Overview of India’s Integrated Agromet-Advisory Service

(AAS) Program by

Dr. N.ChattopadhyayHead

Agricultural Meteorology DivisionIndia Meteorological Department

Ministry of Earth SciencesGovernment of India

(nabansu.nc@gmail.com)

Outline……. Present day need of weather service to Indian

Agriculture Addressing the need of the service by the Indian

Government Observation Forecast Agromet Advisory Services system in India District level Agromet Advisories Communication/dissemination Feedback Challenges Preparedness to face the future challenges

Weather & Challenges facing Agriculture in India

Agriculture is highly dependent on weather and subject to its variability. Possible impacts of climate change. Sustainability of intensive agriculture using current technologies the context of the global climate change.Long-term changes and the increasing frequency of extreme weather. Changes in hydrological regimes. Therefore, the problem is being addressed collectively by scientists, administrators, planners and society.

Components of Variability in Weather & Climate in India

Heat/Cold WaveMore variable R/FIncreased Extremes

Weather EventsErratic Onset, advance

and retrieval of MonsoonShift in Active/break

cyclesIntensity and frequency of

Monsoon lows/depressions

Banana trees damaged by heavy rain and uprooted by high winds inTamilnadu and Kerala, April 2011

Coconut palms are vulnerable to the effects of heavy rain

and lightning, October 2011Extreme Weather and Damages to Crops

Weather Service to Agriculture

• There is need to manage agriculture in the face of such challenges and to provide ‘weatherproofing’ for farm production.

• India Meteorological Department (IMD), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, is operating an Integrated Agro-Meteorological Advisory Service (IAAS) at district level in India.

• Under the Agromet Advisory Services (AAS), the needs of farming communities were established through feedback from end-user groups.

• This showed that the primary need of the farmer is a location specific and quantified weather forecast, which led to the creation of the IAAS project.

Role  of Weather Information  in Farm ManagementCultivars  Selection Choosing windows for Sowing/harvesting

operations Irrigation scheduling – optimal water use Mitigation from adverse weather events such as

frost, low temperature, heavy rainfall – at critical crop stages

Fertilizer application Pesticide/fungicide spraying schedules Feed, Health and Shelter Management for

Livestock [Optimal temperature for dairy/ hatchery etc.]

AAS in India & United Nations Global Frameworkfor Climates Services (GFCS)

Ensuring greater availability of, access to, and use of climate services

Addressing three geographic domains: district, regional and national

Ensuring operational climate services are the core element of the activities

Ensuring climate information is primarily provided by governments, which have central role in its management through the GFCS

Promoting the free and open exchange of climate relevant observational data while respecting national and international data policies

Establishing the role of the AAS activities so that they facilitate and strengthen, rather than duplicating

Building AAS activities through user-provider partnerships that include all stakeholders

Efficient outreach system

Right information/right time through extension and disseminating agencies

Location specific weather forecast and Agromet Advisories.

Objectives & Components of Agromet Service

Components of AAS

Crop Yield Forecasting

Network for AAS

Dissemination

Weather Forecast &

Advisory

Awareness Programme

Feedback Mechanism

Economic Benefit

Training

Salient features of Weather Based Farm Advisory Service

IMD, Ministry of Earth Sciences, is operating an Integrated Agro-Meteorological Advisory Service (IAAS) in close collaboration with ICAR, SAUs, IITs etc. with following key elements:

Quantitative 5 day weather forecast at district level

Weather based crop/livestock Advisories in vernacular languages

Strong Dissemination & extension Mechanism

Coordinated review and monitoring mechanism

Significant economic impact

Good feedback from end-user groups

Collaborating Agencies

Multi-Disciplinary & Multi-Institutional

Indian Council For Agricultural ResearchDepartment Of Agriculture & CooperationState Departments Of AgricultureState Agricultural Universities And Other UniversitiesDepartment Of Space Ministry of Information Technology

Ministry Of Earth Sciences

India Meteorological DepartmentNational Centre For Medium Range Weather ForecastingIndian Institute of Tropical Meteorology

