Climate change and variability, drought and other climate related extremes have a direct

influence on the quantity and quality of agricultural production. Climate variability

affects all economic sectors, but agriculture and forestry activities are the most vulnerable

and sensitive sectors to such climate fluctuation. Agrometeorological services derived

from a more informed choices of policies, practices and technologies will reduce the long

term variability of these system to climate change. The need of the hour is to effectively integrate the skills we

have developed in operational, experimental and theoretical aspects of agricultural meteorology and deploy

them for the purpose of making the agricultural production system in general more robust.

Even in developing countries early warnings of impending risks based on weather forecasts are increasingly

being needed to farmers to enable them to take the necessary measures to mitigate the envisaged setbacks to

crops by weather. However, under the existing pattern and practices of cropping, the delivery mechanism for

such early warnings is still short, both in timeliness and precision, of the requirements by the farmers. The

wherewithal for provision of crop-specific, location-specific agrometeorological advisories now in various

stages of development should be quickened if one can switch over to mono crops of large fetches. The crop risks

would also become manageable with high cost: benefit ratios if mono crops appropriate to the place and season

are raised in large blocks.

Looking at the need of the farmers and other users, under Gramin Krishi Mausam project launched by

IMD/MoES, a number of important activities were carried out during 2015-16, like issuing of agromet advisory

services, technical assistance to observatories, R & D activities in crop weather studies, capacity building,

dissemination of agromet advisories through multi-purpose dissemination channels etc. It gives me a great

pleasure to present this annual report of Agrimet Division for the year 2015-16. This report provides summary

of highlights on various services provided to farmers and other users in the country. I take the opportunity to

thank the Ministry of Earth Sciences for necessary support and to the Vice-Chancellors, Nodal officers and

Technical officers of different Agricultural Universities for successfully implementing Gramin Krishi Mausam

project. I also appreciate the initiative taken by the Deputy Director General of Meteorology and the officers,

staff members of the Agricultural Meteorology Division, India Meteorological Department in bringing out

annual progress report of Agrimet Division for the year 2015-16.

Dr. L.S. Rathore Director General of Meteorology, India Meteorological Department, Lodhi road, New Delhi.

F o r e w o r d

The year 2015 has been an eventful year exhibiting drought, flood and extreme events throughout the year. World Meteorological Organization has described 2015 as one of the warmest year on record with strong El-Nino. South-West Monsoon was deficit, while North-East Monsoon was excess. Extreme events like unseasonal rainfall in March, 2015 in North west parts of India adversely affected Rabi crop production, sizzling heat wave sweeping many parts of the country particularly Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha reporting more than 2200 deaths, extremely heavy rainfall occurred over Gujarat, hailstorms over south Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra & Chhattisgarh and floods in many parts of the country. Agrimet Division of IMD has continued its efforts in many parts of the country. In the year 2015, Agrimet Division of India Meteorological Department has continued the efforts in generation of weather forecast, agromet advisories and its dissemination to the farming communities, capacity building of scientists, awareness and outreach programmes for the farmers etc. in collaboration with Agromet Field Units (AMFUs) located at State Agricultural Universities, Institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and also other collaborating organisations. Besides, a number of new initiatives were taken up to strengthen the activities under GKMS. 1. Generation of weather forecast & Agromet Advisories: Based on the medium range weather forecast, AAS bulletins have been prepared for 633 districts and issued on every Tuesday and Friday. State Composite bulletins (23) and National AAS bulletins have also been issued simultaneously. Efforts were being made to prepare AAS bulletins for all the districts of the country and also for preparation of accurate medium range weather forecast by value addition from Regional Meteorological Centres (RMCs)/ Meteorological Centres (MCs). To help the farmers to cope with climate risks and uncertainties and also effectively use seasonal to inter-annual climate forecasts, IMD in collaboration with Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Hyderabad continued issuing AAS Bulletins based on Extended Range Weather Forecast and Monthly Weather Forecast during southwest monsoon 2015 to fulfill the needs of different users including planners at State and National levels and farmers. 2. Dissemination of weather forecast, agromet advisories and Out Reach programmes under GKMS: Dissemination of agromet advisories to the farmers through different multi-channel system of All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan, private TV and radio channels, newspaper and internet, SMS and IVR (Interactive Voice Response Technology) etc. is being made on wider scale. Under PPP mode, Reuter Market Light, IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL), NOKIA-HCL, Handygo, Mahindra Samriddhi, CAB International, National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD) are disseminating agromet advisories in SMS and IVR format to the farming community. In addition to that number of AMFUs has started sending agromet advisories through SMS in collaboration with National Informatics

