Brief write up of the department including historical background.

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The primary objective of the department is to help the farmers in their farming and encourage weather-responsive farming in Uttarakhand to achieve maximum production, utilization of resources and protect the natural environment from various weather hazards at the same time; through Agromet advisory services provided by Gramin Krishi Mausam Sewa (GKMS).

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Considering the significance of weather and climate and their influence on crop growth, development and yields, department of Agrometeorology came in to existence in the year 2000 after the bifurcation of department of Soil Science. Until the inception of department, teaching, research and extension activities pertaining to Agrometeorology was carried out within the Department of Soil Science. The M.Sc. Programme in Agrometeorology was initiated in 1995, while Ph.D. programme started in 2000. Research thrust in Agrometeorology includes climatic characterization of hill and plain zones of Uttarakhand, crop-weather relationships, application of weather driven dynamic crop growth and yield simulation models, weather-crop-insects/disease interactions, climate change and its effects on crop productivity, evapotranspiration, suitability analysis using Remote Sensing and GIS etc.

Department is imparting education to UG, PG and Ph.D. students related to application of meteorology in Agriculture. Department is continuously taking up research projects related to Agrometeorology, Weather forecasting, Remote Sensing and GIS for devising the methodologies/techniques for sustainable Agriculture production and precision crop management. The main aim of Agromet advisory services (AAS) under GKMS is to gather information on weather and climate, soil related information, and crop-based knowledge and combines them with weather forecast in order to provide farmers the vision to manage their decision, which ultimately would bring maximum productivity with minimum loss.

Vision

• ➤ To develop department of Agrometeorology as a Center of Excellence for imparting quality education and conducting cutting edge research in the field of crop-weather relationship, climate resilient agriculture, pests/diseases-weather interaction & forewarning, Robotics, Agri-Informatics, Climate Change, its Impact and Mitigation Measures, Geospatial technologies and artificial intelligence, their uses in agriculture and sustainable natural resources management.

• ➤ To provide Agromet advisory services based on medium range weather forecast to the farmers of all districts of Uttarakhand through the District Agromet Unit (DAMU) at KVKs to improve agriculture production in quantity & quality.
• ➤ At later stage, it is proposed to issue the Weather based Agromet advisories at micro level i.e. to the farmers at block level which would be more accurate and beneficial to the farming community being over small area.

Mission

• ➤ To run Postgraduate programme (M.Sc. and Ph.D.) in the field of Agrometeorology.
• ➤ To contribute actively in graduation programme B.Sc. Ag (Hons).
• ➤ Weather observation, database creation and data dissemination to researchers, farmers and extension workers.
• ➤ To participate in extension activities of the University for the benefit of farmers and society.
• ➤ Ultimate objective of the department is to upgrade the department as “School of Agrometeorology and Geospatial Technology”.

Mandate

Teaching

• ➤ To run postgraduate programme (M.Sc. Ag. and Ph.D.) in the field of Agrometeorology.
• ➤ To contribute actively in the under-graduate programme (B.Sc. Ag) of the College.

Research

• ➤ To conduct quality research in crop-weather relationship, crop simulation modeling, climate change, weather based agromet advisory services, remote sensing and GIS applications in agriculture for enhancing farm productivity and precision farming.
• ➤ To study climate change and its effect on crop productivity, modifications to alleviate environmental stress, evapotranspiration and water requirements of important crops.
• ➤ To prepare contingent crop plan for all the districts of Uttarakhand.

Extension

• ➤ To organize Farmer’s Awareness Program and to advise farmers through Agromet Advisory Services on farm operations tailored to present and future weather conditions and to prepare contingent plans for agriculture keeping in view the frequent occurrence of extreme weather events.
• ➤ To provide the weather and atmospheric lightning alerts through Meghdoot and Damini Apps to the people of Uttarakhand.
• ➤ Agromet Advisory Bulletin (AAB) based on medium range weather forecast is issued in English & Hindi twice a week for Nainital & U S Nagar districts under GKMS project. Same bulletins are being sent to local news papers, NGO & progressive farmers of the region. SMS are being sent to more than 85,000 farmers of US Nagar and Nainital districts of Uttarakhand biweekly who are registered on Kisan portal of Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India.