Multi-Disciplinary & Multi-Institutional

National Informatics CentreMinistry of Science & TechnologyMinistry of Information & Broadcasting (AIR & TV)Print MediaMin. of Rural DevelopmentMSSR Foundation & Other NGOs & PP

TIER 1Apex Policy Planning Body, Delhi

TIER 2National Agromet Service HQ

Execution, Pune

TIER 3State Agromet Centres (28)

Coordination/Monitoring

TIER 4Agromet Field Units

Agroclimatic Zone Level (130)

TIER 5District Level Extension and TrainingInput Management as advisory~612

Network of AAS units

in the country

Network of 130 Agromet Field

Units

Operational Agrometeorology The Agromet services provide a very special kind of inputs to the farmer as advisories that can make a tremendous difference to the agriculture production by taking in time actions against extreme weather events.

This has a potential to change the face of India in terms of food

security and poverty alleviation.

Network of Agromet Advisory ServicesTwo Ways of Communication System

Network of AAS units in

the country

Network of 130 Agromet Field

Units

Network of surface observatories

Agromet Observatories The Division of Agricultural Meteorology maintains and provides technical support to a wide range of Agromet Observatories from where different kinds of data on agromet parameters are generated.Agromet Observations from different observatories are recorded daily and the same was received and archived in Agrimet Division.

Type of observatory NumberAgromet 264

Evaporation 219

Evapotranspiration 42

Soil Moisture 43

Dewfall 76

Agromet observatories supply meteorological data to I. M. D., and are located mostly at the premises of the State Agriculture and irrigation Departments, Agricultural Institutes / Universities and Research farms.

Conducted Brainstorming Session

onStandardisation and Integration of Automatic Weather

Stations Under National Umbrella Meeting was done to establish a denser network of automatic weather

stations across the country under the joint venture of concerned organisations involved in installation, maintenance of AWS and those desire to use the data from AWS for different services in the country.

The objective of the meeting was to develop a national consortium by all the concerned organizations to integrate the existing AWS network and install new ones with the required sensors, maintenance, reception of quality controlled and uninterrupted data, data sharing mechanism etc.

Parameters: Rainfall Max and Min temperatureTotal cloud cover Surface Relative humidity Surface Wind

http://www.imd.gov.in

Implemented from 1 June 2008Rainfall: MME based Members: ECMWF, UKMO, JMA,NCEP and IMD GFS T584

District Level Five days Weather Forecast

DISTRICT LEVEL FORECAST

Generation of district level weather forecast (DLWF)

Currently these cover640 districts of the country

Preparation of medium range forecast at

district level

NWP productsState Met Centre

(SAMC)

Value additionAdvisory Bulletin

(AMFUs)Dissemination of Agromet Advisory

through Multi-Channel Dissemination System

Parameters Rainfall, Wind speed

and direction, Maximum temperature, Relative humidity, Minimum temperature, Cloud cover

Agromet

Advisory

FeedbackEconomic Benefit: Example: AMFU Sonitpur: Save potato crop (which was at maturity stage in the field) of value of Rs.3,00,000.00 (rupees three lakh) from the damage due in time forecast of heavy rainfall

Assessment: At present only10 to 15 percent of the farmers are benefitting from the SMS services and about 24% farmers are aware about Agromet services (NCAER, 2011)

National Level Bulletin

District Level Bulletinfor Chennai

State Level Bulletin

Operational communication linkage between Agromet Advisory Service Unit and end-users (farmers) for effective

communication

Forecast from IMD, New Delhi

State Met Centres

Agromet Advisory Bulletin by AMFUs

Postal Contact

Personal Contact

Radio News Papers

KVK

State Agril. Dept.

