Climate Exchange

[

] 21

griculture

tions on how to install and use rain gauges to record

information. At present these rainfall data are being

communicated to the AMFUs and used to prepare

agromet advisories.

Rain gauges for farmers

It has been observed that inmost villages there is at least one

farmer who is relatively knowledgeable and educated, and

other local farmers are obliged to this person for his or her

meaningful advice on crop cultivation. Thus, this individual

is indirectly identified as a progressive farmer whose advice

is beneficial in farmmanagement.

In order to improve the linkages with the AAS system

and develop a local (village) level rain measuring network,

five rain gauges made of plastic are distributed to a group of

progressive farmers selected by AMFU during the meeting.

These farmers are then trained to record and report the

rainfall observation to the relevant AMFUs, which in turn

communicate it to IMD.

The farmers are familiarized with the measurement

of rainfall by ordinary rain gauges and told about IMD’s

proposed plan for development of a village-level rain meas-

uring network in the country. The purpose of distributing

the rain gauges is to involve farmers in the observation of

weather data and in the preparation of agromet advisories

so they can share their observations with all the relevant

AMFUs and help to produce location-specific advisories. At

present there are 264 agromet observatories where observa-

tions are taken, including morning rainfall measurements.

The quality of the farmers’ rainfall data is regularly moni-

tored by AMFU and IMD.

Demonstrations for the public

As a part of the programme, some AMFUs have organ-

ized exhibitions and demonstrations highlighting various

Processes and mechanisms

During the one-day programme, the first half of the day consists of

lectures given by atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, agromete-

orologists and experts in different disciplines of agriculture (such as

entomologists, pathologists, soil scientists, agronomists) in the local

language to promote a good dialogue with farmers. The programmes

also aim to assess how the Agrometeorological Advisory Service (AAS)

can be made more relevant to the local needs of the farming commu-

nity. The second half of the day includes discussions about farmers’

existing knowledge of the use of weather and climate in agriculture

and risk management, needs for weather and climate information and

ways to improve the communication of this information to farmers. As a

number of farmers in rural villages are not fully aware of AAS and do not

know about the possible connection between weather and the farming

system, they are first appraised on these subjects so they can understand

the merits and limitations of the service in relation to various weather-

related practical problems they face in agriculture. Primary emphasis

is given to a free and frank exchange of ideas and information. This

part of the programme is designed to engage all the participants in

discussions and obtain full information about their needs for weather

and climate information, and how to improve future communication

of this information to enable an effective operational decision-making

process. Important discussions between resource providers and the user

community focus on the use of weather data and weather forecasting in

AAS, climate change and climate variability, extreme events, dissemina-

tion, animal husbandry and so on. All the resource providers are given

proper training on operational agrometeorology by IMD, which also

organizes seminars on this subject for in-depth discussions with the

people assigned to conduct the Farmer Awareness Programme.

Farmers receive informative brochures; pamphlets outlining

weather-based farming guidelines; information on packages and

crop practices in the district; leaflets containing information about

pests and diseases, severe weather conditions, crops grown under

stress conditions and inbuilt contingency plans; and the District

Agromet Bulletin – all in local languages. There are also demonstra-

Image: India Meteorological Department

Farmers are provided with rain gauges by the programme

By getting involved in the observation of weather data, farmers can help

to produce location-specific agromet advisories