice varieties predicts strong global warming accelerates the life cycle of rice plants considerably and has a negative impact on grain yield and quality.