THE RESPONSE OF WHEAT PRODUCTIVITY TO CLIMATE PATTERNS: EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTANI DISTRICTS

Abstract

The study examines the impact of climate variables on wheat production in 10 major wheat-producing districts of Pakistan. In doing so, we apply the Driscoll–Kraay approach to estimate the panel data from 1981 to 2019. Our empirical analysis reveals that climate variables, including temperature, rainfall and humidity, follow a common correlation across districts. We find that wheat productivity and temperature, as well as rainfall, follow an inverted U-shaped relation. The response of the wheat productivity is quadratic rather than linear towards average temperature and rainfall during the specific time of cultivation, including planting, flowering and harvesting. Besides, fertilizer use promotes and humidity impedes wheat productivity. Our findings are robust considering heterogeneity, serial correlation and spatial dependency.