The unusually warm weather caused by the El Nino phenomenon and seen to last later this year is expected to severely affect production of palm oil in Malaysia, rice in Thailand and Vietnam, and sugar in India.
In Thailand, the world’s second largest rice producer, a huge part of the country is struggling with low water reserves and many areas were so dry that ponds were built to sustain wildlife at national parks.
Bangkok officials earlier declared they are cutting short the famous Songkran festival in April due to the drought. One of the world’s largest water fights, the festival attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists every year.
In Malaysia, government data showed palm yields and crude palm oil output are decreasing, as climatologists declared the present state could be as bad as the dry spell hitting the country from 1997 to 1998.
The drought 19 years ago was said to be the country’s worst and experts warned that as in the past, a dry spell lasting four months could trigger massive forest fires, suffocating haze and severe air pollution.
“The El Nino this year is looking to be almost equal in strength to the one in 1997-98. This phase of the El Nino is a continuation from last year’s, when we were affected by a thick blanket of haze,” said Dr. Fredolin Tangang, an expert of climatology and physical oceanography at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
“Researchers concluded this El Nino poses almost the same threats as the one we faced almost two decades ago. It is worrying.”
Experts warned that if no measures are being taken, the arid conditions, expected to last until June, will cause severe water shortages across the country.
Meanwhile, the Indian government expects a drop in sugarcane production this year by 16 million tons as a rainfall shortage hit many sugarcane-growing states. India is the world’s second biggest producer of sugarcane.
In Vietnam, the rising water salinity destroyed at least 200,000 tons of rice as water levels of the Mekong River were at their lowest in 90 years.
The Vietnamese agriculture ministry said up to one million tons of rice could be lost to the dry spell but the country remains the third largest rice exporter behind Thailand and India. Vietnam exports at least seven million tons of rice a year.
Last week, China released water from its hydropower station to provide emergency supply to neighboring Southeast Asian nations suffering from the severe drought.
Embarking on a “water diplomacy” mission, China announced it will increase water discharge from its Jinghong hydropower station in Yunnan province until April 10 to benefit Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos.
