annual progress report imd.pdf

8/18/2019 annual progress report imd.pdf

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Climate change and variability, drought and other climate related extremes have a direct

influence on the quantity and quality of agricultural production. Climate variability

affects all economic sectors, but agriculture and forestry activities are the most vulnerableand sensitive sectors to such climate fluctuation. Agrometeorological services derived

from a more informed choices of policies, practices and technologies will reduce the long

term variability of these system to climate change. The need of the hour is to effectively integrate the skills we

have developed in operational, experimental and theoretical aspects of agricultural meteorology and deploy

them for the purpose of making the agricultural production system in general more robust.

Even in developing countries early warnings of impending risks based on weather forecasts are increasingly

being needed to farmers to enable them to take the necessary measures to mitigate the envisaged setbacks to

crops by weather. However, under the existing pattern and practices of cropping, the delivery mechanism forsuch early warnings is still short, both in timeliness and precision, of the requirements by the farmers. The

wherewithal for provision of crop-specific, location-specific agrometeorological advisories now in various

stages of development should be quickened if one can switch over to mono crops of large fetches. The crop risks

would also become manageable with high cost: benefit ratios if mono crops appropriate to the place and season

are raised in large blocks.

Looking at the need of the farmers and other users, under Gramin Krishi Mausam project launched by

IMD/MoES, a number of important activities were carried out during 2015-16, like issuing of agromet advisory

services, technical assistance to observatories, R & D activities in crop weather studies, capacity building,

dissemination of agromet advisories through multi-purpose dissemination channels etc. It gives me a great

pleasure to present this annual report of Agrimet Division for the year 2015-16. This report provides summary

of highlights on various services provided to farmers and other users in the country. I take the opportunity to

thank the Ministry of Earth Sciences for necessary support and to the Vice-Chancellors, Nodal officers and

Technical officers of different Agricultural Universities for successfully implementing Gramin Krishi Mausam

project. I also appreciate the initiative taken by the Deputy Director General of Meteorology and the officers,

staff members of the Agricultural Meteorology Division, India Meteorological Department in bringing out

annual progress report of Agrimet Division for the year 2015-16.

Dr. L.S. Rathore

Director General of Meteorology,

India Meteorological Department,

Lodhi road,

New Delhi.

o r e w o r d


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The year 2015 has been an eventful year exhibiting drought, flood and extreme events throughout the

year. World Meteorological Organization has described 2015 as one of the warmest year on record

with strong El-Nino. South-West Monsoon was deficit, while North-East Monsoon was excess. Extreme

events like unseasonal rainfall in March, 2015 in North west parts of India adversely affected Rabi crop

production, sizzling heat wave sweeping many parts of the country particularly Andhra Pradesh,Telangana and Odisha reporting more than 2200 deaths, extremely heavy rainfall occurred over

Gujarat, hailstorms over south Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Chhattisgarh and floods

in many parts of the country. Agrimet Division of IMD has continued its efforts in many parts of the

country. In the year 2015, Agrimet Division of India Meteorological Department has continued the

efforts in generation of weather forecast, agromet advisories and its dissemination to the farming

communities, capacity building of scientists, awareness and outreach programmes for the farmers etc.

in collaboration with Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located at State Agricultural Universities, Institutes

of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and also othercollaborating organisations. Besides, a number of new initiatives were taken up to strengthen the

activities under GKMS.

1. Generation of weather forecast Agromet Advisories:

Based on the medium range weather forecast, AAS bulletins have been prepared for 633 districts and

issued on every Tuesday and Friday. State Composite bulletins (23) and National AAS bulletins have

also been issued simultaneously. Efforts were being made to prepare AAS bulletins for all the districts of

the country and also for preparation of accurate medium range weather forecast by value addition from

Regional Meteorological Centres (RMCs)/ Meteorological Centres (MCs).

To help the farmers to cope with climate risks and uncertainties and also effectively use seasonal to

inter-annual climate forecasts, IMD in collaboration with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology

(IITM), Pune and Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad continued issuing AAS

Bulletins based on Extended Range Weather Forecast and Monthly Weather Forecast during southwest

monsoon 2015 to fulfill the needs of different users including planners at State and National levels and

farmers.

