Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS)

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5-Apr-2023: Weather Based Agro Advisory Services

India Meteorological Department (IMD) runs an operational Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS) viz., Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) scheme for the benefit of farming community in the country. Under the scheme, medium range weather forecast at district and block level for next five days is generated and based on the forecast, 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located at State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) etc. and District Agromet Units (DAMUs) at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) under ICAR network prepare Agromet Advisories on every Tuesday and Friday for the districts under their jurisdiction and for the blocks of the district of their location and communicate to the farmers to take decision on day-to-day agricultural operations.

Presently Agromet advisories are being prepared on every Tuesday and Friday for all the agriculturally important districts (~700) and around 3100 blocks by 130 AMFUs and 199 DAMUs.

Weather plays a crucial role in agriculture and changes in weather patterns can have a significant impact on crop yields. Weather-based crop advisory services can provide real-time information about weather patterns, crop health and appropriate measures to the farmers enabling them to make informed decisions about various crop management practices leading to higher yields and increased income. In order to cater the need of the farming community, District level AAS was initiated in collaboration with ICAR and SAUs through the network of 130 AMFUs located across the country with an aim of providing more relevant weather information and location and crop specific advisories. After successful implementation of district level AAS, with the introduction of upgraded high-resolution models, the service has further extended to the block level with the establishment of DAMUs in the premises of KVKs of ICAR. AAS rendered by IMD is a step towards weather-based crop and livestock management strategies and operations dedicated to enhancing crop production and food security besides reducing crop damage and loss due to unusual weather.

Along with the biweekly bulletins, daily weather forecast and nowcast information are also disseminated to the farmers by Regional Meteorological Centres (RMCs) and Meteorological Centres (MCs) of IMD. Impact based forecast (IBFs) for agriculture are also being prepared by AMFUs and DAMUs based on the severe weather warnings for different districts of various States and UTs across the country issued by National Weather Forecasting Centre (NWFC), New Delhi and RMCs and MCs of IMD.

Agromet Advisories are disseminated to the farmers through multichannel dissemination system like print and electronic media, Door Darshan, radio, internet etc. including SMS using mobile phones through Kisan Portal and also through private companies under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

Farmers access the weather information including alerts and related Agromet advisories specific to their districts through the mobile App viz., ‘Meghdoot’ launched by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. These weather details are also accessible by farmers through another App ‘Kisan Suvidha’, launched by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

Social media like ‘WhatsApp’ is also used for quicker dissemination of weather forecast and Agromet advisories. WhatsApp groups of farmers have been created by various AMFUs and DAMUs to disseminate Agromet services. State Agriculture Department officials of District and Block level are also included in these WhatsApp groups.

IMD is also taking continuous efforts to popularize the services among the farming community by organising Farmers’ Awareness Programmes (FAPs) in collaboration with AMFUs and DAMUs in various parts of the country. IMD along with the experts from AMFUs and DAMUs also participate in Kisan Melas, Farmers’ Day etc. to create awareness about the services, so that more farmers get benefitted.

To assess the economic impact of weather forecast-based advisories, multiple studies were conducted by an independent third-party organization viz., National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in 2009, 2015 and also recently in 2020.

The recent study of 2020 concluded that 98% of surveyed farmers (3,965 farmers across 121 districts of 11 states of India) made modifications to at least one of nine practices based on weather advisories. Average annual income of farming households increased from 1.98 Lakh, which adopted no modifications to Rs 3.02 Lakh which adopted all the 9 practices. An additional annual income was estimated of Rs. 12,500 per agricultural household belonging to Below Poverty Line category in rain-fed areas, while total income gain was estimated at Rs. 13,331 crore per annum in rain-fed districts. An investment of Rs 1000 crores will yield economic benefits of about Rs 50000 crores over a period of 5 years.

Pin It
Whatsapp

5-Apr-2023: Weather Based Agro Advisory Services

India Meteorological Department (IMD) runs an operational Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS) viz., Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) scheme for the benefit of farming community in the country. Under the scheme, medium range weather forecast at district and block level for next five days is generated and based on the forecast, 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located at State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) etc. and District Agromet Units (DAMUs) at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) under ICAR network prepare Agromet Advisories on every Tuesday and Friday for the districts under their jurisdiction and for the blocks of the district of their location and communicate to the farmers to take decision on day-to-day agricultural operations.

Presently Agromet advisories are being prepared on every Tuesday and Friday for all the agriculturally important districts (~700) and around 3100 blocks by 130 AMFUs and 199 DAMUs.

Weather plays a crucial role in agriculture and changes in weather patterns can have a significant impact on crop yields. Weather-based crop advisory services can provide real-time information about weather patterns, crop health and appropriate measures to the farmers enabling them to make informed decisions about various crop management practices leading to higher yields and increased income. In order to cater the need of the farming community, District level AAS was initiated in collaboration with ICAR and SAUs through the network of 130 AMFUs located across the country with an aim of providing more relevant weather information and location and crop specific advisories. After successful implementation of district level AAS, with the introduction of upgraded high-resolution models, the service has further extended to the block level with the establishment of DAMUs in the premises of KVKs of ICAR. AAS rendered by IMD is a step towards weather-based crop and livestock management strategies and operations dedicated to enhancing crop production and food security besides reducing crop damage and loss due to unusual weather.

Along with the biweekly bulletins, daily weather forecast and nowcast information are also disseminated to the farmers by Regional Meteorological Centres (RMCs) and Meteorological Centres (MCs) of IMD. Impact based forecast (IBFs) for agriculture are also being prepared by AMFUs and DAMUs based on the severe weather warnings for different districts of various States and UTs across the country issued by National Weather Forecasting Centre (NWFC), New Delhi and RMCs and MCs of IMD.

