Question : Weather Consultation Service

(a) whether as per a study, better consultancy service regarding weather forecasting has made the country capable of producing more agriculture products and increasing the income of farmers and if so, the details thereof;

(b) whether 75 per cent of farmers do not have reliable source of getting consultation regarding weather forecasting;

(c) if so, the reasons therefor;

(d) whether the Government has constituted any committee for replacing some words such as ‘drought’ in place of ‘year receiving less and very less rain fall’ used in the weather forecasting by the Meteorological Department; and

(e) if so, the details thereof and the number of States which have been declared as fully or partially drought affected States?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
(SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT)

(a) IMD, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) implements an operational Agromet Advisory Service (AAS) scheme viz., Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) for the benefit of farming community in the country. A network of 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) collocated with Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), State Agriculture Universities (SAUs) and other institutions is providing weather forecast based AAS twice a week (Tuesday and Friday). AAS rendered by IMD in collaboration with ICAR, SAUs and other institutions is a step to weather information based crop and livestock management strategies and operations dedicated to enhancing crop production and food security. As per the feedback from diverse sources, the annual income of marginal and small farmers have been increased significantly by using these services.

As per the recent survey by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), implementation of District level Agromet Advisory Services, India has seen improved agricultural performance in the rainfed farming, which covers 60% of the total arable land. As per the report, the incremental profit due to Agromet Advisory Services is assessed to be 25% of their net income. The study also suggests that the Gramin Krishi Mausam Seva has the potential of generating net economic benefit up to Rs. 3.3 lakh crores on the 4-principal crops alone (wheat, paddy, sugarcane and cotton) when Agromet Advisory Service is fully utilized by agriculture-dependent households.

NCAER, 2015: Economic Benefits of Dynamic Weather and Ocean Information and Advisory Services in India and Cost and Pricing of customized products and services of ESSO-NCMRWF & ESSO-INCOIS (2015).

(b) & (c): IMD is communicating weather information and agromet advisories to large number of farmers through different multi channels along with SMS and IVR technology using mobile phones through Kisan Portal and also through Public Private Partnership (PPP) like IKSL, NOKIA-HCL, Reliance Foundation, Mahindra & Mahindra etc. Presently, out of 94.5 million farmers, around 22.7 million farmers are receiving the information through SMS on regular basis which is approximately 25 per cent of the total farmers’ house hold. IMD is also planning to cover the entire farming community in the country by involving all the state government functionaries, Extension and dissemination agencies etc.

(d) & (e): Yes, A committee for reviewing the terms & terminologies of weather forecasting and warnings was setup in IMD during 2014. It was decided that henceforth the term drought on all India scale shall not be used. In its place the term “all India deficient rainfall year” will be used. The details are provided in ANNEXURE– I. “During 2017-18, three States, namely, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, have submitted Memoranda intimating about drought of varying magnitude and seeking financial assistance from National Disaster Response Fund.” (Based on input from Drought Management Division, Department of Agriculture Cooperation & Farmers Welfare)

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