2. Dissemination of weather forecast, agromet advisories and Out Reach programmes under GKMS:

Dissemination of agromet advisories to the farmers through different multi-channel system of All India

Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan, private TV and radio channels, newspaper and internet, SMS and IVR

(Interactive Voice Response Technology) etc. is being made on wider scale. Under PPP mode, Reuter

Market Light, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL), NOKIA-HCL, Handygo, Mahindra Samriddhi, CAB

International, National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) are disseminating

agromet advisories in SMS and IVR format to the farming community. In addition to that number of

AMFUs has started sending agromet advisories through SMS in collaboration with National Informatics


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Centre (NIC)/Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA)/KVK/ NABARD/ Internet. Agromet

Advisories are also being disseminated in both Regional and English languages through “Kisan SMS”, a

portal (http://farmer.gov.in/advs/login.aspx) launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of

India. 11.50 million farmers were benefitted by this service directly. Weather forecast and advisories

under alerts and warnings through SMS now enable the farmers in planning of farming operations tominimise/control damage of crops under the adverse weather conditions. During April 2015,

Agricultural Meteorology Division with the help of Agromet Field Units disseminated advisories to

around 5151253 farmers both in English and regional language to minimize the crop losses due to

severe thunder storm and hailstorms activity in the states of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha,

Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. In addition

to this IMD in collaboration with Reliance Foundation Information Services (RFIS) is disseminating

Agromet Advisories to farming community in 7 States (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya

Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry) under pilot mode. TheAgromet Advisories reaching to 1800054 farmers directly. IMD officials participated in project

evaluation study in respect of dissemination of weather, crop and advisories to the Farmers’ Club

through KVKs in Maharashtra State jointly with NABARD, Rural Agricultural Advisory Committee’

meeting of Akashwani-Pune on 26th, August 2015.

3. New initiatives : Important Activity on Agromet Advisory Services

* Meeting with Shri. Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Govt. of Maharashtra

Shri. Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Govt. of Maharashtra

has called for a special meeting to enhance Agromet Services in the

State. He has given valuable suggestions to upgrade the service from

district level to sub-district / block level and also reaching to more and

more no of farmers. He has set the target of covering 50 lakh farmers to

disseminate weather forecast and Agromet Advisories through SMS so

that the farmers are safeguarded from the miseries of erratic distribution

of rainfall. Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), Dr. K. Ghosh,

Scientist-E and Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist-D participated in the meeting held at Mantralaya,

Mumbai to discuss the issues under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra

Shri. Devendra Fadnavis on 26th May, 2015. Launch of Nowcast Services to farmers through mKisan portal of Ministry of Agriculture:

Hon’ble Union Minister of Agriculture launched the Nowcast-

Extreme Weather Alert Services to farmers on 18th June, 2015 for

providing localised Extreme Weather Warnings to more than 1 core

farmers registered on mKisan portal of Ministry of Agriculture.


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These Nowcast alerts are based on DWR data and are issued few hours before the event to alert the

farming community about the occurrence of the adverse weather.

Launch of DD Kisan- 24 hours channel for the farmers in the country:

Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Govt. of India has

launched a dedicated channel for the farmers, viz., DD Kisan. Inputs for“Crop Specific Weather based Agromet Advisories” for the country have

been prepared on daily basis and sent for telecasting through DD Kisan

Channel, New Delhi from the month of May, 2015.

Presently, this channel covers State level and Region wise weather and

Agromet Advisories depending upon rainfall situation like dry spell,

subdued rainfall, floods etc. and their impact on sowing and selection of crops and cropping on real

time in programs like ‘Kisan Samachar’ and ‘Mausam Khabar’. Along with this regional weather based

agro advisory in Gujarathi, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil for DD Kisan channel continued fortelecasting. DDK Thiruvananthapuram telecast the Malayalam agro advisory for Kerala on Tuesday and

Thursday. DDK Rajkot telecast the agro advisory for Gujarat in Gujarati language on Monday and

Thursday. DDK Coimbatore telecast the agro advisory for Tamilnadu in

Tamil on Monday. DDK Hyderabad telecast the agro advisory for Andhra

Pradesh & Telangana on Thursday.