Centre (NIC)/Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA)/KVK/ NABARD/ Internet. Agromet Advisories are also being disseminated in both Regional and English languages through “Kisan SMS”, a portal (http://farmer.gov.in/advs/login.aspx) launched by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. 11.50 million farmers were benefitted by this service directly. Weather forecast and advisories under alerts and warnings through SMS now enable the farmers in planning of farming operations to minimise/control damage of crops under the adverse weather conditions. During April 2015, Agricultural Meteorology Division with the help of Agromet Field Units disseminated advisories to around 5151253 farmers both in English and regional language to minimize the crop losses due to severe thunder storm and hailstorms activity in the states of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana. In addition to this IMD in collaboration with Reliance Foundation Information Services (RFIS) is disseminating Agromet Advisories to farming community in 7 States (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Union Territory of Puducherry) under pilot mode. The Agromet Advisories reaching to 1800054 farmers directly. IMD officials participated in project evaluation study in respect of dissemination of weather, crop and advisories to the Farmers’ Club through KVKs in Maharashtra State jointly with NABARD, Rural Agricultural Advisory Committee’ meeting of Akashwani-Pune on 26th, August 2015. 3. New initiatives : Important Activity on Agromet Advisory Services * Meeting with Shri. Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Govt. of Maharashtra Shri. Devendra Fadnavis, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Govt. of Maharashtra has called for a special meeting to enhance Agromet Services in the State. He has given valuable suggestions to upgrade the service from district level to sub-district / block level and also reaching to more and more no of farmers. He has set the target of covering 50 lakh farmers to disseminate weather forecast and Agromet Advisories through SMS so that the farmers are safeguarded from the miseries of erratic distribution of rainfall. Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), Dr. K. Ghosh, Scientist-E and Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist-D participated in the meeting held at Mantralaya, Mumbai to discuss the issues under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra Shri. Devendra Fadnavis on 26th May, 2015. Launch of Nowcast Services to farmers through mKisan portal of Ministry of Agriculture:

Hon’ble Union Minister of Agriculture launched the Nowcast-Extreme Weather Alert Services to farmers on 18th June, 2015 for providing localised Extreme Weather Warnings to more than 1 core farmers registered on mKisan portal of Ministry of Agriculture.

These Nowcast alerts are based on DWR data and are issued few hours before the event to alert the farming community about the occurrence of the adverse weather. Launch of DD Kisan- 24 hours channel for the farmers in the country: Shri Narendra Modi, Hon’ble Prime Minister, Govt. of India has launched a dedicated channel for the farmers, viz., DD Kisan. Inputs for “Crop Specific Weather based Agromet Advisories” for the country have been prepared on daily basis and sent for telecasting through DD Kisan Channel, New Delhi from the month of May, 2015. Presently, this channel covers State level and Region wise weather and Agromet Advisories depending upon rainfall situation like dry spell, subdued rainfall, floods etc. and their impact on sowing and selection of crops and cropping on real time in programs like ‘Kisan Samachar’ and ‘Mausam Khabar’. Along with this regional weather based agro advisory in Gujarathi, Bengali, Malayalam and Tamil for DD Kisan channel continued for telecasting. DDK Thiruvananthapuram telecast the Malayalam agro advisory for Kerala on Tuesday and Thursday. DDK Rajkot telecast the agro advisory for Gujarat in Gujarati language on Monday and Thursday. DDK Coimbatore telecast the agro advisory for Tamilnadu in Tamil on Monday. DDK Hyderabad telecast the agro advisory for Andhra Pradesh & Telangana on Thursday. A team of seven officials of DD Kisan, Doordarshan, New Delhi visited Agrimet Division, Pune on 21st & 22nd April, 2015 to discuss about content preparation and other related subject regarding Agro Advisory bulletin for broadcasting through DD Kisan Channel on daily basis. *MoU with KVK Baramati

