The extensive drought situation in the Asia-Pacific region has hugely impacted the crop production and eventually affected livelihoods of thousands of farming communities in the region
Due to the shortage of rain in several Asian nations such as Thailand, India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, these countries are facing reduced agricultural production and damaged crops.
Thailand
A continued dry season has led many provinces of Thailand to face acute water shortage. As reported in Nikkei Asian Review, Somkiat Prajamwong, secretary-general at Thailand's office of national water resources, warned that 83 districts in 20 provinces in Thailand are at critical risk of water shortages.
The situation is hurting Thailand’s main crops such as rubber, sugar and rice and caused authorities to cut estimates for cane output and rice shipments. The country has deployed cloud-seeding technologies to tackle the issue. Additional pumps and trucks are being utilised to divert water to the affected areas.
China
Fewer waterfalls and drought have affected crops in China’s northern regions. However, the impact is retaliated by irrigation. On the other hand, some of the provinces in the southern part of China face heavy rainfall, according to the meteorological administration, which hampers early rice output and threats pest problems.
India
Many provinces in India are facing acute drought issue this year due to late and week monsoon, which hampers the country’s export of agricultural goods to the international marketplace. Water shortage has created reduced oilseed crops production, signalling boosting of agri imports of edible oils.
Australia
As Australia is experiencing lower-than-average rainfall, the situation has led the country to import wheat for the first time in 12 years. In the year ending June 2019, Australia produced just more than 17 million tonnes of wheat, around 20 per cent less compared to 2018.