Farmer Television

SMS on mobile

Farms

Internet Cloud

Expert Console mKRISHI Server

*1 *2

mKRISHI Weather Station

Mobile service provider

Parameter Update

Que

ry

Res

pons

e

Farmer with mobile-phone

Wireless Sensor Networks

Alert/Advice

Accurate Plant Disease forecast and minimize the spray of pesticides

Risk

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Model Generated Disease risk

Mobile phone Application forParameters/Queries/ Symptoms update

Current dissemination projects

Proposed dissemination projects

Disseminated Agromet Advisory to 3.4 million farmers through PPP mode (Reuter Market Light, Handygo,, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL), Nokia and State Govt. of Maharashtra

Impacts of SMS Ways in which farmers have saved money as a result of AAS include the following:

• communicated that he was about to sow carrot seeds, but upon receiving an SMS that heavy rains were coming, he postponed the sowing. Had he not received the message and gone ahead with sowing, he would have lost 25,000 rupees and his efforts would have gone to waste

Vikas, a farmer in Nizampur village near

Delhi

• had decided to irrigate his paddy crop, but on receiving an SMS that it would rain in the next couple of days, he postponed irrigating, saving on costs, including electricity

In Palla village, near Delhi, farmer Surendra

•was planning to spray fertilizer during September. An SMS text that there would be rains within the next two days convinced him the time was not right. If he had ignored the message, rain would have washed away all the fertilizer

A farmer in Nekpur village in Bulandshah in the state

of Uttar Pradesh

Agromet Core Course Basic Agromet Course Meteorologists

Grade IIForeign Training

Summer Placement Course Refresher Course Agromet Observers’

Course

Training course on ‘Agrometeorology

towards better advisories for serving

end users requirement’

Trainings

Two weeks foreign training for personnel from Africa, Asia including North Korea would be

organized from 28th January to 9th February 2013

Popularization MechanismDone Field visit at Sakurde, Boregaon and Baramati in

Maharashtra

By the end of January 2012 Farmer Awareness Programme at 79 AMFUs

State level Consortium on AAS at 3 States involving KVK, ATMA, NGO and other Stake holders

Hindi English Brochures in 14 different languages prepared

By getting involved in the observation of weather data,

farmers can helpto produce location-specific

agromet advisories

Farmers are provided with rain gauges by the programme

Farmer Awareness Programme

Development of Feedback MechanismQuality of Forecast

Farmer should contact Whom &

How?

Answering questions of common interest

through bulletins

Accessibility to information via

internet, ICT

Accessibility to Experts & video

Conferencing

Problem solving through interactive

mode

Quality & relevance of Advisories

Feedback from Service Providers A number of IKSL and Reuters subscribers reported

that they had successfully averted potential losses by reacting quickly to weather and disease information, while others have reported improved yields by adopting new seed varieties and cultivation practices, according to questionnaires and direct contact with farmers.

Those acting on cultivation information state that they gained by replacing traditional ‘commonsense’ practices with modern cultivation techniques. Weather information has helped to prevent seed and crop loss too, with farmers in Maharashtra using the forecasts to adjust irrigation levels.

Need Assessment Survey

Weather forecast Advise given Economic benefits

Light to moderate rainfall - nursery sowing time

Irrigating the nursery during evening hours and keeping standing water during night time so that displacement of germinating seeds will be avoided

Rs. 2,500/ha

Continuous rain for five days – vegetative stage

Postpone of nitrogenous fertilizer application to rice

Rs. 750/ha

Light rainfall for the next two days - maturity stage of rice

Postponement of paddy harvest Rs. 2500/ha

Cloud cover, low temp. and higher RH- flowering period

Infestation of false smut is expected. Prophylactic spraying of fungicides Probiconozole (or) Carbendazim 0.1% at the time of booting and milky stages is effective against false smut.

Rs. 3000/ha

Rainfall Delay the potato sowing Rs. 10,000/haContinuous rain and RH Prophylactic sprays for blister blight

control in Tea Rs.1000/ha

The following table shows how the farmers are getting benifitted because of the advise given by expert in the agromet filed unit at Coimbatore, Tamilnadu state

Participated in “A Dialogue for Climate Services Users and Providers: Towards Implementation of the GFCS

on 26-27 October, 2012 at Geneva

Dr. L. S. Rahtore, DGM, New Delhi presented posters on1. Delivering advisory services by mobile phone2. Reaching farming communities in India through Farmer Awareness Programmes

Case Study I: Dissemination of Agromet Advisory Services on Mobile Phone through Public Private Partnership Programme.Case Study II: Reaching Farming community in India through Farmer Awareness Programmes.