MoU has been signed with KVK Baramati for joint collaboration in different activities of Agromet Advisories to the farmers and organisation of capacity building programmes for the farmers in the country during 6-8 November, 2015. Dr. S. D. Attri, Deputy Director General of Meteorology (Organisation), IMD, New Delhi participated in the inaugural session of KRUSHIK 2015 and signed MoU between IMD and KVK Baramati. Also live

Demonstration & Agri-Expo organised at KVK Baramati, Maharashtra, Dist. Pune. 4. Establishment of District Agromet Units for block level Agromet Advisories: IMD is venturing into establishing District Agromet Units (DAMUs) in KVK network of ICAR for expansion ofAgromet Advisories under GKMS from Agro-Climatic Zone (ACZ) level and district level to block level Agromet Advisoriesto the farming community. At present 100 KVKs have been selected for

establishing DAMUs and issuing Agromet advisories at block level. IMD started generating block level medium range weather forecast and validation of the forecast has been undertaken for operational generation of the same. An inter-Ministerial meeting was conducted at Prithvi Bhavan, New Delhi on 28th August 2015 to devise the mechanism and define role of stakeholdersfor implementing the service at block level. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been made with KVK Baramati as technical resource centre for DAMU. 240 District Agromet Units (DAMUs) in Krishi Vigyan Kendras will be established in the Phase-I and remaining districts in the country in Phase-II. Agricultural experts at DAMU will translate the weather forecasts into actionable farm advisories twice a week (Tuesday & Friday) using crop models, soil health card, integrated pest/disease and nutrient management. 5. Generation of new products/software for GKMS: IMD in collaboration with Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad is generating the

Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), derived from INSAT 3A CCD data for the use in agromet advisories. Besides, IMD has started preparing the maps for Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI) on weekly, bi-weekly and seasonal basis.

Agrimet Division, IMD in collaboration with International Centre for Radio Science (ICRS), Jodhpur is preparing maps for soil moisture estimation for Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Tamil Nadu. These maps are being generated on by using satellite data viz. soil moisture, NDVI and brightness temperature data from SMOS, MODIS and LST values from SSMIS sensors.

Sowing suitability classes were generated combining surface soil moisture (AMSR-2 soil moisture), NDVI (INSAT 3A CCD) data and potential agricultural mask. The conducive and probable area for sowing was delineated for crops. The work was carried on experimental basis for the kharif season of 2015.

6. Capacity Building Programme: Agromet Observers’ course of 2 weeks duration is conducted for newly recruited observers at various Agrometeorological Field Units (AMFUs) from 24th August 2015 to 4th September 2015. Total 19 participants from various AMFUs have participated

in this training course. A training programme on “Remote Sensing and GIS technique based yield forecast” was

organized during 31st August to 20th September 2015 jointly by IMD and Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS), Dehradun. 29 candidates participated in the training programme.

Meteorologist Gr. II training course on Agrometeorology started from 26th October 2015. Three trainees have joined the course.

7. Crop Yield Forecast Developed and issued crop yield forecast for:

Jute at pre-harvest (F3) stage for Assam, Bihar, West Bengal and sugarcane at planting (F1) stage for Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh during kharif 2015.

Rabi onion for the state of Karnataka and Gujarat . Rice at mid-season stage (F2) for kharif 2015 for 14 states (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Assam,

Bihar, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh,Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal).

Cotton at planting stage (F1) for kharif 2015 for 8 states (Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Telangana).

Sugarcane for 5 states (Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Haryana) at mid-season stage (F2) for kharif 2015.

Rapeseed and mustard for Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh at planting stage (F1) and samba rice for the state of Tamilnadu at pre-harvest stage (F3).

