China's three major cereal crops exposed to compound drought and extreme rainfall events

Abstract. Under the backdrop of global climate change, the increasing intensity and frequency of anomaly climate events have led to a rise in compound extreme events. China's large population exacerbates the pressure of agricultural production, and compound drought and extreme rainfall events (CDER) can cause considerable damage to soil structure, thereby disrupting normal agricultural activities. Previous studies have revealed the impacts of the individual event, but the spatiotemporal characteristics of CDER and their effects on agricultural production remain obscure. This study focuses on compound disaster events in China's nine major agricultural regions, where drought and extreme rainfall events occur within 5 d. The results show that compound disasters are mainly concentrated in the northwest, southwest, and northern regions. The impact area of compound disasters is largest in summer, and the frequency and intensity of drought-rainfall events are higher than those of rainfall-drought events. Further analysis at the crop growth stage scale reveals the exposure of the three major cereal crops (rice, wheat, and maize) during their growth stage. The study reveals that maize generally has the highest and most variable disaster risk, rice has the lowest risk with minimal fluctuations, and wheat has moderate risk with large variations. The risk evolution in each agricultural region follows a universal pattern of “first rising and then declining”, with the peak occurring around 2010. This study elucidates the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of this novel compound disaster and provides constructive insights for disaster prevention and mitigation through more refined risk assessments.