A team of seven officials of DD Kisan, Doordarshan, New Delhi visited

Agrimet Division, Pune on 21st & 22nd April, 2015 to discuss about content

preparation and other related subject regarding Agro Advisory bulletin for

broadcasting through DD Kisan Channel on daily basis.

*MoU with KVK Baramati

MoU has been signed with KVK Baramati for joint collaboration

in different activities of Agromet Advisories to the farmers and

organisation of capacity building programmes for the farmers in

the country during 6-8 November, 2015. Dr. S. D. Attri, Deputy

Director General of Meteorology (Organisation), IMD, New Delhi

participated in the inaugural session of KRUSHIK 2015 and

signed MoU between IMD and KVK Baramati. Also liveDemonstration & Agri-Expo organised at KVK Baramati, Maharashtra, Dist. Pune.

4. Establishment of District Agromet Units for block level Agromet Advisories:

IMD is venturing into establishing District Agromet Units (DAMUs) in KVK network of ICAR for

expansion ofAgromet Advisories under GKMS from Agro-Climatic Zone (ACZ) level and district level to

block level Agromet Advisoriesto the farming community. At present 100 KVKs have been selected for


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establishing DAMUs and issuing Agromet advisories at block level. IMD started generating block level

medium range weather forecast and validation of the forecast has been undertaken for operational

generation of the same. An inter-Ministerial meeting was conducted at Prithvi Bhavan, New Delhi on

28th August 2015 to devise the mechanism and define role of stakeholdersfor implementing the service

at block level. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been made with KVK Baramati as technicalresource centre for DAMU. 240 District Agromet Units (DAMUs) in Krishi Vigyan Kendras will be

established in the Phase-I and remaining districts in the country in Phase-II. Agricultural experts at

DAMU will translate the weather forecasts into actionable farm advisories twice a week (Tuesday &

Friday) using crop models, soil health card, integrated pest/disease and nutrient management.

5. Generation of new products/software for GKMS:

IMD in collaboration with Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad is generating the

Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), derived from INSAT 3A CCD data for the use in

agromet advisories. Besides, IMD has started preparing the maps for Standardised PrecipitationIndex (SPI) on weekly, bi-weekly and seasonal basis.

Agrimet Division, IMD in collaboration with International Centre for Radio Science (ICRS), Jodhpur

is preparing maps for soil moisture estimation for Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Andhra

Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. These maps are being

generated on by using satellite data viz . soil moisture, NDVI and brightness temperature data from

SMOS, MODIS and LST values from SSMIS sensors.

Sowing suitability classes were generated combining surface soil moisture (AMSR-2 soil moisture),

NDVI (INSAT 3A CCD) data and potential agricultural mask. The conducive and probable area for

sowing was delineated for crops. The work was carried on experimental basis for the kharif season

of 2015.

6. Capacity Building Programme:

Agromet Observers’ course of 2 weeks duration is conducted for

newly recruited observers at

various Agrometeorological Field

Units (AMFUs) from 24th August

2015 to 4th September 2015.

Total 19 participants fromvarious AMFUs have participated

in this training course.

A training programme on “Remote Sensing and GIS technique based yield forecast” was

organized during 31st August to 20th September 2015 jointly by IMD and Indian Institute of

Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun. 29 candidates participated in the training programme.


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Meteorologist Gr. II training course on Agrometeorology started from 26 th October 2015. Three

trainees have joined the course.

7. Crop Yield Forecast

Developed and issued crop yield forecast for:

Jute at pre-harvest (F3) stage for Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and sugarcane at planting (F1) stagefor Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during kharif 2015.

Rabi onion for the state of Karnataka and Gujarat .

Rice at mid-season stage (F2) for kharif 2015 for 14 states (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam,

Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh,Orissa, Punjab,

Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal).

Cotton at planting stage (F1) for kharif 2015 for 8 states (Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka,

Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana).

Sugarcane for 5 states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana) at mid-season stage (F2) for kharif 2015.

Rapeseed and mustard for Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh at

planting stage (F1) and samba rice for the state of Tamilnadu at pre-harvest stage (F3).

Rabi Sorghum for the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Rapeseed & Mustard for the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and

Rajasthan.