Rabi Sorghum for the states of Maharashtra and Karnataka. Rapeseed & Mustard for the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and

Rajasthan. Wheat for the states Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar

Pradesh. Winter Potato for the states of Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

8. International Activities Agricultural Meteorology Division, India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune and World Meteorological Organization (WMO) organised the following International Conference/Workshop/ Meetings at Ramee Grand Hotel, Pune, Maharashtra during 2-10 November, 2015. Around 30 National and International delegates attended the meeting. a. International Conference on “Atmospheric Chemistry and Agricultural Meteorology” during 2-4

November, 2015. International Conference on “Atmospheric Chemistry and Agricultural Meteorology” was organized in order to study the possible impacts of atmospheric constituents and particulate matter on agriculture and also to prepare possible mitigation strategies during 2-4 November, 2015. During the conference possible

methods to mitigate these atmospheric chemistry impacts and damage to agriculture were discussed and also the current state-of-art instrumentation and monitoring systems for carbon flux and other micrometeorological applications that are involved with agriculture were highlighted. Besides, in depth discussions were made on proposed possible interactions between the two communities such as a Joint Commission for Atmospheric Science (CAS)/ Commission for Agricultural Meteorology (CAgM) Task Teams that would focus on cross-cutting issues relevant to both the Commissions. Experts in the fields of Atmospheric Chemistry and Agricultural Meteorology from Geneva, Canada, Chile, Italy, Germany, Paraguay, Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Kenya and also from India participated in the conference. b. Workshop on “Global Centres of Research and Excellence in Agrometeorology (GCREAM)” on 5th

November, 2015. One day Workshop on Global Centres of Research and Excellence in Agrometeorology (GCREAM) was organized on 5th November, 2015. This workshop was organised to discuss various issues to create and develop knowledge in agricultural meteorology and agricultural technology & management areas including

promoting research and application in Operational Agrometeorology and catering the capacity building needs of the Agrometeorological Advisory Services. Experts from Chile, Canada, WMO, Geneva, along with participants from India Meteorological Department participated in this workshop. Discussion was also made on the mandates and functioning of the GCREAM to address the challenging issues of climate, food and water collectively.

c. Meeting of CAgM Expert Team on Agrometeorological Products” during 6-7 November, 2015. This meeting was arranged inviting the Commission on Agrometeorology (CAgM) Expert Team on Agrometeorological Products in order to prepare road map for various agromet products in Operational Agrometeorological Services in crop sector, livestock, fisheries, water resources, forestry, early warning systems on pests/diseases incidences for plants and animals. Participants from Australia, Côte d'Ivoire, British Caribbean Territories, Ecuador, Italy, Tunisia, USA, Chile, Geneva participated in this meeting.

d. Meeting of the RA II Expert Group on “Agrometeorology (EG-AgM) – Strengthening of Agrometeorological Activities in RA II” during 9-10 November, 2015

Meeting of Regional Association II Expert Group on Agrometeorology was organised during 9-10 November 2015: The main objectives of the meeting were to enrich operational and R & D activities in RA II Region such as to identify training needs of the agrometeorological experts/staff, review monitoring and forecasting of soil moisture conditions and their use in assessing crop water requirements, monitoring and preparedness strategies for drought including drought indices and early warning systems and the extent of their implementation, evaluation for the operational use of seasonal to inter-annual climate forecasts applications, socio-economic impact of agrometeorological information, livestock management, forestry and fisheries sectors. WMO experts, Co-coordinators and theme leaders including participants from India participated in this meeting.

e. Meeting of CAgM Implementation/ Coordination Team Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) attended the Management Committee meeting of CAgM Implementation/ Coordination Team during 7-9 October, 2015 in Bucharest, Romania organized jointly by World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and National Meteorological Administration, Romania.

f. Regional Network of Farmers of Africa and South Asia (RENOFASA) Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) attended the workshop on “Regional Network of Farmers of Africa and South Asia (RENOFASA)” held at Kampala, Uganda during 27-29 January 2016.

