Association of Agro meteorologists organizes symposium on INAGMET-2019

The symposium is jointly organized with India Meteorological Department, Indian Centre of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Risks and uncertainties in the agricultural production system due to increasing climatic variability and weather extremes have become the prime cause of global food insecurity. Considering the urgent need of sharing the agro-meteorological knowledge among researchers, policymakers, industry and farmers to learn from each other, identify the technologies/practices and develop a roadmap for risk management, the Association of Agro meteorologists (AAM) has organized a 3 day International Symposium on "Advances in Agrometeorology for Managing Climatic Risks of Farmers" (INAGMET-2019) at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (India) beginning today. The symposium is jointly organized with India Meteorological Department, Indian Centre of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Agricultural Research Institute and Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Inaugurating the symposium Secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Dr. Madhavan N. Rajeevan, said that the symposium will bring together the global experience on the advances in weather and climate predictions, understanding the impacts of climate change and variability on agriculture and sharing and cataloguing the experiences of global meteorological and agricultural communities on effective interventions and promising technologies for adaptation and mitigation as well as identifying areas for future research and collaboration as per the requirements of farming community.

The broad themes of the Symposium are:

Weather and Climate Services for Agriculture

Monsoon Variability and Predictability

Climate Variability and Change: Projections, Impacts and interventions for agro-ecosystems

Agrometeorological information and Geospatial Decision Support Systems

Risk transfer: Weather and Crop Insurance

Post-harvest management and agricultural marketing

Biotic and Abiotic Stress Management in Agriculture

Perspectives of Agrometeorological advisories

Crop Modelling and forecasting

Water Cycle and Water Use Efficiency for agriculture

Industry Interface for ExpandingAgrometeorologicall Services

Interventions for Livestock, Poultry and Fisheries management

According to studies, weather remains the largest source of variability of farm outputs. Depending on the level of development, roughly 20 to 80% of the inter-annual variability in yields stems from the variability of weather through either direct physiological stresses or through indirect stresses, like pests and diseases. Agricultural production systems are controlled by environmental conditions and farm management. The resilience of the agricultural systems can be achieved through climate-sensitive policies and actions. Identification, understanding and analysis of the climatic risks in agriculture and finding their possible solutions are the key issues to be addressed by stakeholders.

Advancement in observational systems, weather and climate prediction, agrometeorological services, analytical tools and technological innovations have provided opportunities to reduce the climatic risks and achieving sustainability. Recent developments in agro-meteorological advisory systems in different parts of the world have shown promise to minimize losses in agriculture, securing farm income and making the system's climate resilient.

INAGMET-2019 is expected to provide a platform for interactions among the professionals, scientists, policy makers and other social groups to share knowledge and experience on various aspects related to thrust areas of agrometeorology. Around 450 delegates in a different field of Agriculture especially Agro meteorology from nearly 100 institutions across the country and also from abroad are participating. While the weather and agricultural scientists will roll out the recent advances in their respective fields, session for the Industry will be a special attraction to jointly work out a road map for accelerating agribusinesses and empowering of farmers in the backdrop of doubling farmer's income.

(With Inputs from PIB)