Lok Sabha Question No. 1160 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-14
Subject: Weather Information System
Ministry: EARTH SCIENCES
Asked by: Bidyut Baran Mahato, Ravindra Kushawaha, Subrata Pathak, Shrirang Appa Barne, Ravi Kishan Shukla, Sambhajirao Mane Dhairyasheel, Sanjay Sadashivrao Mandlik, Prataprao  Jadhav, Sudheer Gupta

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1160

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, 14 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## WEATHER INFORMATION SYSTEM

1160.      SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI RAVINDRA KUSHWAHA:

SHRI SUBRAT PATHAK:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI RAVI KISHAN:

SHRI DHAIRYASHEEL SAMBHAJIRAO MANE:

SHRI SANJAY SADASHIVRAO MANDLIK:

SHRI PRATAPRAO JADHAV:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA :

Will the Minister of EARTH SCIENCES be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  set  up  two  high  level  scientific  panels  to  study  advanced agricultural weather information system across the country and enable an assessment of crop  yields  in  view  of  increasing  extreme  weather  conditions  and  if  so,  the  details thereof;
- (b) the details of the composition of the said two high level scientific panels;
- (c) whether the Government has set any time limit for the said panels to submit their reports and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the country's first of  four Inter governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has been released;
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with the steps taken/being taken by the Government on the basis of the said report; and
- (f) the  details  of  other  measures  being  taken  by  the  Government  to  counter  changing monsoon, rising seas, deadlier heat waves, flooding etc. responsible for crop loss?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES (DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

- (a)  -  (c)  Yes  Sir . Ministry of  Agriculture &  Farmers  Welfare (MoA&FW) has set up  following twocommittees  to  reduce  the  delay  in  crop  loss/damage  estimation  and  ensure  timely settlement of claims by farmers :
- (i) Committee for nationwide implementation of technology-based crop yield estimation.
- (ii) Committee for standardization and improvement of weather data infrastructure.

Both  the  committees  will  be  headed  by  the  Director  of  Mahalanobis  National  Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC), under MoA&FW.

The committee will have representation from Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan Government along with the experts from different departments and agencies of the Central Government.

The  panel  on  yield  estimation  will  submit  its  report  within  45  days.  It  will  prepare standard operating procedure (SOP) as well as enrol technology implementation partners (TIPs).

The  panel  on  weather  data  infrastructure  has  been  tasked  to  help  MoA&FW  in  the creation  of  the  proposed  Weather  Information  Network  Data  System  (WINDS),  under which a system of automatic weather stations (AWS) and automatic rain gauges (ARG) will be implemented across India.

- (d)-(e) There  is  no  country  specific  IPCC  report  available.  However  the  challenges  of  climate change  induced  extreme  weather  events  and  natural  calamities  are  handled  in  the  best possible  way  by  the  India  Meteorological  Department  (IMD)  through  timely  weather warnings and climate forecasts to the entire nation and to various stake holders.
- (f) 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, institutes  of  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  and  Indian  Institute  of Technology (IIT) etc., 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. 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  Agromet  Advisory  Services  (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 Agromet Advisories based on district and block level weather forecasts for their respective districts and communicate to the  farmers  on  every  Tuesday  and  Friday.  Block  level  weather  forecast  and  Agromet Advisories  aid  the  farmers  in  taking  decision  on  day-to-day  agricultural  operations  at micro-level.  In  addition  to  that,  Impact  based  forecast  (IBFs)  for  agriculture  are  also being prepared by AMFUs and DAMUs based on the severe weather warnings including Heavy Rainfall and Heatwaves / high temperatures for different districts of various States and  UTs  across  the  country  issued  by  National  Weather  Forecasting  Centre  (NWFC), New  Delhi  and  Regional  Meteorological  Centres  (RMCs)  and  Meteorological  Centres (MCs) of IMD.

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.

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. 43.37 million farmers in the country receive the Agromet  Advisories  through  SMS  directly.  SMS  through  Kisan  Portal  launched  by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare is not sent since June 2021. Presently SMS advisories  are  being  sent  only  during  extreme  weather  events  like  cyclone,  deep depression  etc.  through  Kisan  Portal.  However,  SMS  to  the  farmers  through  private companies is continued as earlier.

With the advancement of ICT, 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.  Also,  a  few  AMFUs  have developed  mobile  Apps  to  facilitate  quick  dissemination  of  agromet  advisories  to  the farmers of their region.

Social  media  is  also  used  for  quicker  dissemination  of  forecast  and  advisories  to  the farmers.  At  present  farmers  of  1,21,235  villages  in  3,636  Blocks  have  been  covered through 16,262 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  Agromet 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 Agromet advisories with state government  mobile  apps  and  websites.  The  integration  has  been  completed  for  Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand for the benefit of the farmers of these states.

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.

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