Accepted for publication of GFCS document to WMO, Geneva and the same was well appreciated by WMO.

Credential of AAS in India The agromet advisory services provided by IMD through various channels

have resulted in significant increases in farm productivity, resulting in increased availability of food and higher income generation.

At present only10 to 15 percent of the farmers are benefitting from the SMS services and about 24% farmers are aware about Agromet services.

The economic benefit of these services which has been estimated by NCAER at Rs.50,000 crores per year is extrapolated to rise to Rs.211,000 crores if the entire farming community in the country were to apply Agromet information to their agricultural activity.

Still no doubt there is a long way to go in not only increasing production but raising the income of farmers and reducing their losses and ultimately distress. It is challenging task for government, IMD as well as the other stake holders to achieve this.

Meeting of WMO and SAARC

Objective of the meeting • To share the ideas and understanding of agromet advisories services

among the agrometeorologist from SAARC and non-SAARC countries in the RA-II which will ultimate boost the agriculturist activities and also benefit both the group of countries.

• To effectively integrate the skills of operational, experimental theoretical aspects of agricultural meteorology and their possible development for the purpose of making the agriculture production system in the country in general more robust

ASSISTANCE TO AFRICAN COUNTRIES IN AAS

• Training course on “ operational Agrometeorology for countries in Africa and the Caribbean under the Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS).

• It is proposed to set up “Medium Range Weather Forecasting Centre” in Africa by the Government of India under the bi-lateral cooperation.

• It is also proposed to support to start Agromet Advisory Services taking the successful stories of AAS in India..

Personalised Farmer-oriented AAS

Precise and accurate weather forecasts at block level

Agromet advisories for new sector

Mechanism through the Internet, telephone or video conferencing

Tie-up with the existing crop growers’ associations

Dissemination of advisories using multichannel systems

Provision of appropriate training to the farmers through capsule courses

Project Design for XIIth Five Year Plan

Establishment of District

Agromet Units

Preparation of high

resolution forecast

Research & Development

Economic assessment

Dissemination

Manpower

Creation of Centre for

Research and Excellence in

Agrometeorology (CREAM)

Creation of National

Agromet Data Centre

On line reception of

agromet data

Reorientation of Agromet

Observatories & Establishment of Agro-AWS

Advisories for New Sectors

Use of satellite data in Agromet

Advisory Services

Modernization of

Agrimet Website

Capacity Building

Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa under XIIth FYP

Gramin Krishi Seva

To deliver crop and location

specific AAS to farmers at block level with village level advisory

To establish District Agromet

Units

To communicate weather based

agromet advisory on line to the

farmers in block / taluka / village

level.

To establish agromet data

centre

Creation of Centre for Research and Excellence in Agrometeorology (CREAM) to support AAS and R & D in agrometeorology in operational agrometeorological services

Research and Development

support

Establishment of DAMU Under the existing IAAS in the country AMFUs have already been

established in different agroclimatic zones in collaboration with State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs). As it will not be possible for these centres alone to address the objectives of the project at block level, there is a need to set up District Agromet Units (DAMUs) in the country in KVK.

DAMUs under KVK AAS Units AMFU Six tier

Development and establishment of DAMUs

DAMUs under KVK

510 District Agromet Units

(DAMUs) at KVKs

Weather based agromet advisory

on line to the farmers in block/

taluka/village level

• To receive and disseminate meteorological information and forecasts for the concerned Districts.

• To serve as an effective link between IMD and the District authorities and the general public in matters concerning weather forecasts, early warnings and climatological information pertaining to the relevant District.

• To act as a nodal center to coordinate internal functions of IMD in the District viz. to provide support to maintenance teams visiting the District for rain gauges, Automatic Weather stations and other meteorological equipment and to themselves carry out preventive maintenance.

