The impact of microplastics on yield and economic losses in selected agricultural food commodities

In the realm of the global economy, agriculture holds a prominent status, acting as a
vital source of employment and revenue for nations.Despite its crucial role, the agricultural
sector contends with recurrent annual losses attributable to market fluctuations.
One noteworthy contributor to the decline in agricultural productivity is the adverse
impact of microplastics (MPs). This study aims to estimate the production losses suffered
by key crops—rice, wheat, maize, tomato, and peas—due to MPs, along with the
resulting economic consequences arising from the direct damage inflicted by MPs. To
assess production losses caused by MPs, secondary data from diverse sources were
employed for five plant varieties. The economic losses resulting from MPs were calculated
for the period spanning 2017–2023, with cumulative data aggregated from all
states. The study’s findings indicate that the presence ofMPs corresponds to an annual
global output decline ranging from 0.4% to 34.7%. This decline translates to a reduction
of approximately 0.01 million to 66.97 million tons per year in the production of
food, fiber, and biofuels. The aggregate yearly economic losses are estimated at around
USD 46.5 billion. These findings carry substantial implications for governmental policy
in the agricultural domain, underscoring the necessity for current statistics on global
losses incurred due to MPs. Moreover, they emphasize the importance of implementing
a systematic surveillance system to monitor such losses effectively.