Surface Ozone Pollution Is Cutting India’s Wheat and Rice Yields

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Surface ozone pollution, a silent crop killer often overshadowed by other air pollutants, could derail India's food security goals according to new IIT Kharagpur research.

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Unlike visible particulate matter, surface ozone damages crops invisibly by entering plant leaves through stomata, triggering oxidative stress that disrupts photosynthesis.

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Wheat faces the harshest blow with projected additional yield losses of 20% under high-emission scenarios, while rice and maize could see reductions around 7%.

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The Indo-Gangetic Plain and Central India face the highest risk zones where ozone exposure might exceed safe limits by up to six times.

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Professor Jayanarayanan Kuttippurath's team warns these losses threaten India's progress toward UN Sustainable Development Goals of No Poverty and Zero Hunger by 2030.

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As a major food grain exporter to Asian and African nations, India's diminished crop yields could send ripples through global food supply chains.

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The "ozone-climate penalty" creates a dangerous feedback loop where higher temperatures accelerate the chemical reactions producing more ozone.

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NCAR research estimated ozone pollution destroyed approximately 6 million metric tons of India's crops in 2005 alone, representing losses exceeding $1 billion.

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India's National Clean Air Programme focuses on urban particulate matter, leaving a critical gap in monitoring and protecting agricultural regions from ozone pollution.

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Experts recommend stricter emission controls, developing ozone-resistant crops, and establishing rural monitoring networks to protect food security.

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