9. National Activities a. Rural Agricultural Advisory Committee Meeting

Rural Agricultural Advisory Committee meeting of Akashwani, Pune was organized at Agrimet Division, IMD, Pune under the Chairmanship of Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) on 26th August 2015. Representatives from various State/ Central Government offices along with Deputy Director, Akashwani, Pune attended the meeting. The programme schedule to be broadcast in the next quarter i. e. October to December 2015 was discussed and finalized in the meeting. Topics related to

weather and agriculture was submitted from Agrimet Division. b. National Stakeholders meeting of Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS)

A National Stake Holders Meeting of Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) was organized on 28th August 2015 at Prithvi Bhawan, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MOES) under the Chairmanship of Dr. Shailesh Naik, Secretary, MOES for the expansion of Agromet Advisory Services from District to Block Level under Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS).High level dignitaries from Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, Central Water Commission (CWC), New Delhi, Ministry of Science & Technology, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, Ministry of Finance, Department of Agriculture and Co-operation (DAC), Digital India, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), National Informatics Centre (NIC), Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC), National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF),National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited, CAB International, Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) and Mahindra Samriddhi etc. participated in this meeting. Also, a role of each ministry and institution has been identified for Agromet Services at block level for successful implementation.

c. 9th Annual Review Meeting (ARM) of “Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS)” project IMD in collaboration with University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, Karnataka organized 9th Annual Review Meeting (ARM) of GKMS project during 23-25(FN) November, 2015 at UAS, Dharwad. A number of high level dignitaries like Dr. D. P. Biradar, Honorable Vice Chancellor, UAS, Dharwad, Dr. B. S. Janagoudar, Director of Research, UAS Dharwad, Dr. V. U. M. Rao, Project Co-ordinator, AICRPAM, CRIDA, Hyderabad, Dr. K. K. Singh,

Head, Agromet, IMD, New Delhi and Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), IMD, Pune, Scientists from other institutes, Principal Nodal Officers, Nodal Officers and Technical Officers of Agrometeorological Field Units (AMFUs), NGOs and private firms especially engaged in the dissemination of Agromet Advisories participated in the meeting. The main objectives of this meeting was to review the effective implementation of the GKMS scheme in respect of quality of agromet advisories, outreach and dissemination to the farmers, capacity building at different levels, accuracy of medium range district level weather forecast etc. including recent initiative on block level weather forecast and future activities of the project.

d. 6th Annual Review Meeting (ARM) on Forecasting Agricultural output using Space, Agro-Meteorology and Land based observations (FASAL) IMD in co-ordination with University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad organised 6th Annual Re-view Meeting on FASAL at UAS, Dharwad during 25(AN)-26 November 2015. A number of high level dignitaries like Dr. B. S. Janagoudar, Director of Research, UAS Dharwad, Karnataka, Dr. K. N. Singh, NASRI, New Delhi, Dr. K. K. Singh, Head, Agromet Services, IMD, New Delhi, Dr. S. S. Ray, Director, MNCFC, New Delhi, Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM, Agrimet and Dr. H. Venkatesh, Principal Nodal Officer, University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, Karnataka along with AAS Unit In-charges of RMCs/MCs, PIs/ Co-PIs of AMFUs and some SRFs under FASAL attended the ARM. The main objectives of the ARM was to assess the performance of crop yield forecast under FASAL during 2014-15 at various centres and to plan for the activities for 2015-16 along with different ways of improving the accuracy of crop yield forecast.

e. Farmers’ Awareness Programme: Farmers’ awareness programmes were organised at 5 AMFUs across the country namely Lamphelpat, Seobagh, Kanpur, Navile and Vellayani. Another 59 AMFUs will organize this programme during February and March 2016. Besides, the Nodal Officers/Technical Officers participated in number of awareness programme and taken active initiatives in popularising the GKMS. AMFUs also arranged field visits, field demonstration, farmers’ interaction and also participated in Kisan Mela.

10. Best AMFU Award-2015 AMFU-Namakkal, Tamil Nadu was awarded ‘Best AMFU Award-2015’ for outstanding performance in dissemination of Agromet Advisory at 9th ARM of GKMS held at University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Dharwad, Karnataka. On behalf of AMFU Namakkal, Dr. A. Natarajan, Nodal Officer received the Certificate of Excellence in this regard from Dr. D. P. Biradar, Honorable Vice Chancellor, UAS, Dharwad, Karnataka.