• Identify climatic risk for the specified locations based on past weather data.

• Review the feedback from the stakeholders.

Functions of DAMUs

MoU has been made between IMD and ICAR

for establishment

of DAMUs

Generation of WRF-ARW Forecast with WRFDA Assimilation00Z 12ZTime

Model StateForecast

Global Model

WRFDA

ObservationsBE ModelObs. Error Model

WRF -ARW2-Nest (27,9 km)Run

Analysis

NestdownUp to 3 km

Forecasts27 and 9 km

Forecasts3 km

WRF-ARW 1-Nest (3km)Run

ICs & BCs (3km)RMCs/MCs

Model StateForecast

Global Model

WRFDA

ObservationsBE ModelObs. Error Model

WRF-ARW 2-Nest (27,9 km)Run

Analysis

NestdownUp to 3 km

WRF -ARW1-Nest (3km)Run

ICs & BCs (3km)RMCs/MCs

WRF hourly Rainfall Forecast: Based on 00 UTC 15-08-2011

WRF at 9 km and 3 km Rapid Updates of model run:

Three hourly cycle GIS and DWR based Nowcast

and mesoscacle forecast system for major cities/airports of India

Thrust areas: (a) Assimilation of new observations (b) Land Surface Process with Indian conditions, (c ) GIS applications, (d) Block Level Forecast

Extended Range Weather Forecast in AAS

Objectives

Timing of farm operations e.g., land preparation, tillage,

planting, transplanting,

thinning, weeding, irrigation, harvesting,

application of insecticides, herbicides,

fungicides, and fertilizers.

Type of tillage, depth of planting, density

of plantingchoice of crops and crop varieties.

Whether or not to adopt water

conserving practices and which type to

adopt;how much water to

store and use for irrigation; and

mode of irrigation (flooding or sprinkler);

Mode of application of the various inputs;how much fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide,

and fungicide to apply;

whether or not to use fertilizer, herbicides,

or pesticides;

Choice of site, e.g., cultivation of fadama (poorly drained) soils

during years of drought and deep loamy soils during

years of heavy rainfall;

Choice of farming systems, e.g., single or multi cropping or

inter cropping;

Transport facility

How much credit to secure;

andproportion of

production to store or sell.

With the above objectives, the work of validation has been carried out for southwest monsoon of 2012 and it is observed that the forecast of rainfall given for Central and Northwest region of the country is matching well with the actual rainfall but failed for NE region. So in order to operationalize the extended range weather forecast in AAS following points should be taken in finer details.

Credibility is primarily determined by the level of skill. It is also a function the difference between what was promised by the forecasts and what was realized. At the best, forecasts are probabilistic. Considerable efforts, therefore, need to be put into how the forecasts are interpreted before they are transmitted.

Second, the forecasts must be presented in simple, easily understandable language. Third, the department should also bear the responsibility to issue forecasts early enough to be useful in planning the

following season’s operations. Fourth, the forecasts must include information that could cause decisions based on tradition or climate-based

timing of the farm operational schedule of activities to be altered.

Forecasted Rainfall

Ensemble forecast rainfall (mm/day) based on 12th July

valid for 14th Jul – 20th Jul

Ensemble forecast rainfall (mm/day)

based on 12th July valid for 21st Jul –

27th Jul

MME1 Rainfall Anomaly (mm/day) Week 1

MME1 Rainfall Anomaly (mm/day) Week 3

Northwest India

West Central

India

Central Northeast

India

Northeast India

Hills Region

Peninsular India

Significant rainfall occurred in most of the districts of the States of the region during last week. Some parts of the will receive less rainfall (1-5 mm) in first week but there will be improvement in rainfall (5-10 m) in the second week.Farmers are advised to prepare for sowing of kharif crops with available irrigation facilities.

Mostly all districts in the region received significant rain during last week. It is forecasted that some parts of Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh receive insufficient (1-5 mm) rainfall in first week but improvement(10-20 mm) in monsoon in second week is predicted. In NIK due to moisture stress condition, as contingent plan, farmers are advised to undertake sowing of other crops.Arrangement for irrigation is advised.

