Recently, on the issue of global warming and its effect on crop production, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said in Parliament that the National Action Plan on climate change will have its focus on the effect on the country’s crop production.

Noting that crop and water resources are critical issues in India, head of climate impact at Hadley Centre and lead author on Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report, Dr Richard Betts, said that climate change can have major impacts on both these resources which will have potential implications for millions of people. He said climate change and global warming are complex issues which needs new science. Therefore, it needs strong collaboration between scientists of both nations so as to optimally use high-level expertise present in both countries. A study said with every one degree increase in the temperature in the growing period of wheat, country can possibly lose 4 to 5 million tonnes in the overall wheat production.

The Hadley Centre and other UK science centres are already working on impact of climate change on issue like agriculture and cities. Some of the UK’s leading scientists were in India to participate in a workshop where Indian researchers were introduced to a new land-surface model developed by the Met Office Hadley Centre. The model can be used in different areas of study like agriculture, urban, forestry and hydrology.