11. Participation in different Programmes Mrs. Chandana Karmakar, S.A. has attended the Quarterly Meeting of All India Radio held at

Vaikunth Mehta Institute, Pune on 8th April 2015. Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) participated in “National Consultation Meeting on

Enhancing the Preparedness for Agricultural Contingencies in Kharif 2015”, held at CRIDA, Hyderabad on 24th April 2015.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), Dr. K. Ghosh, Scientist-D and Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist-D participated in the meeting to discuss the issue of ‘Agro-Weather Forecasting System’ under the Chairmanship of the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra held at Mantralaya, Mumbai on 26th May 2015.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), IMD, Pune attended the following Seminar/ meetings during the period : National Consultation Meeting on Enhancing the Preparedness for Agricultural

Contingencies in Kharif 2015 held at CRIDA, Hyderabad on 24th April, 2015. Brainstorming Workshop on “Review of Southwest Monsoon 2014 and Operational

Forecasting Officers Meet 2015” held at IMD, New Delhi during 06 – 08 May, 2015. Round Table Meet on “Food Security and Climate Change” and presented “Role of Weather

Forecasting in Climate Change and Food Security” organized by National Council for Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Public Leadership (NCCSD) at Anand Agricultural University (AAU), Anand, Gujarat on 2nd June, 2015.

“Constitution of Regional Advisory Group (RAG) for Maharashtra” organised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Pune on 9th June, 2015.

“Climate Services in Maharashtra: Strengthening Knowledge Networks for Climate Resilience” organised by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Mumbai at Hotel Blue Diamond, Pune on 10th June, 2015.

Regional Review Meeting for FASAL project for Central India held during 18-19 June 2015 at Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyala (IGKV), Raipur jointly organised by IGKV and Meteorological Centre, IMD, Raipur.

Technical Consultation under the Sustainable Livelihoods and Adaptation to Climate Change Project (SLACC) specifically on Weather and Agromet Advisory Services organised by Agriculture Global Practice, World Bank at Hotel Shangri-La, New Delhi on 25th June, 2015.

“Brainstorming session on issues pertaining to maintenance of AWS network” and presented “Utilization of data for Agromet Service and suggestions” on 26th June, 2015.

Plan Review Meeting on 16th& 17th July, 2015 at Arnav Hall, Prithvi Bhavan, MoES, New Delhi to review the performance of plan schemes during the financial year 2014-15, their current status, physical & financial targets for 2015-16 and constraints being faced in realization of desired targets.

Inception WINTER SASCOF (Win SASCOF-1) during 14-15 October 2015 and Climate Services Users Forum for Agriculture (CSUF-Ag-1) on 16th October 2015 held at Hotel Connimara, Chennai.

Shri R. Balasubramanian, Sci. ‘D’ attended the Regional Review Meeting (RRM) of GKMS and FASAL Projects for West Zone conducted at Anand Agricultural University (AAU), Anand, Gujarat during 29 – 30 July 2015.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) and Dr. K. Ghosh, Scientist ‘E’ attended the meeting on ‘Strategic Planning for preparation and dissemination of Block Level Agromet Advisories’ during 11-12 August, 2015 organised by IMD at Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Pusa, New Delhi.

Shri A.K. Dhotre, AM –I and Shri A.P. Patinge AM – I attended the short term Advanced Refresher Course on “Operational Climate Services” held during 24 -28 August 2015 at Meteorological Training Institute (MTI), Pashan, Pune.

Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist ‘D’, Shri S. S. Mairal, AM II and Shri V. A. Desai, S.A. attended the workshop for sharing the experience of KVKs to explore the possibility of upscaling the NABARD Project at KVK Baramati on 7th October 2015.

Request For Proposal (RFP) evaluation committee meeting was held on 13th October, 2015 for finalizing the Agromet Stations (AMS) replacing Lysimeters for automatic ET measurement system using sensors for measuring Evapotranspiration (ET) and other parameters through satellite transmission in collaboration with Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad under the chairmanship of Shri. B. Mukhopadhyay, ADGM (R), IMD, Pune. Scientists from IMD and SAC attended the meeting.