Wheat for the states Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar

Pradesh.

Winter Potato for the states of Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

8. International Activities

Agricultural Meteorology Division, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune and World

Meteorological Organization (WMO) organised the following International Conference/Workshop/

Meetings at Ramee Grand Hotel, Pune, Maharashtra during 2-10 November, 2015. Around 30 National

and International delegates attended the meeting.

a. International Conference on “Atmospheric Chemistry and Agricultural Meteorology” during 2-4

November, 2015.

International Conference on “Atmospheric Chemistryand Agricultural Meteorology” was organized in order

to study the possible impacts of atmospheric

constituents and particulate matter on agriculture and

also to prepare possible mitigation strategies during

2-4 November, 2015. During the conference possible


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methods to mitigate these atmospheric chemistry impacts and damage to agriculture were discussed

and also the current state-of-art instrumentation and monitoring systems for carbon flux and other

micrometeorological applications that are involved with agriculture were highlighted. Besides, in depth

discussions were made on proposed possible interactions between the two communities such as a Joint

Commission for Atmospheric Science (CAS)/ Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM) TaskTeams that would focus on cross-cutting issues relevant to both the Commissions. Experts in the fields

of Atmospheric Chemistry and Agricultural Meteorology from Geneva, Canada, Chile, Italy, Germany,

Paraguay, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Kenya and also from India participated in the conference.

b.

Workshop on “Global Centres of Research and Excellence in Agrometeorology GCREAM)” on 5th

November, 2015.

One day Workshop on Global Centres of

Research and Excellence in

Agrometeorology (GCREAM) was organizedon 5th November, 2015. This workshop

was organised to discuss various issues to

create and develop knowledge in

agricultural meteorology and agricultural

technology & management areas including

promoting research and application in Operational Agrometeorology and catering the capacity

building needs of the Agrometeorological Advisory Services. Experts from Chile, Canada, WMO,

Geneva, along with participants from India Meteorological Department participated in this

workshop. Discussion was also made on the mandates and functioning of the GCREAM to address

the challenging issues of climate, food and water collectively.

c. Meeting of CAgM Expert Team on Agrometeorological Products” during 6-7 November, 2015.

This meeting was arranged inviting the Commission

on Agrometeorology (CAgM) Expert Team on

Agrometeorological Products in order to prepare road

map for various agromet products in Operational

Agrometeorological Services in crop sector, livestock,

fisheries, water resources, forestry, early warningsystems on pests/diseases incidences for plants and

animals. Participants from Australia, Côte d'Ivoire,

British Caribbean Territories, Ecuador, Italy, Tunisia,

USA, Chile, Geneva participated in this meeting.


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d.

Meeting of the RA II Expert Group on “Agrometeorology EG-AgM) – Strengthening of

Agrometeorological Activities in RA II” during 9-10 November, 2015

Meeting of Regional Association II Expert Group on

Agrometeorology was organised during 9-10 November

2015: The main objectives of the meeting were to enrichoperational and R & D activities in RA II Region such as to

identify training needs of the agrometeorological

experts/staff, review monitoring and forecasting of soil

moisture conditions and their use in assessing crop water

requirements, monitoring and preparedness strategies for

drought including drought indices and early warning

systems and the extent of their implementation, evaluation for the operational use of seasonal to

inter-annual climate forecasts applications, socio-economic impact of agrometeorologicalinformation, livestock management, forestry and fisheries sectors. WMO experts, Co-coordinators

and theme leaders including participants from India participated in this meeting.

e. Meeting of CAgM Implementation/ Coordination Team

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) attended the

Management Committee meeting of CAgM

Implementation/ Coordination Team during 7-9 October,

2015 in Bucharest, Romania organized jointly by World

Meteorological Organization (WMO) and National

Meteorological Administration, Romania.

f. Regional Network of Farmers of Africa and South Asia

(RENOFASA)

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) attended the

workshop on “Regional Network of Farmers of Africa and

South Asia (RENOFASA)” held at Kampala, Uganda during

27-29 January 2016.


