Union Minister Jitendra Singh on Wednesday said that the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW) has set up two committees to reduce the delay in crop loss/damage estimation and ensure timely settlement of farmers’ claims.

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, the minister said that the Committee for Nationwide Implementation of Technology-based Crop Yield Estimation, and Committee for Standardization and Improvement of Weather Data Infrastructure, will be headed by the Director of Mahalanobis National Crop Forecast Centre (MNCFC), under MoA&FW.

Singh added that the committees will have representation from Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan government along with the experts from different departments and agencies of the central government. 

“The panel on yield estimation will submit its report within 45 days. It will prepare standard operating procedure (SOP) as well as enroll technology implementation partners (TIPs). The panel on weather data infrastructure has been tasked to help MoA&FW in the creation of the proposed Weather Information Network Data System (WINDS), under which a system of automatic weather stations (AWS) and automatic rain gauges (ARG) will be implemented across India," he said.

The minister added that the challenges of climate change-induced extreme weather events and natural calamities are handled in the best possible way by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) through timely weather warnings and climate forecasts to the entire nation and to various stake holders. 

India Meteorological Department (IMD) runs an operational Agrometeorological Advisory Services (AAS) viz., Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) scheme for the benefit of farming community in the country. 

Under the scheme, medium range weather forecast at district and block level for next five days is generated and based on the forecast, 130 Agromet Field Units (AMFUs), located at State Agricultural Universities, institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) etc., prepare Agromet Advisories on every Tuesday and Friday for the districts under their jurisdiction and for the blocks of the district of their location and communicate to the farmers 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 to enhancing crop production and food security besides reducing crop damage and loss due to unusual weather.

Source - https://www.livemint.com