Significant rainfall occurred in Jharkhand, Bihar and Orissa, E.UP and W.UP in last week and 10-30 mm rainfall is expected during next two weeks nursery sowing of rice, transplanting and also sowing of fodder crops and pulses can be continued in the region.

As heavy rainfall (>30 mm) is forecasted in some parts of the region farmers are advised to arrange drainage to remove excess water from the fields immediately, wherever possible. Farmers are advised to postpone irrigation, intercultural operation and applicationof fertilizers and plant protection measures.Transport of goods for next few days is not advised.

In last week sufficient amount of rainfall is received in most of districts of the region and in next week 1-10 mm rainfall is expected over most parts of the region. But in second week there is forecast of insignificant rainfall. Farmers are advised for re-sowing with available irrigation facilities.

Significant rainfall occurred in most of the districts of the States of the region during last week. As compared to the first week there will decrease in rainfall in the second week .In some parts as heavy rainfall is forecasted farmers are advised to arrange for drainage. In other parts farmers are advised to continue transplanting of rice. Transportation should be taken care of in parts of heavy rainfall.

Homogeneous Regions

Realized Rainfall for previous week

Pre-Pilot Block Level AgroMet Advisories Understanding variability in Agrometeorological parameters (time and space). Monitoring spatial and temporal resolution at block level. Generating suitable agromet products. Generate block level weather forecast. Develop mechanism for preparation & dissemination of advisories. Monitoring crop/soil/weather Monitoring for Agromet Advisory at Block Level.

Pre-Pilot 1: Watershed Organization Trust• IMD has started providing local

specific medium range weather predictions for Sangamner and Akole clusters (WOTR’s operational area) of Ahmednagar district from April 2012.

• The weather predictions are used by WOTR to prepare agro advisories. WOTR’s agriculture team prepares agro advisory according to the conditions of the major crops standing in the field. The advisory is in the form of wall paper. WOTR’s field agronomists share it with the farming community at 5-6 locations in every village.

Station N DAY1 DAY2 DAY304-03-2012 04-04-2012 04-05-2012

R/F Max. Min.R/F Max. Min. R/F Max. Min.

Akole 0.3 37.6 22.3 0.6 37.7 21.3 0.0 37.7 19.3Sangamner 0.1 38.2 21.9 0.5 38.6 21.6 0.0 38.8 20.2

Pre-pilot 2: CCAFS & IKSLEstablished climate smart villages in pilot districts of punjab and bihar in collaboration with Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and IKSL to evaluate its effectiveness. In its initial phase villages selected for the project in two states are: Bihar - Vaishali dist.1. Raja Pakar, Block Raja Pakar 2. Bali Bathna, Block Mahua 3. Lal Pokhar, Block Hazipur  Punjab – Sangrur dist.1. Kheri, Block Sangrur2. Gaggarpur, Block Sangrur3. Chaneri, Block Bhawanigarh

 

51

• Need-based agro-meteorological advisory services to the farmers at the right time based on local context and culture.

• To bring together experts and grassroots level communities in a two-way communication with the objective of making knowledge accessible to village of the country.

• Dissemination of Agro-Advisory and feedback from farmers through the involvement of Farmers’ clubs, Joint Liability Groups, Village watershed Committees.

• collaborative project with NABARD in Maharashtra involving Six AMFUs ( Akola, Mulde, Parbhani, Pune, Rahuri and Sindewahi) and 10 KVKs ( Amaravati, Wasim, Yawatmal, Sindhudurg, Hingoli, Jalna, Baramati, Ahmednagar, Bhandara and Gadchiroli).

.

Pre-Pilot 3: Collaboration with NABARD

Advisories for new sectors

• Suitable agro-met advisory may be evolved to protect the crop from the inclement weather after the harvest of the crops.

