SINGAPORE
\nDry weather is disrupting crop planting across Asia, raising concerns about food supplies in the world\u2019s most populous region, and an expected severe El Nino weather pattern could inflict more damage.
\nFrom \u200bIndia\u2019s grain-producing northwestern plains to Australia\u2019s eastern wheat belt, and from Thailand\u2019s rice fields to Indonesia\u2019s vast palm oil plantations, hot weather and below-normal rains are hurting crops \u200cand forcing farmers to reduce planting, farmers, analysts and traders said.
\nEl Nino-driven dryness is a double blow for farmers already grappling with fertiliser and diesel shortages caused by the Iran war.
\nWheat prices have risen about 20% since the start of 2026, largely on concerns over drought in key U.S. growing regions. Rice prices at major Southeast Asian export hubs have climbed around 15% over the past month on rising production costs and fears of tighter supplies.
\nOne of the strongest El Ninos on \u200brecord is widely expected to develop in the second half of 2026, bringing hot-dry weather to Asia and excessive rains to the Americas, with global climate change making things worse.
\n\u201cThe El \u200bNino impact globally starts with Southeast Asia, India, Australia, before it has wider implications downstream in North America and South America,\u201d said Chris Hyde, a U.S.-based meteorologist at satellite data and imagery firm SkyFi.
\nHyde said early signs of drought are already visible on the company\u2019s high-resolution imagery platform, across parts of Asia.<\/p>\n
Hot-Dry weather hits farms
\nIn India, the meteorological department last \u200bweek further reduced its forecast for the four-month monsoon season, which delivers about 70% of annual rains.
\n\u201cWith temperatures across most parts of the country remaining well above normal, conditions are currently unfavourable for the timely \u200bsowing of summer crops,\u201d said one New Delhi-based dealer with a global trade house.
\n\u201cPlanting is likely to be delayed due to the late onset of the monsoon, but greater concern lies in the possibility of below-normal rainfall and prolonged dry spells after its arrival.\u201d
\nIndia mainly grows rice, soybeans, pulses, sugarcane and corn in the summer season.
\nFor Southeast Asian countries, dryness is hitting rice and palm oil yields in some areas.
\n\u201cEverybody is worried (about drought), it\u2019s risky,\u201d said Nerawat Oramah, a \u200b47-year-old farmer in central Thailand\u2019s Chainat province.
\n\u201cFor my second harvest, I have to wait and see the situation. It\u2019s a risk for every one (if there is not enough water), there will only be one \u200bharvest.\u201d
\nThailand and the Philippines plant their main rice crops in June-July, while Vietnam and Indonesia are now sowing their second-season crops.
\nIndonesia\u2019s most populated Java island and some areas in northern Sumatra, south Kalimantan and Sulawesi have not experienced \u200cany rain for more than 10 days, according to the country\u2019s meteorological agency, with medium to low rainfall expected in June.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
SINGAPORE Dry weather is disrupting crop planting across Asia, raising concerns about food supplies in the world\u2019s most populous region, and an expected severe El Nino weather pattern could inflict more damage. From \u200bIndia\u2019s grain-producing northwestern plains to Australia\u2019s eastern wheat belt, and from Thailand\u2019s rice fields to Indonesia\u2019s vast palm oil plantations, hot weather …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":98613,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98632"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98632\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98644,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98632\/revisions\/98644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}