Weather advisory system key to boosting crop yield: Experts

Timely weather-based agro-advisories could lead to a 20–25 per cent increase in crop yield, opined Dr SK Bhardwaj, Head of the Department of Environmental Sciences at Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, while addressing a key stakeholders meeting on ‘Enhancement of Dissemination System for Weather-Based Agroadvisory Services among Farmers’ held recently at Nauni.

The meeting, organised in collaboration with the State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM), Shimla, aimed to increase the utilisation of weather data by the agrarian community.

It brought together key stakeholders from the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM), New Delhi, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), SRLM Shimla and grassroots representatives, including Krishi Sakhi and Pashu Sakhi members from Solan district. A total of 45 participants, including faculty members from the Department of Environmental Science, deliberated on this significant issue.

Dr Bhardwaj, also the meeting coordinator, emphasised the vital role of timely weather-based agro-advisories in enhancing crop productivity and building climate resilience. He noted that such advisories could lead to a 20–25 per cent increase in yield, and reaffirmed the department’s mission to extend these services to farmers across six key districts using modern ICT tools. Dr Purnima Mehta highlighted the utility of digital platforms such as the Meghdoot App and WhatsApp groups for delivering actionable field-level weather information to farmers.

Dr Shesha Kumar Goroshi, IMD scientist, called for strengthened collaboration to build farmer capacities for climate-resilient agriculture and announced that funding for awareness generation initiatives would shortly be provided to the department to scale up its outreach efforts.

Representing SRLM, Kusum advocated for regular training workshops for grassroots workers to ensure last-mile connectivity of advisories. The NRLM team echoed this need and stressed the importance of structured capacity-building programmes to ensure long-term sustainability and livelihood enhancement for rural communities.

This initiative marks a significant step towards bridging the gap between scientific advisories and farm-level decision-making, ultimately contributing to a more resilient and productive agricultural landscape.