Food, Climate impacts, Flooding
Severe floods threaten global rice yields, study finds
New research finds damage to rice crops has accelerated in recent decades due to rainstorms that increasingly submerge young plants for a week or more. Adoption of flood-resistant rice varieties in vulnerable regions could help avert future losses.

November 14, 2025
By Josie Garthwaite

In brief

• Severe floods reduced global rice yields by 4.3% annually between 1980 and 2015, or about 18 million tons per year.
• Yield losses have increased since 2000 because of more extreme floods, a trend expected to continue as the planet warms.
• Greater adoption of flood-resistant rice varieties in vulnerable regions could help avert future losses.

Severe flooding has slashed global rice yields in recent decades, threatening food security for billions of people who depend on the grain. The losses amounted to approximately 4.3%, or 18 million tons of rice per year, between 1980 and 2015, according to research from Stanford University published November 14 in Science Advances.

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