Estimated crop yield losses due to surface ozone exposure and economic damage in India

In this study, we estimate yield losses and economic damage of two major crops (winter wheat and rabi rice) due to surface ozone (O3) exposure using hourly O3 concentrations for the period 2002-2007 in India. This study estimates crop yield losses according to two indices of O3 exposure: 7-h seasonal daytime (0900-1600 hours) mean measured O3 concentration (M7) and AOT40 (accumulation exposure of O3 concentration over a threshold of 40 parts per billion by volume during daylight hours (0700-1800 hours), established by field studies. Our results indicate that relative yield loss from 5 to 11% (6-30%) for winter wheat and 3-6% (9-16%) for rabi rice using M7 (AOT40) index of the mean total winter wheat 81 million metric tons (Mt) and rabi rice 12 Mt production per year for the period 2002-2007. The estimated mean crop production loss (CPL) for winter wheat are from 9 to 29 Mt, account for economic cost loss was from 1,222 to 4,091 million US$ annually. Similarly, the mean CPL for rabi rice are from 0.64 to 2.1 Mt, worth 86-276 million US$. Our calculated winter wheat and rabi rice losses agree well with previous results, providing the further evidence that large crop yield losses occurring in India due to current O3 concentration and further elevated O3 concentration in future may pose threat to food security.