India, March 12 -- The Government of India issued the following news release:
he India Meteorological Department (IMD)/ Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) provides operational Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS) viz., Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) scheme specifically for the benefit of the farming community in the country. Under the scheme, the IMD generates medium-range weather forecasts (temperature, rainfall, wind, relative humidity and cloud amount) for the next 5 days at district and block levels and rainfall and temperature forecasts for the subsequent week at meteorological sub-division level. Based on the realized rainfall and other weather parameters along with weather forecasts issued by the IMD, 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located at State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), institutes of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), etc., prepare agro-met advisories on every Tuesday and Friday for the districts under their jurisdiction and communicate to the farmers to take the decision on day-to-day agricultural operations such as selection of type of crops and varieties, appropriate time for sowing, harvesting, irrigation, fertilizer application etc.
Along with the biweekly bulletins, daily weather forecasts and nowcast information are also disseminated to the farmers by the Regional Meteorological Centers (RMCs) and Meteorological Centers (MCs) of IMD. Impact-based forecasts (IBFs) for agriculture are also being prepared by AMFUs 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 systems like print and electronic media, Door Darshan, radio, internet, etc., including SMS using mobile phones through Kisan Portal and through private companies under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. SMS-based alerts and warnings, along with suitable remedial measures, are sent during extreme weather events like cyclones, deep depressions, etc., through the Kisan Portal.
Farmers access weather information, including alerts and related agromet advisories specific to their districts, through the mobile App viz., 'Meghdoot' launched by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India. These weather details are also accessible to farmers through the 'Mausam' App. To extend real-time weather updates to rural farmers for making appropriate decisions on farm operations, AMFUs also use Social media platforms like 'WhatsApp', 'Facebook', 'YouTube' etc., to disseminate weather forecasts, severe weather warnings, and agro-met advisories.
For enhancement of outreach of AAS, IMD has recently taken the initiative to integrate the service with the State Government IT platforms (Mobile apps/Websites). So far, the integration process has been completed for 16 State Governments, viz., Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand and farmers of these States are accessing the information in English and regional languages from their State Government IT platforms.
The ministry recently launched the Gram Panchayat Level Weather Forecasting (GPLWF) initiative. The India Meteorological Department, in collaboration with the Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), launched the GPLWF for nearly all Gram Panchayats in India on 24th October 2024. These forecasts are accessible on digital platforms such as e-Gramswaraj (https://egramswaraj.gov.in/), the Meri panchayat app, e-Manchitra of MoPR, and Mausamgram of IMD
Hyperlink (https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2110767)
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
