The Hindu Business Line : Extended range weather forecast on anvil

SIX premier national agencies have entered into an agreement for implementing an extended range forecast system (ERFS) by means of which forecasts on weather will be attempted at the regional/district level.

The project, fully funded by Union Ministry of Agriculture and provided with a budgetary provision of Rs 12.75 crore for the first three years, is likely to be completed in a span of about six years in two phases.

Weather information will be generated and disseminated over a monthly to seasonal time scale.

Once the project is brought into position, the system is expected to give sufficient time to the farmers to plan their cropping activities and help the planning and policy makers to take necessary measures for any contingency.

Currently, weather forecast is broadly of two dimensions - long range forecast for complete monsoon season and short and medium range forecast in the time scale of less than seven days.

Weather forecast in a time scale of less than seven days have been found to leave little lead-time for undertaking crop management decisions by the stakeholders, mainly farmers, R&D, and extension agencies.

In the first phase (2-3 years) of the project, it is envisaged to develop a seasonal forecast system for met subdivisions/agro-climatic zones.

In the second phase, monthly forecast is targeted at the same levels. For the district-level forecast, it will be on experimental basis in selected districts.

The six national agencies involved in the project are the Department of Agriculture and Co-operation (DAC), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), India Meteorological Department (IMD), Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IITD), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), and Space Applications Centre (SAC).

Other national and international agencies working in this field will also be associated with the project.

The nodal agency for application would be DAC with the support of line agencies and other stakeholders. The project will be implemented in mission mode. A project implementation committee (PIC) has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Secretary, DAC.

For development part of the project, IIT-Delhi would be the nodal agency, through a Scientific and Technical Committee (STC).

IMD and NCMRWF have been given responsibility for operating the project, while ICAR and SAC would give inputs from time to time for scientific development of the project.

The Ministry of Agriculture will disseminate the project-generated information in collaboration with NCMRWF through the involvement of Krishi Vigyan Kendras, State Agriculture Universities, Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), State Agencies, ICAR institutes, and other means.

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