Diverse connections between climate extremes and agricultural loss across the Southern Slopes of the Himalayas

This report assesses how drought, heat stress, and extreme precipitation influence crop productivity under single and double cropping systems at the Southern Slopes of the Himalaya. The authors found that most crop losses are linked to frequent, lower intensity climate extremes rather than only to rare severe events.

Drought is still the main risk across the Southern Slopes of the Himalaya, but the roles of extreme precipitation and heat stress are increasing. Double cropping systems are more likely to experience losses under weaker climate stress, while single cropping systems tend to suffer larger losses once critical thresholds are exceeded. Because these risks vary across the region, future adaptation should be tailored to both local climate conditions and cropping systems.