The Economic Impact of Climate Change on Wheat and Maize Yields in the North China Plain

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 May 7;19(9):5707. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19095707.

Abstract

Climate change has significantly affected agricultural production. As one of China's most important agricultural production regions, the North China Plain (NCP) is subject to climate change. This paper examines the influence of climate change on the wheat and maize yields at household and village levels, using the multilevel model based on a large panel survey dataset in the NCP. The results show that: (i) Extreme weather events (drought and flood) would significantly reduce the wheat and maize yields. So, the governments should establish and improve the emergency service system of disaster warning and encourage farmers to mitigate the adverse effects of disasters. (ii) Over the past three decades, the NCP has experienced climate change that affects its grain production. Therefore, it is imperative to build the farmers' adaptive capacity to climate change. (iii) Spatial variations in crop yield are significantly influenced by the household characteristics and the heterogeneity of village economic conditions. Therefore, in addition to promoting household production, it is necessary to strengthen and promote China's development of the rural collective economy, especially the construction of rural irrigation and drainage infrastructures.

Keywords: climate change; extreme weather event; grain crop yield; multi-level model; village collective economy.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture / methods
  • China
  • Climate Change*
  • Triticum
  • Zea mays*

Grants and funding

Financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No: 72003057, 72173037), Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Research Project of China (Grant No: 21YJA790039), Henan Province Philosophy and Social Science Planning Project (Grant No. 2021BJJ046), Key Scientific Research Project of Henan Provincial Institutions of Higher Learning (Grant No. 21A790011).