Question : Unseasonal Rains

(a) the details of States/UTs that received unseasonal rains in October, 2019 along with the area of farmland affected by the rains in these States/UTs;

(b) whether any studies have been conducted to assess the damage to crops by these unseasonal rains and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Ministry has any plans to improve the weather prediction infrastructure in order to be able to predict such unseasonal weather changes more accurately and if so, the details thereof; and

(d) whether the Government has any plans to improve information dissemination and communication to farmers in order to allow them to prepare for such circumstances and if so, the details thereof?

THE MINISTER FOR MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND
MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES
(DR. HARSH VARDHAN)


(a) & (b) The rainfall statistics (State/UT wise) for October, 2019 is given in Annexure-I. There are 11 states which received large excess rainfall (more than 60% of normal) during the month of October. There have been damages to the standing crops in farmlands in some of the states (Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, Chhatisgarh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh) due to the prolonged rains in October owing to the delayed withdrawal of southwest monsoon from Central India. The details of the area of farmland affected by the rains in these States are given in Annexure-II, as provided by Disaster Management Division of Ministry of Home Affairs.








(c) Yes. India Meteorological Department (IMD) provides an operational Agrometeorological Advisory Service (AAS) viz., GraminKrishiMausamSewa (GKMS) scheme for the benefit of farming community in the country. Under the scheme, medium range weather forecast (Forecasts up to 5 days) at district level is generated. Based onthe forecast,
Agromet Advisories are prepared and communicated by the 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located at State Agricultural Universities, institutes of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and IIT etc., to the farmers on every Tuesday and Friday to take decision on day-to-day agricultural operations. AAS rendered by IMD is a step towards weather-based crop and livestock management strategies and operations dedicated for enhancing crop production and food security besides reducing crop damage and loss due to unusual weather.

IMD is now implementing block level Agromet Advisory Services shortly in collaboration with ICAR in the country. District Agromet Units (DAMUs) are being established in KrishiVikas Kendra (KVKs) under ICAR network. Implementation of block level AAS would address the micro-level variation in weather and climate and hence more numbers of farmers will be benefitted.

(d) Agromet Advisories are communicated to the farmers through multichannel dissemination system like print and electronic media, Doordarshan, radio, internet etc. including SMS using mobile phones through Kisan Portal launched by Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and also through private companies under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. At present, more than 40 million farmers in the country receive the Agromet Advisories through SMS directly. KrishiVigyanKendras(KVKs) of ICAR have also given link to the respective district level advisory in their web portal. A mobile App viz., ‘Meghdoot’ has been launched recently by Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India to help farmers to get weather information and related agromet advisories specific to their districts.Statewise number of farmers receiving the Agromet Advisories through SMS is mentioned in Annexure-III.