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9. National Activities

a. Rural Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting

Rural Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting of Akashwani,

Pune was organized at Agrimet Division, IMD, Pune under the

Chairmanship of Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) on26th August 2015. Representatives from various State/ Central

Government offices along with Deputy Director, Akashwani,

Pune attended the meeting. The programme schedule to be

broadcast in the next quarter i. e. October to December 2015

was discussed and finalized in the meeting. Topics related to

weather and agriculture was submitted from Agrimet Division.

b.

National Stakeholders meeting of Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS)

A National Stake Holders Meeting of Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) was organized on 28th

August 2015 at Prithvi Bhawan, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) under the Chairmanship of Dr.

Shailesh Naik, Secretary, MOES for the expansion of Agromet Advisory Services from District to Block

Level under Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS).High level dignitaries from Ministry of Earth

Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, Central Water Commission (CWC), New Delhi, Ministry of Science

& Technology, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Finance, Department of Agriculture and Co-

operation (DAC), Digital India, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Informatics

Centre (NIC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Central Research Institute for Dryland

Agriculture (CRIDA), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), National Centre for Medium Range

Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF),National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD),

IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited, CAB International, Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), Indian

Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and Mahindra Samriddhi etc. participated in this meeting. Also,

a role of each ministry and institution has been identified for Agromet Services at block level for

successful implementation.

c. 9th Annual Review Meeting ARM) of “Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS)” project IMD in

collaboration with University of Agricultural Sciences

(UAS), Dharwad, Karnataka organized 9th Annual Review

Meeting (ARM) of GKMS project during 23-25(FN)November, 2015 at UAS, Dharwad. A number of high

level dignitaries like Dr. D. P. Biradar, Honorable Vice

Chancellor, UAS, Dharwad, Dr. B. S. Janagoudar, Director

of Research, UAS Dharwad, Dr. V. U. M. Rao, Project Co-

ordinator, AICRPAM, CRIDA, Hyderabad, Dr. K. K. Singh,


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Head, Agromet, IMD, New Delhi and Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), IMD, Pune, Scientists

from other institutes, Principal Nodal Officers, Nodal Officers and Technical Officers of

Agrometeorological Field Units (AMFUs), NGOs and private firms especially engaged in the

dissemination of Agromet Advisories participated in the meeting. The main objectives of this meeting

was to review the effective implementation of the GKMS scheme in respect of quality of agrometadvisories, outreach and dissemination to the farmers, capacity building at different levels, accuracy

of medium range district level weather forecast etc. including recent initiative on block level weather

forecast and future activities of the project.

d.

6th Annual Review Meeting (ARM) on Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro-

Meteorology and Land based observations (FASAL)

IMD in co-ordination with University of Agricultural

Sciences (UAS), Dharwad organised 6th Annual Re-

view Meeting on FASAL at UAS, Dharwad during25(AN)-26 November 2015. A number of high level

dignitaries like Dr. B. S. Janagoudar, Director of

Research, UAS Dharwad, Karnataka, Dr. K. N. Singh,

NASRI, New Delhi, Dr. K. K. Singh, Head, Agromet

Services, IMD, New Delhi, Dr. S. S. Ray, Director,

MNCFC, New Delhi, Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM, Agrimet and Dr. H. Venkatesh, Principal Nodal

Officer, University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, Karnataka along with AAS Unit In-

charges of RMCs/MCs, PIs/ Co-PIs of AMFUs and some SRFs under FASAL attended the ARM. The

main objectives of the ARM was to assess the performance of crop yield forecast under FASAL during

2014-15 at various centres and to plan for the activities for 2015-16 along with different ways of

improving the accuracy of crop yield forecast.

e. Farmers’ Awareness Programme:

Farmers’ awareness programmes were organised at 5 AMFUs across the country namely

Lamphelpat, Seobagh, Kanpur, Navile and Vellayani. Another 59 AMFUs will organize this

programme during February and March 2016. Besides, the Nodal Officers/Technical Officers

participated in number of awareness programme and taken active initiatives in popularising the

GKMS. AMFUs also arranged field visits, field demonstration, farmers’ interaction and alsoparticipated in Kisan Mela.


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10. Best AMFU Award-2015

AMFU-Namakkal, Tamil Nadu was awarded ‘Best AMFU

Award-2015’ for outstanding performance in dissemination

of Agromet Advisory at 9th ARM of GKMS held at University

of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, Karnataka. Onbehalf of AMFU Namakkal, Dr. A. Natarajan, Nodal Officer

received the Certificate of Excellence in this regard from Dr.

