A systematic literature review on the impact of tropical cyclones on rice agriculture in Asia

Project Overview

Our research project aims to understand the impacts of tropical cyclones on rice agriculture by estimating the extent of rice areas damaged by tropical cyclones. This work is important because there is minimal research documenting the historical extent of agricultural damage. This information would be of interest to researchers, policy makers and local communities who would be keen to know which localities are more prone to cyclone damage.

Currently, multiple damage reports are published by disaster management agencies, government authorities, non-governmental aid organizations and newspapers for each cyclone. Information on how the damage data was derived is usually unavailable and there are large variations in the numbers reported sometimes. As such, we compile all possible information on rice and agricultural damage for each cyclone and derived plausible rice damage figures for each cyclone based on the date the information was published and the source of information. Our method of using the most recent report likely gives a more accurate picture of the damage incurred as authorities and aid agencies would have more time to compile and confirm the figures.