The world’s rice bowl could be in danger if more resilient farming practices are not adopted, experts have warned, as overexploitation of groundwater coupled with climate change has put age-old cultivation methods across Asia at risk.
Climate experts say the stress will be different across parts of the region even as floods and droughts are expected with greater frequency and intensity. That means bad news for India, Thailand and Vietnam – the top three rice exporters – and the rest of the world.