Major change in crop weather advice

India Meteorological Department (IMD) plans to change its weather advisory service for farmers, linking it to a dynamic crop calendar of each district, based on the onset and progress of the monsoon.

The advisory will also have information on the type of crop needing to be sown, depending on irrigation and rain in that region, with a contingency plan if showers fail. According to senior officials, the improved advisories as part of IMD’s Grameen Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS) could begin in the coming kharif season. The Central Institute of Dryland Agriculture already has a model for a dynamic crop calendar. It