D. P. Biradar, Honorable Vice Chancellor, UAS, Dharwad,

Karnataka.

11. Participation in different Programmes

Mrs. Chandana Karmakar, S.A. has attended the Quarterly Meeting of All India Radio held at

Vaikunth Mehta Institute, Pune on 8th April 2015.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) participated in “National Consultation Meeting onEnhancing the Preparedness for Agricultural Contingencies in Kharif 2015”, held at CRIDA,

Hyderabad on 24th April 2015.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), Dr. K. Ghosh, Scientist-D and Shri R. Balasubramanian,

Scientist-D participated in the meeting to discuss the issue of ‘Agro-Weather Forecasting System’

under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra held at Mantralaya,

Mumbai on 26th May 2015.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), IMD, Pune attended the following Seminar/ meetings

during the period :

National Consultation Meeting on Enhancing the Preparedness for Agricultural

Contingencies in Kharif 2015 held at CRIDA, Hyderabad on 24th April, 2015.

Brainstorming Workshop on “Review of Southwest Monsoon 2014 and Operational

Forecasting Officers Meet 2015” held at IMD, New Delhi during 06 – 08 May, 2015.

Round Table Meet on “Food Security and Climate Change” and presented “Role of Weather

Forecasting in Climate Change and Food Security” organized by National Council for

Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Public Leadership (NCCSD) at Anand

Agricultural University (AAU), Anand, Gujarat on 2nd June, 2015.

“Constitution of Regional Advisory Group (RAG) for Maharashtra” organised by NationalBank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Pune on 9th June, 2015.

“Climate Services in Maharashtra: Strengthening Knowledge Networks for Climate

Resilience” organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Mumbai at Hotel Blue

Diamond, Pune on 10th June, 2015.


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Regional Review Meeting for FASAL project for Central India held during 18-19 June 2015

at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyala (IGKV), Raipur jointly organised by IGKV and

Meteorological Centre, IMD, Raipur.

Technical Consultation under the Sustainable Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change

Project (SLACC) specifically on Weather and Agromet Advisory Services organised byAgriculture Global Practice, World Bank at Hotel Shangri-La, New Delhi on 25th June,

2015.

“Brainstorming session on issues pertaining to maintenance of AWS network” and presented

“Utilization of data for Agromet Service and suggestions” on 26th June, 2015.

Plan Review Meeting on 16th& 17th July, 2015 at Arnav Hall, Prithvi Bhavan, MoES, New

Delhi to review the performance of plan schemes during the financial year 2014-15, their

current status, physical & financial targets for 2015-16 and constraints being faced in

realization of desired targets. Inception WINTER SASCOF (Win SASCOF-1) during 14-15 October 2015 and Climate

Services Users Forum for Agriculture (CSUF-Ag-1) on 16th October 2015 held at Hotel

Connimara, Chennai.

Shri R. Balasubramanian, Sci. ‘D’ attended the Regional Review Meeting (RRM) of GKMS and

FASAL Projects for West Zone conducted at Anand Agricultural University (AAU), Anand,

Gujarat during 29 – 30 July 2015.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) and Dr. K. Ghosh, Scientist ‘E’ attended the meeting on

‘Strategic Planning for preparation and dissemination of Block Level Agromet Advisories’ during

11-12 August, 2015 organised by IMD at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Pusa,

New Delhi.

Shri A.K. Dhotre, AM – I and Shri A.P. Patinge AM – I attended the short term Advanced Refresher

Course on “Operational Climate Services” held during 24 -28 August 2015 at Meteorological

Training Institute (MTI), Pashan, Pune.

Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist ‘D’, Shri S. S. Mairal, AM II and Shri V. A. Desai, S.A. attended

the workshop for sharing the experience of KVKs to explore the possibility of upscaling the

NABARD Project at KVK Baramati on 7th October 2015.

