Global warming set to decimate China’s harvests

Beijing, Aug 23 Global warming is set to cut China’s annual grain harvest by up to 10% by 2030, placing extra burden on its shrinking farmland, state press reported on Thursday.

Zheng Guoguang, head, the state meteorological administration, said the impact of global warming means that China will likely need an extra 10 million hectare (247 million acres) of farmland by 2030. The year 2030 is a key date because that is when the nation’s population is expected to peak at 1.5 billion people, up from over 1.3 billion today, requiring an extra 100 million tonne of food to feed them.

“Global warming may cause the grain harvest to fall by five to 10%, that is by 30-50 million tonne, by 2030,” the ‘China Daily’ quoted Zheng as saying. “Warmer weather will shorten the growth period of some grains and their seeds won’t have enough time to ripen.” Farmland has been shrinking rapidly in recent years due to China’s historic urbanisation process, and Zheng’s estimate of an extra 10 million hectare is nearly double what is available today.

The government has said farmland must not fall below 12 million hectares by 2010, but the ‘China Daily’ said that target was already approaching. Zheng said global warming would also see insects become a worsening problem.