(a) whether weather monitoring is being used to help farmers in making better agricultural decisions;
(b) if so, whether there are any schemes to ensure that the farmers living in rural areas have access to this information; and
(c) if so, the details thereof?
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND ECHNOLOGY AND MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES
(SHRI Y. S. CHOWDARY)
(a) Yes, Madam.
(b) Under Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa Scheme (GKMS), India Meteorological Department (IMD) generates district level weather forecasts for the next five days exclusively for all the farmers of the country.
(c) Based on the district level forecast issued by IMD, district Agromet Advisory Services (AAS) bulletins are prepared by the Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) for the different agromet zones of the country. These AAS bulletins are generated twice a week i.e. on Tuesday and Friday. During prolonged dry spells or break in monsoon like situations, inputs from Extended Range Forecast System valid for forthcoming two weeks are also referred while preparing the Agromet Advisory bulletins.
These are disseminated to the farmers through multimedia channels (print/visual/radio) as well as IT based media including SMS (using Kishan Portal & private companies) for the benefit of the farmers. At present about 22.7 millions farmers receive these weather forecast and agromet advisories directly by SMS. IMD is planning to reach more farmers through SMS.
As per the survey conducted by National council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), farming community is widely using the GKMS Service products for their critical farms operations and get economical benefits.