How Droughts Affect Crops
Drought starves crops of the one input they cannot do without --- water.
This leads to weaker plants, lower yields, and in severe cases, total crop failure.
When soil moisture drops, plants close their stomata to conserve water, which slows photosynthesis, reduces growth, and can lead to leaf rolling, early leaf drop, and stunted stems and roots. Long or intense drought can halt flowering, reduce pollination, and shrink grain size or fruit, cutting yield even if plants survive.
Drought also disrupts water and nutrient relations in the plant, limiting uptake of nitrogen and other key nutrients and making crops more vulnerable to pests, diseases, and heat.
On the field scale, drought reduces biomass, dries out pastures, and can leave bare, fragile soil that is more prone to erosion when rains finally return. Shallow-rooted or high-water-demand crops are often hit first, forcing tough decisions about which fields to keep irrigated and which to sacrifice.
Economically, repeated droughts can cut yields by double-digit percentages across a region, increase irrigation and pumping costs, and reduce farm income, especially for high-value fruits, vegetables, and specialty crops.
Farmers can reduce drought risk by building soil organic matter with cover crops, manures, and reduced tillage to improve water-holding capacity and infiltration. Selecting drought-tolerant varieties, staggering planting dates, and matching crop choice to local water reliability also helps protect yield.
On irrigated acres, more efficient systems (drip, low-pressure sprinklers), soil moisture monitoring, and deficit irrigation strategies help stretch limited water further while still supporting key growth stages like flowering and grain fill.
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