Impacts of ENSO on the yield of paddy rice crops on a regional scale in Brazil, China, and Colombia

The El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a phenomenon of climatic variability, the effects of which can induce changes in temperature and rainfall in different countries of the world. These events impact sectors of great global relevance, such as agriculture. This research estimated the impacts of ENSO on paddy rice yields in fields located in Brazil, China, and Colombia. ENSO impacts on rice production were measured through the differences between the yields of the last two decades of each crop in each phase of ENSO compared to normal climatic conditions. Most of the estimated impacts were slightly negative, with the most significant impacts being those reported in the study region in Brazil and Colombia during the second growing season, whose growth period coincides with the maximum peak of ENSO anomalies