- Changing rainfall patterns due to climate change are posing threats to guava farming in South Asia, the global hub of the tropical fruit.
- In recent years, rising temperatures and delayed monsoons have been affecting the flowering and fruiting of even the drought-tolerant guava varieties.
- Experts in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have identified links to climate change with vulnerabilities in guava farming and suggest solutions.
Guava farmer Haralal Halder, in his 45 years of farming profession in coastal Bangladesh, had never experienced a drought-like spell with soaring temperatures during April-May period, the flowering season, until the past couple of years.
In 2023 and this year, excessive heat caused the premature abscission of one-third of the blossoms in the trees of his 0.53-hectare (1.33-acre) guava (Psidium guajava L.) orchard in Pirojpur, a district in the coastal Barisal division of Bangladesh.
For more than two centuries, Barisal division has been famous for producing popular local guava varieties including Purnamandali, Swarupkathi and Palalata.
“The weather change is unprecedented. The blossoms die due to late arrival of monsoon,” Haralal told Mongabay in September, the last harvesting month for local guava varieties cultivated in Barisal.
Similar to those in Bangladesh, guava farmers in India and Pakistan have also been facing unfavorable weather conditions including changing rainfall patterns for more than five years, several studies revealed.
According to Seoul-based agricultural market data processor Tridge, these three South Asian countries produce almost half of the global production of the tropical fruit.
In 2019, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Agriculture Centre (SAC) reported that agriculture in the region would face unpredictable and frequent climate change events like changing rainfall patterns.
According to the report, India and Pakistan are vulnerable to increased variability in rainfall patterns, while Bangladesh’s hydrological cycle, particularly rainfall, will be “more erratic.”
South Asian guava farming under threat
Guava farmers Arun Kanti Majumder and Arnab Majumder, spoke to Mongabay at Bhimruli Bazar — the largest floating guava market in the Barisal region — and shared their concerns over the unfavorable weather that they had been experiencing in the past few years.
“Less rainfall during the May-June period also causes incomplete fruiting that reduces the volume of yields,” Arnab said.
Echoing the farmers’ concerns, the horticulture specialist at the Barisal divisional chapter of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), G.M.M. Kabir Khan, told Mongabay more about good and bad yields.
“In an unfavorable weather condition during the 2022-23 [season], guava production [per hectare, or about 2.5 acres] was 9.01 tons. Usually, in favorable conditions, the amount is 11 tons,” Kabir said.
He added that despite having adequate irrigation sources nearby, as the Barisal-based guava orchards are largely connected to live canals of brackish water round the year, the farmers struggle to protect blossoms and premature fruits due to excessive heat in the atmosphere and lack of rain.
A 2024 study termed Barisal division as Bangladesh’s most climate vulnerable coastal region where rising temperatures cause changes in rainfall patterns, challenging local agriculture-based livelihoods.
A 2023 study in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state of India, also found a significant impact of climatic factors, including changing rainfall patterns and drought, on the livelihoods of guava farmers. Uttar Pradesh is considered the most important guava production state in India.
The author of the study, Mohammad Monis Ansari, wrote to Mongabay in an email, “The guava industry in India is facing significant challenges due to changing rainfall patterns and rising temperature.”
He observed that the climatic shifts are causing a cascade of negative effects, including reduced fruit quality, as higher temperatures delay ripening and alter the fruits’ chemical composition, diminishing the vital soluble solids to acid ratio.
“Furthermore, flowering and fruiting cycles are being disrupted, with warmer conditions potentially altering flower types and the timing of fruit production,” Ansari said.
He raised an important concern, which was that high temperatures also contribute to “physiological disorders” of the farmers as flower and fruit growth drops, further cutting into yields.
In 2023, India was the largest producer of fresh guava, followed by Indonesia, China, Mexico, Pakistan, Brazil, Malawi, Egypt, Thailand and Bangladesh, according to Tridge.
In 2020, farmers in Larkana, Pakistan, reported that the early arrival of hot season had severely affected guava production at the early stages. Larkana is the leading guava-producing district in Sindh province.
In Larkana, guava trees bear fruit twice in a year: Its first season starts in mid-October and ends in mid-April while the second season begins in mid-November and ends in mid-March, according to a Dawn report.
The news report recounted the farmers’ stress, who said their fruit was damaged with matured flowers due to early arrival of hot weather.
The same year, a study in Larkana, comparing yield data between 2012 and 2020, estimated a 60% reduction of the guava production due to climate change and erratic rainfall.
In between the 2018-19 and 2023-24 seasons, guava production and farming coverage also declined in the Barisal division of Bangladesh.
According to the DAE, Bangladesh, 25,080 tons of guava was produced on 2,750 hectares (6,800 acres) of land during the 2022-23 fiscal year. However, in the 2018-19 fiscal year, 31,747 tons were produced on 3,345 hectares (8,270 acres) of land.
Officials at DAE Barisal divisional headquarters recently said that production of 23,601 tons of guava on 2,596 hectares (6,415 acres) of land was recorded in the 2023-24 fiscal year, demonstrating a declining trend.
Horticulture specialist at Barisal DAE, Khan, expressed his concerns and said that farmers, encountering changing weather patterns and price fall, are shifting from guava to other crops including hog plum (Spondias mombin) and banana (Musa spp.).
Indian researcher Ansari suggested that adaptation strategies are essential to continue with the guava cultivation in South Asia.
He said that focusing on the development of climate-resilient crop varieties, adopting protected cultivation technologies like greenhouses, and improving crop management through adjustments like modifying pruning and cropping schedules could be adaptation strategies.
Banner image: Farmers gather at Bhimruli guava market to sell their fruit. Image by Sadiqur Rahman for Mongabay.
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Citations:
Saddaf, N., Sultana, R., & Anjum, B. (2024). Vulnerability and effectiveness of nature-based solutions (NbS) in the farming communities of coastal Bangladesh. Environmental Challenges, 14, 100863. doi:10.1016/j.envc.2024.100863
Ansari, M. M. (2023). Livelihood vulnerability and constraints faced by the guava growers. Gujarat Journal of Extension Education, 36(1), 51–56. doi:10.56572/gjoee.2023.36.1.0009
Shaikh, F., Abbasi, Z.A., Hullio, M.H. (2020). Climate Change and its impact on Yield Performance of Guava in Larkana, Zenodo. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/92759264/Climate_Change_and_its_impact_on_Yield_Performance_of_Guava_in_Larkana?uc-sb-sw=30338556
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