Shri. S. S. Mairal, AM II, participated as a member of recruitment board on 26th October 2015 for conducting the interview for the post of Observer under GKMS for AMFU, Igatpuri at ZARS, Igatpuri.

Shri R. B. Karkhele, AM II and Shri M. M. Choudhari, S.A. participated in “KRUSHIK- demo and Agri Expo” during 6-8 November 2015 at KVK, Baramati. Demonstrated meteorological instruments and activities of Agrimet Division regarding Agromet Advisory services to the farmers.

Shri. S. S. Mairal, AM II, participated as a member of recruitment board for the post of Observer under GKMS at AMFU, Shenda Park, Kolhapur on 7th November 2015 and attended Quarterly Agro Advisory Committee Meeting of Door Darshan on 27th November 2015 at KVK, Narayangaon.

A meeting was conducted on 1st December 2015 under the chairmanship of Shri. B. Mukhopadhyay, ADGM ( R ), IMD, Pune to evaluate the ‘Request for proposal ( RFP )’ for establishment of Studio for recording and telecasting of weather, Agromet Advisories and related programmes under GKMS. Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), Shri. Arvindnath Jha, Consultant, Technical Operations DD Kisan, New Delhi, Smt. Kalpana Gokhe, Director Engineering, DDK, Pune and Shri. R. Balasubramanian, Scientist D, IMD, Pune attended the meeting.

Shri.A.P.Patinge, A.M.I and Shri.V.L.Age, AM II. attended 7th Agrovision held at Reshambag, Nagpur from 11th to 14th December 2015.

12. Lectures Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist- D attended ‘43rd Joint Agresco Meet 2015’ on 28th May 2015

at Central Campus, MPKV, Rahuri and presented on the activities of Agrimet Division for the farmers of Maharashtra during 2014-15.

Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM(Agrimet) delivered lectures on following topics: “Role of IMD in Indian Agriculture and its role in crop insurance” at National Insurance

Academy, Pune, on 14th July 2015. “Agromet Advisory Services to cope up extreme weather” on 5th September 2015 in the Training

programme on “Agrometeorological Techniques for Risk Assessment and Management of Events” held at Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA),ICAR, Hyderabad during 1-21 September 2015.

“Agro-meteorological aspects of sustainable agriculture and food security: Regional initiatives and challenges” on 8th September 2015 in the Training programme on “Use of remote sensing and GIS for Crop Growth Monitoring and Yield Prediction” held at Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun during 31st August - 20 September 2015

“Status of District Level Weather Forecast in the country based on 8th Annual Review Meeting’ in the training workshop on ‘Improvement in District Level Weather Forecast (DLWF)” at M.C. Thiruvananthapuram on 28th and 29th September 2015.

“Agromet Advisory Service under GKMS in the Country” on 1st October 2015 at CAFT, College of Agriculture, Pune.

“Steering Committee meeting of FASAL scheme” at DAC, New Delhi on 15th January 2016. Parliamentary Standing Committee meeting on “Prevalent Drought Situation and the remedial

measures undertaken by the Government to address its impact on the Agricultural Sector” along with Shri R. Balasubramanian, Scientist-D held at Hotel The Leela, Sahara Road, Mumbai on 18th January 2016.

“Advances in Agricultural Meteorology” at Vishwakarma Institute of Technology (VIT), Pune on 20th January 2016.

Shri G P Singh, S.A, Shri Swapnil Vyas, SRF and Ms. Pritam Bhutada, SRF from GKMS attended training on “Satellite Meteorology value added services for AAS” at Space Application Centre, ISRO, Ahmedabad during 25-29 January 2016.

Shri R. Balasubramanian, Sc. ‘D’, Shri A. P. Patinge, AM-I and Smt Gracy John, AM-I delivered lectures on Agricultural Meteorology for batch No. 22 of Meteorologist Gr.II training course at MTI, Pashan, Pune.