Request For Proposal (RFP) evaluation committee meeting was held on 13th October, 2015 forfinalizing the Agromet Stations (AMS) replacing Lysimeters for automatic ET measurement

system using sensors for measuring Evapotranspiration (ET) and other parameters through

satellite transmission in collaboration with Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad under

the chairmanship of Shri. B. Mukhopadhyay, ADGM (R), IMD, Pune. Scientists from IMD and

SAC attended the meeting.


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Shri. S. S. Mairal, AM II, participated as a member of recruitment board on 26 th October 2015

for conducting the interview for the post of Observer under GKMS for AMFU, Igatpuri at ZARS,

Igatpuri.

Shri R. B. Karkhele, AM II and Shri M. M. Choudhari, S.A. participated in “KRUSHIK - demo and

Agri Expo” during 6-8 November 2015 at KVK, Baramati. Demonstrated meteorologicalinstruments and activities of Agrimet Division regarding Agromet Advisory services to the

farmers.

Shri. S. S. Mairal, AM II, participated as a member of recruitment board for the post of Observer

under GKMS at AMFU, Shenda Park, Kolhapur on 7th November 2015 and attended Quarterly

Agro Advisory Committee Meeting of Door Darshan on 27 th November 2015 at KVK,

Narayangaon.

A meeting was conducted on 1st December 2015 under the chairmanship of Shri. B.

Mukhopadhyay, ADGM ( R ), IMD, Pune to evaluate the ‘Request for proposal ( RFP )’ forestablishment of Studio for recording and telecasting of weather, Agromet Advisories and related

programmes under GKMS. Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), Shri. Arvindnath Jha,

Consultant, Technical Operations DD Kisan, New Delhi, Smt. Kalpana Gokhe, Director

Engineering, DDK, Pune and Shri. R. Balasubramanian, Scientist D, IMD, Pune attended the

meeting.

Shri.A.P.Patinge, A.M.I and Shri.V.L.Age, AM II. attended 7th Agrovision held at Reshambag,

Nagpur from 11th to 14th December 2015.

12. Lectures

Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist- D attended ‘43rd Joint Agresco Meet 2015’ on 28th May 2015

at Central Campus, MPKV, Rahuri and presented on the activities of Agrimet Division for the

farmers of Maharashtra during 2014-15.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM(Agrimet) delivered lectures on following topics:

“Role of IMD in Indian Agriculture and its role in crop insurance” at National Insurance

Academy, Pune, on 14th July 2015.

“Agromet Advisory Services to cope up extreme weather” on 5th September 2015 in the Training

programme on “Agrometeorological Techniques for Risk Assessment and Management of

Events” held at Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA),ICAR, Hyderabad

during 1-21 September 2015.

“Agro-meteorological aspects of sustainable agriculture and food security: Regional initiatives

and challenges” on 8th September 2015 in the Training programme on “Use of remote sensing

and GIS for Crop Growth Monitoring and Yield Prediction” held at Indian Institute of Remote

Sensing, Dehradun during 31st August - 20 September 2015


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“Status of District Level Weather Forecast in the country based on 8th Annual Review Meeting’ in

the training workshop on ‘Improvement in District Level Weather Forecast (DLWF)” at M.C.

Thiruvananthapuram on 28th and 29th September 2015.

“Agromet Advisory Service under GKMS in the Country” on 1st October 2015 at CAFT, College of

Agriculture, Pune. “Steering Committee meeting of FASAL scheme” at DAC, New Delhi on 15th January 2016.

Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting on “Prevalent Drought Situation and the remedial

measures undertaken by the Government to address its impact on the Agricultural Sector” along

with Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist-D held at Hotel The Leela, Sahara Road, Mumbai on 18th

January 2016.

“Advances in Agricultural Meteorology” at Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT), Pune on

20th January 2016.

Shri G P Singh, S.A, Shri Swapnil Vyas, SRF and Ms. Pritam Bhutada, SRF from GKMS attendedtraining on “Satellite Meteorology value added services for AAS” at Space Application Centre,

ISRO, Ahmedabad during 25-29 January 2016.

Shri R. Balasubramanian, Sc. ‘D’, Shri A. P. Patinge, AM-I and Smt Gracy John, AM-I delivered

lectures on Agricultural Meteorology for batch No. 22 of Meteorologist Gr.II training course at

MTI, Pashan, Pune.