•To involve a number of crop grower associations dealing in crops like tea, coffee, apple, mango, sugarcane, cotton, grapes etc. to develop suitable products and mechanism to disseminate the information to the targeted grow

•By linking the programme with the existing projects of the Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Environment & Forest advisory will be prepared.

• Understanding the weather sensitivity of animal shelter, health, feed and productivity and to prepare the advisory.

Livestock Horticulture crops

Post Harvest and

Storage

Wasteland and forest

fires

Mushroom culture Apiculture Piggery and

duckery

Dissemination A DAMU would have its own communication system

which will connect it to the overall IMD network. The information to be generated under this project will

be communicated to the farmers at village level by mass media, SMS, Internet, Farmers Club, disseminating agencies, etc.

Linkages will also be made with Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies to disseminate the agromet advisories to the famers in each village in the country through different stake holders and private firms.

Research & Development Research on agrometeorological aspects of management in

agriculture Increasing efficiency of weather-based use and management of

resources, including the whole production environment: soil, water, nutrients, germplasm and biomass

Validation and application of crop models Research methods and approaches at the eco-regional level,

including the assessment of socio-economic effects of weather/climate variability on food production

Determination of the impact of climate change/variability and matters of climate forecasting and prediction

Crop pest/disease/climate dynamics, animal and climate relationships

Assessment of economic impact

Capacity Building

1. Periodic training programmes for scientists, extension workers, media persons and farmers at appropriate levels will be organized to sharpen the service. Skill improvement of Technical Officers / Nodal Officers in the area for understanding the weather processes and their impact on crops / animals should form the integral part of HRD process. 2. Training to observers for recording, maintenance of agromet observatories. 3.Training to extension workers as well as farmers along with climate awareness programmes.Trained staff posted at these sites would interpret the information to concerned officials.

To gather information about Crop Micro-climate (Canopy information) Soil (moisture, temperature) Vegetation/Crops (Vigor, Stress Type) Pest & Diseases (Outbreak, Infestation Level-density & spread, Migration) Water

Information compatibility to ICT, GIS and GPS

Use of RS the Cutting Edge Technology in Agro-Met

• Soil (Moisture, temp., Nutrient, Erosion)• Crop (Coverage, vigor, yield assessment)• Crop sowing/Harvesting Time• Forest Status Monitoring & Forest Fire• Bio-diversity Assessment• Mapping Of Ag. & Land Resources• Biotic & Abiotic Stresses On Crops• Pest Disease SurveillanceWe need to develop RS based products which can assist in selecting sowing/harvesting time, scheduling irrigation, nutrient management, P&D management, intercultural operations, beside defining the initial condition of the atmosphere for NWP models.

Area of RS Applications in AgroMet

Possible roadmap linking satellite, weather forecast and agro-advisories

Medium range

Weather forecast

Agro - AdvisoryServices

Historical agriculture knowledge and data

In-season crop info from point source

NWP/Synoptic weather forecast

models

In-season near-real time spatial land-atmosphere & agromet products from

satellites

Translation/interpretation of weather forecast & agromet

indicators with

reference to agricultural

risks

Mission of CREAM (Creation of Centre for Research and Excellence in Agrometeorology

Objectives: Becoming world class Centre supporting operational agrometeorological advisory

services in national and international level. To explore, create and develop knowledge through applied and conceptual

research in agricultural technology and management areas. To become leading Multi- disciplinary research & operational centre in

agricultural meteorology. To bring agricultural fraternity both at national and international level under single

umbrella for exchange of ideas and implementation. To become an excellent platform to achieve precisely the above mentioned

objective by imparting multi-disciplinary activities. To make world class training facilities affordable to other organizations/

individuals. To hold exhibitions / conferences / international seminars in agriculture.

ConclusionsIntegration of all stake holders of the country in

the field of agriculture under one roof for block/taluka level advisories

More precise and accurate weather forecast and advisory as per the need of farmer in the country.

Incorporation of all modern technologies in generation of agromet advisories and improvement in crop and location specific weather forecast and agro advisories .

Intensive advisories for live stock, fisheries, poultry etc.

Thank you

One rain gauge for One village