Weather extremes in Island Agro-climatic Region

Abstract

Information on soil, water, crop production and protection, livestock management, weather parameters etc. are vital for agricultural planning and enhancing production in the islands. Managing the risk associated with climate variability or vagaries of weather is integral to any comprehensive strategy for adapting agriculture and food systems to a changing climate. Accurate information on weather particularly occurrence of flood and moisture stress and suitable advisories on various aspects of agriculture based on current weather offer great potential to help farmer decision-making process in the face of increasing uncertainty, improve management of climate-related agricultural risk, and help farmers adapt to change. In addition, providing weather based agricultural advisories at district level will be immensely helpful to the farmers to know the recent crop production methods/ techniques, plant protection measures, input management in addition to best practices in livestock farming and aquaculture. This is very much pertinent to Andaman and Nicobar Islands located in the remotest part of the country. The location, crop and livestock specific farm-level advisories as well as descriptions of prevailing weather, soil and crop conditions, and suggestions for taking appropriate measures will minimize losses and optimize inputs in the form of irrigation, fertilizer or pesticides. Therefore, location-specific weather forecasts in the medium range hold greater potential for tailoring content and format to farm-level decision-making, more particularly, for resource poor and tribal farmers. Since June 2008, CIARI in collaboration with agromet division of IMD, Pune has helped the island farmers in timely operation and efficient use of available resources through its widely circulated agromet advisory services. In addition, the institute has greatly improved and expanded its services to provide agro-meteorological information to all the stakeholders through the internet and mobile based applications.