Tropospheric Ozone and Food Productivity

Photo Courtesy: Jonas Zurcher

Wheat is sensitive to tropospheric ozone as it directly affects the cell membranes of the wheat plant.

Abstract: Ozone is life threatening if found to be increasing near the earth’s surface as it is toxic to life when inhaled. Ozone not only damages airways, but also reduces crop yields as well if it increases beyond the threshold levels. Worries are mounting as India marks a rate of increase of around 1 per cent each year. Anthropogenic sources of emissions are responsible for increase in surface ozone, which needs urgent control in the near future.

The authors are Project Director, SAFAR, and Senior Programme Officer at  Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Pune, respectively.beig@tropmet.res.in. The article should be cited as Beig G. & Tikle S., 2019. Tropospheric Ozone and Food Productivity, Geography and You, 19(23): 24-28.