Drought -- National Drought Mitigation Center
Date of this Version
August 1999
Abstract
Temperature plays a vital role in life processes and crop production. Physical and chemical processes within plants are temperature dependent; these processes in turn control biological reactions in crop plants. Temperature also plays a significant role in some aspects of crop physiological cycles: the diffusion rate of gases and liquids changes with temperature; the solubility of substances is temperature dependent; rapid progress occurs as a result of temperature increases; and the equilibrium and stability of various systems and compounds (including enzymes) is a function of temperature.
Air temperature at the screen level is one of the most important variables affecting crop production in temperate Kashmir. Most crop plants are injured or killed by low night temperatures, especially those plants that are growing rapidly or flowering. Low temperature in combination with wet soil may result in the accumulation of harmful products in plant cells while low temperature coupled with water shortage results in cold drought.
Comments
Published in Drought Network News Vol. 11, No. 2, May–August 1999. Published by the International Drought Information Center and the National Drought Mitigation Center, School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska – Lincoln.