THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
AND EARTH SCIENCES
(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)
(a) Yes Sir.
(b)-(d) Operational Agromet Advisory Services (AAS), i.e. GraminKrishiMausamSewa (GKMS) scheme, rendered by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) jointly with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and State Agricultural Universities, is a step towards weather-based crop and livestock management strategies and operations for the benefit of farming community in the country. Under the scheme, medium range weather forecast at district and block level is generated and based on the forecast, Agromet Advisories are prepared by the 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located in State Agricultural Universities, ICAR Institutes, IITs etc. and 199 District Agromet Units (DAMUs)at KVKs under ICAR network and communicated to the farmers on every Tuesday and Friday.
State-of-art weather forecast models are used for generating 5-day medium range weather forecast at block and district levels. These weather forecasts are shared with the AMFUs and DAMUs to generate location-specific block and district level agromet advisories under GKMS scheme and communicate to the farming community. These forecasts and agromet advisories help farmers to take decision on day-to-day agricultural operations, which can further optimize the application of input resources at farm level during deficient rainfall situation and extreme weather events to reduce monetary loss and maximize crop yield.
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.
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.
Social media is also used for quicker dissemination of forecast and advisories to the farmers. At present farmers of 91,881 villages in 3325 Blocks have been covered through 10464 WhatsApp groups. State Agriculture Department officials of District and Block level are also included in these WhatsApp groups. Agromet advisories are also communicated through YouTube Channel by AMFUs and DAMUs across the country. Farmers feedback are also being collected and uploaded in YouTube Channel. In addition, 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 Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Nagaland states and about 5.6 million farmers of above-mentioned states are getting benefitted from weather forecast and agromet advisories.
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 ‘KisanSuvidha’, 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.
IMD is 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.
After successful implementation of district level AAS, DAMUs are being established at KrishiVigyanKendras (KVKs) in collaboration with ICAR to implement block level Agromet Advisory Services (AAS). Block level weather forecast and Agromet Advisories will aid the farmers in taking decision on day-to-day agricultural operations at micro-level.
(e) Agromet advisories are disseminated through multichannel dissemination. Details of the number of farmers benefitted in Durg Parliamentary Constituency as well as in Bilaspur, Mungeli and Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi districts of Bilaspur Parliamentary Constituency through mKisan and Meghdoot App of Ministry of Earth Sciences are given in the Table below. Agro-advisories are also sent through Whatsapp group formed by AMFUs and DAMUs.
Agro advisory Dissemination in Durg and Bilaspur Constituency
Parliamentary Constituency Kisan Portal Reliance Foundation Meghdoot App Total
Durg Parliamentary Constituency
(Covering district Durg and Bemtara) 102956 8659
(In Durg District) 1153 112768
Bilaspur Parliamentary Constituency
(Covering district Bilaspur, Mungeli and Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi) 146226 1008 147234
Total 260002
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