Ms. P. S. Kulkarni, S.A. delivered a talk on All India Radio- Pune on “Impact of monsoon on agriculture and services of IMD in Maharashtra”. The talk was broadcasted on 28th October 2015.

13. Visit by IMD Officials Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet) alongwith Shri R. Balasubramanian, Sci. ‘D’, Smt. Gracy

John, AM-I, Shri T. R. Modiani, AM-II and Smt. Swati Chandras, S.A. visited Krishi Vidgyan Kendra (KVK), Baramati for the collaboration between IMD and KVK, Baramati regarding dissemination of Agromet Advisories on 23rd September 2015.

Shri. S.S. Mairal, A.M.-II and Shri. J.P. Sabale, S.A attended the Quarterly (October-December 2015) Agro Advisory Committee meeting of Door Darshan Kendra, Pune held at Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri on 4th September 2015. They also conducted field visit at Wadala-Mahadev, Tal-Srirampur and informed about Agromet Advisory in Marathi for DDK program.

Shri.V.A.Desai, S.A and Shri. L.S.Bile, S.A visited Amrawati & Washim districts during 9th September to 16th September 2015 and Shri S.S.Mairal, AM II & Shri N.G.Vaidya, AM II were visited Baramati on 14th and 15th September 2015, Ahmednagar on 21st - 22nd September 2015 to conduct Project evaluation study in respect of IMD project jointly with NABARD for dissemination of weather, crop and advisory to the Farmers’ Club member through KVKs in Maharashtra State.

14. Inspection and Installation of Agromet Observatory Inspection at 19 AMFUs Stations viz., Ludhiana, Gurudaspur, Bhatinda, Kaul, Modipuram, Bidar,

Brahmavar, Dharwad, Hiriyur, Bijapur Karaikal, Aduthurai, Guntur, Jagtiyal, Kanniwadi, Namakkal, Pechiparai, Powerkheda, Khargone and 10 Agromet Stations viz.,Kudumianmalai, Kovillangulam, Madurai, Ambejogai, Kopargaon, Sonai, Shirala-Nemane, Harali, Hayatnagar and Anantpur has been completed and installation of agromet observatory at AMFU Chennai at new site has been done successfully.

15.Visitors 1. Shri. Manoj Singh from CARE India, Delhi, visited Agrimet, Pune on 1st and 2nd July 2015

regarding joint collaboration between IMD and CARE India for providing sustainable service to women farmers in the tribal areas of Jashpur district, Chhattisgrah.

2. Delegates from Norway and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Mumbai officials visited this Division and interacted with Dr. N. Chattopadhyay, DDGM (Agrimet), IMD, Pune and also with officers and staff on “Agrometeorological Advisories Services” on 11th June 2015.

17. Future Plan GKMS project would be continued to have larger coverage with improved advisories and having closer coordination with State government authorities. Blending of tools and technologies like high resolution data, Remote Sensing, Geographical Information System (GIS) constitute the components of the enhanced system to provide personalized agromet services at local level. Efficient alert system will be established to reach the farming community at minimum possible time to take appropriate action to save their crops from any weather hazards. Linkages will also be made with Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban/ Rural Local Bodies to disseminate the weather forecast and agromet advisories to the farmers in the country through different stake holders in PPP mode. Application of Remote Sensing in AAS (crop, productivity and soil moisture status of a region under water stress, other biotic or abiotic conditions along with the possibility of forewarning pest and disease outbreak for smaller areas) needs to be expanded. Mini-observatory at the Panchayat level along with Climate Managers will be established for disseminating real time weather information and Agromet Advisories to the farming community. Accuracy and effectiveness of high resolution weather forecast and climate smart Agromet advisories will be improved to enhance the decision making ability of the farmers. Climate Risk Management tools based on climate forecast along with Agromet Advisories will be developed for the farmers. Efforts will be made to provide more lead time to the users and policy makers to take appropriate actions at the right time through latest and available ICT. The studies will be undertaken to observe whether weather based advisories have a positive impact on the overall yield and also how best can help in decreasing the cost of cultivation. These exercises will be carried out at all the field units.