Agromet Advisories are disseminated to the farmers through multichannel dissemination system like print and electronic media, Door Darshan, radio, internet etc. including SMS using mobile phones through Kisan Portal and also through private companies under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

Farmers access the weather information including alerts and related Agromet advisories specific to their districts through the mobile App viz., ‘Meghdoot’ launched by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. These weather details are also accessible by farmers through another App ‘Kisan Suvidha’, launched by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

Social media like ‘WhatsApp’ is also used for quicker dissemination of weather forecast and Agromet advisories. WhatsApp groups of farmers have been created by various AMFUs and DAMUs to disseminate Agromet services. State Agriculture Department officials of District and Block level are also included in these WhatsApp groups.

IMD is also taking continuous efforts to popularize the services among the farming community by organising Farmers’ Awareness Programmes (FAPs) in collaboration with AMFUs and DAMUs in various parts of the country. IMD along with the experts from AMFUs and DAMUs also participate in Kisan Melas, Farmers’ Day etc. to create awareness about the services, so that more farmers get benefitted.

To assess the economic impact of weather forecast-based advisories, multiple studies were conducted by an independent third-party organization viz., National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) in 2009, 2015 and also recently in 2020.

The recent study of 2020 concluded that 98% of surveyed farmers (3,965 farmers across 121 districts of 11 states of India) made modifications to at least one of nine practices based on weather advisories. Average annual income of farming households increased from 1.98 Lakh, which adopted no modifications to Rs 3.02 Lakh which adopted all the 9 practices. An additional annual income was estimated of Rs. 12,500 per agricultural household belonging to Below Poverty Line category in rain-fed areas, while total income gain was estimated at Rs. 13,331 crore per annum in rain-fed districts. An investment of Rs 1000 crores will yield economic benefits of about Rs 50000 crores over a period of 5 years.

2022

3-Aug-2022: Agricultural Weather Forecasting Services

India Meteorological Department (IMD) runs an operational Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS) viz., Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) scheme for the benefit of farming community in the country. Under the scheme, medium range weather forecasts at district and block level is generated and based on these forecasts, 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs), located at State Agricultural Universities, institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) etc., prepare Agrometeorological Advisories on every Tuesday and Friday for the districts under their jurisdiction and for the blocks of the district of their location and communicate to the farmers to take decision on day-to-day agricultural operations. AAS rendered by IMD is a step towards weather-based crop and livestock management strategies and operations dedicated to enhancing crop production and food security besides reducing crop damage and loss due to unusual weather.

After successful implementation of district level AAS, District Agromet Units (DAMUs) are being established at Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in collaboration with ICAR to implement block level AAS). Till date, 199 District Agromet Units (DAMUs) have been established at KVKs across the country under ICAR network and these DAMUs prepare district and block level Agrometeorological Advisories based on district and block level weather forecasts for their respective districts and communicate to the farmers on every Tuesday and Friday. In addition to that, Impact based forecast (IBFs) for agriculture are also being prepared by AMFUs and DAMUs based on the severe weather warnings for different districts of various States and UTs across the country.

IMD also monitors rainfall situation & weather aberrations and issues alerts & warnings to the farmers time to time under GKMS scheme. SMS-based alerts and warnings for extreme weather events along with suitable remedial measures are issued to take timely operations by the farmers. Such alerts and warnings are also shared with State Department of Agriculture for the effective management of calamity.

Agrometeorological Advisories are disseminated to the farmers through multichannel dissemination system like print and electronic media, Door Darshan, radio, internet etc. including SMS using mobile phones through Kisan Portal and also through private companies under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The number of farmers receiving SMS varies depending on the population of farming community and area under cultivation.

Farmers access the weather information including alerts and related agrometeorological advisories specific to their districts through the mobile App viz., ‘Meghdoot’ launched by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. These weather details are also accessible by farmers through another App ‘Kisan Suvidha’, launched by Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

Social media is also used for quicker dissemination of forecast and advisories to the farmers. At present farmers of 1,19,554 villages in 3,598 Blocks have been covered through 16,140 WhatsApp groups. State Agriculture Department officials of District and Block level are also included in these WhatsApp groups. Continuous efforts are being made to increase the number of farmers and villages covered to disseminate Agrometeorological advisories using WhatsApp.

In addition to above, advisories are also being circulated through a number of Facebook pages created by AMFUs and DAMUs. Initiative on collaboration with State Government has been taken up for integration of weather forecast and Agrometeorological advisories with state government mobile apps and websites. The integration has been completed for Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand states and about 6 million farmers of above-mentioned states are getting benefitted from weather forecast and agrometeorological advisories.

IMD is also taking continuous efforts to popularize the services among the farming community by organising Farmers’ Awareness Programmes (FAPs) in collaboration with AMFUs and DAMUs in various parts of the country. IMD along with the experts from AMFUs and DAMUs also participate in KisanMelas, Farmers’ Day etc. to create awareness about the services, so that more farmers get benefitted.

To upgrade the forecasting capabilities and enhancement in Weather & Climate services throughout the country including Agromet Advisory Services various activities are underway in India Meteorological Department (IMD) under the umbrella Central Sector Scheme ACROSS. There are 4 sub-schemes of IMD under ACROSS namely, Atmospheric Observation Network (AON), Upgradation of Forecast System (UFS), Weather & Climate Services (WCS) and Commissioning of Polarimetric Doppler Weather Radars (PDWR) aimed at expansion of observational network and improvement in Weather & Climate services.