Ms. P. S. Kulkarni, S.A. delivered a talk on All India Radio- Pune on “Impact of monsoon on

agriculture and services of IMD in Maharashtra”. The talk was broadcasted on 28 th October

2015.

13.

Visit by IMD Officials

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) alongwith Shri R. Balasubramanian, Sci. ‘D’, Smt. Gracy

John, AM-I, Shri T. R. Modiani, AM-II and Smt. Swati Chandras, S.A. visited Krishi Vidgyan Kendra

(KVK), Baramati for the collaboration between IMD and KVK, Baramati regarding dissemination of

Agromet Advisories on 23rd September 2015.

Shri. S.S. Mairal, A.M.-II and Shri. J.P. Sabale, S.A attended the Quarterly (October-December 2015)

Agro Advisory Committee meeting of Door Darshan Kendra, Pune held at Mahatma Phule Krishi

Vidyapeeth, Rahuri on 4th September 2015. They also conducted field visit at Wadala-Mahadev,

Tal-Srirampur and informed about Agromet Advisory in Marathi for DDK program. Shri.V.A.Desai, S.A and Shri. L.S.Bile, S.A visited Amrawati & Washim districts during 9th September

to 16th September 2015 and Shri S.S.Mairal, AM II & Shri N.G.Vaidya, AM II were visited Baramati

on 14th and 15th September 2015, Ahmednagar on 21st - 22nd September 2015 to conduct Project

evaluation study in respect of IMD project jointly with NABARD for dissemination of weather, crop

and advisory to the Farmers’ Club member through KVKs in Maharashtra State.


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14. Inspection and Installation of Agromet Observatory

Inspection at 19 AMFUs Stations viz., Ludhiana, Gurudaspur, Bhatinda, Kaul, Modipuram, Bidar,

Brahmavar, Dharwad, Hiriyur, Bijapur Karaikal, Aduthurai, Guntur, Jagtiyal, Kanniwadi,

Namakkal, Pechiparai, Powerkheda, Khargone and 10 Agromet Stations viz.,Kudumianmalai,

Kovillangulam, Madurai, Ambejogai, Kopargaon, Sonai, Shirala-Nemane, Harali, Hayatnagar andAnantpur has been completed and installation of agromet observatory at AMFU Chennai at new site

has been done successfully.

15.Visitors

1. Shri. Manoj Singh from CARE India, Delhi, visited Agrimet, Pune on 1st and 2nd July 2015

regarding joint collaboration between IMD and CARE India for providing sustainable service to

women farmers in the tribal areas of Jashpur district, Chhattisgrah.

2. Delegates from Norway and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Mumbai officials visited this

Division and interacted with Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), IMD, Pune and also withofficers and staff on “Agrometeorological Advisories Services” on 11th June 2015.

17. Future Plan

GKMS project would be continued to have larger coverage with improved advisories and having

closer coordination with State government authorities. Blending of tools and technologies like high

resolution data, Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS) constitute the components

of the enhanced system to provide personalized agromet services at local level. Efficient alert system

will be established to reach the farming community at minimum possible time to take appropriate

action to save their crops from any weather hazards. Linkages will also be made with Panchayati Raj

Institutions and Urban/ Rural Local Bodies to disseminate the weather forecast and agromet

advisories to the farmers in the country through different stake holders in PPP mode.

Application of Remote Sensing in AAS (crop, productivity and soil moisture status of a region under

water stress, other biotic or abiotic conditions along with the possibility of forewarning pest and

disease outbreak for smaller areas) needs to be expanded. Mini-observatory at the Panchayat level

along with Climate Managers will be established for disseminating real time weather information

and Agromet Advisories to the farming community. Accuracy and effectiveness of high resolution

weather forecast and climate smart Agromet advisories will be improved to enhance the decision

making ability of the farmers. Climate Risk Management tools based on climate forecast along withAgromet Advisories will be developed for the farmers. Efforts will be made to provide more lead time

to the users and policy makers to take appropriate actions at the right time through latest and

available ICT. The studies will be undertaken to observe whether weather based advisories have a

positive impact on the overall yield and also how best can help in decreasing the cost of cultivation.

These exercises will be carried out at all the field units.


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