Economic Impact of Water-Limited Conditions on Cereal Grain Production

Drought can be one of the most devastating misfortunes to befall agriculture. In the popular conception, images of scorched landscapes, parched soils, withered crops, and starving livestock are synonymous with agricultural disaster. Even in less severe cases of lower-than-average precipitation, moisture stress resulting from water-limited conditions can significantly lower crop yields and reduce output—as farmers, policymakers, and agricultural researchers well know.