Punjab has been divided into 5 agro-climatic zones, which are Bhatinda, Faridkot, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur and Gurdaspur. Around 3-4 districts will be covered in each zone. Five Agro Meteorological Field Units (AMFU) will be installed in these zones and cover all the 20 districts of the state.

“The main objective behind this scheme is to help farmers utilise the valuable resources and put an end to their weather-related problems,” said S C Bhan, Director of the Regional Meteorological Centre, New Delhi.

A conference organised today was attended by senior functionaries of IMD and the State Department of Agriculture, Punjab. Scientists from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana and other prime stake holders in Punjab were also present.

“The basic philosophy is to carry out extension of agromet advisories and collect feedback to understand dynamically changing weather conditions. The IMD had been receiving more than 80 per cent queries pertaining to weather through Kisan Call Centre and other various interactions programmes of the department. The AAS scheme was the need of the hour,” said Dr LS Rathore, Head Agromet Service, India Meteorological Department.

He further added that under this scheme assessment of information needed by diverse groups of end users would be conducted. Based on these assessments, seamless weather forecasts and farm-level advisories would be generated. Agencies involved in research and development, institutions involved in generating remotely sensed data, organisations like Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Agriculture Departments, NGOs, mass media, and technology like internet and mobile will be included.

Commenting on the standards of presentation of weather-related data by other private organisations like TV channels, etc, Rathore said, “Till date we do not have any meteorological policy. A draft of the meteorological policy has already been framed and is expected to be presented in the Parliament next year.”