5-day agro-meteorology capacity-building event kicks off at PAU

A five-day capacity-building programme of the annual group meeting of the All-India Coordinated Research Project on Agro-Meteorology (AICRPAM) kicked-off at the Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), today.

Inaugurating the programme, chief guest Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, pointed to the changes in weather conditions in Punjab and their effect on major crops, especially wheat and rice, and pest and disease incidence. He said that regional variability in projected temperature and rainfall changes across Punjab’s agro-climatic zones played a crucial role in agriculture.

He further stressed on the importance of the capacity-building programme for exploring new solutions to combat the influence of different weather hazards on crop and horticultural production of India. “This is a unique opportunity in which all scientists from different parts of the country sit on a common platform and get hands-on training in recent analytical tools on agro-meteorology,” said Gosal.

SK Bal, project coordinator, AICRPAM, highlighted different activities of AICRPam, with sharp thrust on products developed and future plans of AICRPAM at the national level.

Earlier, in her welcome remarks, PK Kingra, head, Department of Climate Change and Agricultural Meteorology, hoped that the programme would equip and expose the scientists to the modern tools to address climate challenges.