The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has installed agricultural automatic weather stations (AWS) at 200 places to provide accurate weather forecasts to the public, especially farmers, Parliament was informed on Tuesday.
200 installations of Agro-AWS have been completed in District Agricultural Units (DAMUs) in Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) network for expansion of Agrometeorological Advisory Service (AAS) at Krishi block level under the leadership of Grameen Mausam Seva (GKMS ), informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply by Dr. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Science, Technology and Geosciences.
He said that the Weather-Based AAS program i.e. GKMS offered by IMD in association with ICAR and State Agricultural Universities is a step towards weather-based strategies and operations for crop and livestock management for the benefit of the farming community of the country.
Under this scheme, medium-term weather forecasts will be generated at the district and block level and based on the forecasts, agronomic recommendations will be prepared and disseminated by the Agronomic Field Units (AMFUs) located jointly with DAMU of the State Agricultural University and KVK. . Farmers every Tuesday and Friday.
These Agromet recommendations help farmers make day-to-day farming business decisions and can further optimize the use of agricultural resources during periods of low rainfall and extreme weather events to reduce financial losses and maximize yields.
IMD also monitors rainfall conditions and weather anomalies under the GCMS scheme and sends alerts and alerts to farmers from time to time. Issue SMS alerts and warnings on extreme weather events and suggest appropriate remedial measures so that farmers can take timely action. Such alerts and warnings are also communicated to state agriculture departments for effective disaster management.
Agrometeorological information is disseminated to farmers through a multi-channel dissemination system including print and electronic media, Doordarshan, radio, internet, including the Kisan portal launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and through affiliated private companies through SMS on mobile phones.
Currently, 43.37 million farmers across the country are receiving agricultural advisory information directly through text messages. The Minister said that the ICAR KVK has also provided links to relevant district-level consultations on its portal.
He added that the Ministry of Geosciences has also launched a mobile application to help farmers access weather information including alerts and relevant agricultural advisories for their areas.
Post time: Aug-09-2024