NEW DELHI — Last year it was wheat, then sugar. This year, it’s the tomato.
As weather patterns become erratic—rainfalls that are too heavy and out of sync with growing calendars, and heat cycles that start earlier—food shortages are one of the many ways India is suffering from climate change. .
Supply has been declining, and prices rising—in the case of tomatoes, an increase at least fivefold between May and mid-July, according to official figures.
The Government enacted emergency measures, curbing exports and injecting subsidized supplies into the market to reduce the shock for the world’s most populous nation.
In recent weeks, families have been rationing their tomatoes, which are essential to the Indian diet. Some omitted tomatoes from salads, leaving the few they could afford for the main dish. Others, fearing even higher prices, began storing tomatoes as puree in freezers. Restaurants removed tomato-laden dishes from their menus or raised prices. In parts of the country, McDonald’s stopped putting tomatoes on hamburgers.
“We used to consume about 2-3 kilos of tomatoes a week in our family of five,” said Neeta Agarwal, a software developer, shopping in east New Delhi. “Now we only consume half a kilo a week.”
The tomato has even made its way into India’s polarized politics. Himanta Biswa Sarma, a prominent leader of the ruling Hindu nationalist party, blamed the country’s Muslims for the price rise.
In some areas, the price per kilo has soared from Rs 30 to Rs 200. In response, the Indian government pumped up to 300 tons of tomatoes into the market—first at a subsidized price of 90 rupees per kilo and then at 70 rupees per kilo.
India has been on the frontline of climate change. Floods and droughts continue to displace large numbers of people. Increasing instability of weather patterns and the constant threat of disasters have further worsened agriculture, which was already struggling to be profitable due to low crop diversity and unreliable market arrangements.
India’s Agriculture Ministry told the country’s Parliament earlier this year that “climate change is projected to reduce wheat production by 19.3 percent in 2050 and 40 percent in 2080.”
Devinder Sharma, an independent agricultural economist, said plans must be made for the impact of climate change on food production.
“We should have adequate food reserves for at least two years, because any season can go wrong,” he warned.
By: Hari Kumar and Mujib Mashal
THE NEW YORK TIMES
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6820981, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-07-26 20:40:07
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