Tomato farmers in Pakistan are reeling after a frost ruined about 65% of their crop. Reports from several villages in Khushab district detail the telltale signs of damage, including dried leaves with ruined stems and cell rupture on mature produce. 

What's happening?

Food sector publication Fresh Plaza reported that "local estimates" had the majority of the district's red and green tomato crop destroyed by the late-January frost. 

The news represents more than lost sauce, as the farmers invested heavily in the crop. Grower Malik Abdul Karim told The Express Tribune that he and other farmers applied costly fertilizer during cold nights — part of Pakistan's climate — as they anticipated favorable market prices during the harvest. 

"We hoped to repay our previous loans, but nature had other plans," he said.

Why are Pakistan's tomatoes important?

Agriculture is a large sector in the country, with tomatoes among the core crops. Moneymaker, Roma, and Rio Grande — common on American produce shelves — are among the varieties grown, according to the Journal of Bioresource Management. 

And Pakistan's crop woes aren't isolated. Sporadic extreme rain and droughts have already caused tomato prices to increase in nearby India. The World Economic Forum reported that the weather is endangering key foods around the planet, as well. Cocoa, olive oil, rice, and soybeans are on the list. 

While every severe event can't be linked to the planet's overheating, experts from NASA and elsewhere have said that gradual warming is increasing the chances for worsening conditions, including crop-busting floods, droughts, and frosts. The University of Oxford added that grapevines at French vineyards are experiencing premature bud bursts. The new growths are susceptible to ruinous frosts, as an example that will hit hard for wine lovers. 

"The researchers concluded that overall, human-caused climate change made the damaging frost event about 60% more likely," according to the report. 

Carbon Brief detailed the weather's impact on food prices around the world. Key crop prices fluctuated greatly from 2022 to 2024 because of extreme heat, rain, and diseases. Some of those factors contributed to the United States' orange production declining by more than 40% from 2020 to 2024. 

Price volatility is "likely to be an increasingly common feature of our highly integrated global food systems," Professor Elizabeth Robinson, from London's Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, told CB. 

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What's being done to help?

In Pakistan, farmers said that they were not given a warning about the pending frost. Smoke screens, light irrigation, and plastic tents are some countermeasures they could have deployed, according to Fresh Plaza. 

In answer, experts are working on ways to combine artificial intelligence and satellite data to identify troublesome weather brewing on the hyper-local level. The goal is to provide forewarning about when and how pending conditions will impact communities. 

Learning more about how changing weather is impacting our food supply can help you make smarter decisions with your family. Talking with friends and family can build a greater understanding about how food prices at the local grocery store are affected by weather conditions on the other side of the world. The conversations can inspire local action that can make a difference in your community.

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