Journal

of
Agrometeorology
Volume 15

Special Issue - II

December 2013

Association of Agrometeorologists, Anand Agricultural University,

Anand - 388 110, Gujarat, India

JOURNAL OF AGROMETEOROLOGY
Volume 15

Special Issue - II

December 2013

Peer-reviewed papers presented at the 6th National Symposium on Climate Change and Indian
Agriculture: Slicing Down the Uncertainties at Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture
(CRIDA), Santosh Nagar, Hyderabad - 500 059 during 22-23 January, 2013. The National Seminar
was organized jointly by Association of Agrometeorologists, AP Chapter and CRIDA.

EDITORS FOR THE SPECIAL ISSUE

Dr. V.U.M. Rao
Dr. B. Bapuji Rao

REVIEWERS FOR THE SPECIAL ISSUE

Prof. B.V. Ramana Rao, Hyderabad

Dr. J.V.N.S. Prasad, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Prof. P.S.N. Sastry, Hyderabad

Dr. S. Desai, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. H. Venkatesh, UAS, Dharwad

Dr. Y.G. Prasad, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. Diwan Singh, CCS HAU, Hisar

Dr. C.A. Rama Rao, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. G.S.L.H.V. Prasada Rao, Thrissur

Dr. M. Prabhakar, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. N.V.K. Chakravarthy, New Delhi

Dr. K.V. Rao, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. G.G.S.N. Rao, Hyderabad

Dr. Ch. Srinivasa Rao, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. Vyas Pandey, AAU, Anand

Dr. B.M.K. Raju, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. A.S.R.A.S. Sastry, IGKV, Raipur

Dr. D.B.V. Ramana, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. K.V. Ramana, NRSC, Hyderabad

Dr. M. Srinivasa Rao, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. N.R. Patel, IIRS, Dehradun

Dr. R. Rajeshwar Rao, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Dr. M. Raghu Babu, ANGRAU, Sanga Reddy

Dr. Arun Shankar, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Climate Change and Indian Agriculture: Slicing Down the Uncertainties

CRIDA, Hyderabad, January 22-23, 2013

National Organizing Committee

Chief Patron:
S. Ayyappan, Secretary (DARE) & DG, ICAR, New Delhi
Patrons:
L.S. Rathore, DG, IMD, New Delhi
A.M. Shekh, VC, AAU, Anand
Chairman:
A.K. Singh, Vice Chancellor, RVSKVV, Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh
Co-Chairman:
S.M. Virmani, Hyderabad
Members:
B. Venkateswarlu, Hyderabad
S.R. Patel, Raipur
Y.S. Ramakrishna, Jorhat
G.S.L.H.V. Prasada Rao, Thrissur
V.K. Dadhwal, Hyderabad
H.R. Patel, Anand
J.C. Dagar, New Delhi
V. Geethalakshmi, Coimbatore
J.S. Parihar, Ahmedabad
R. Jagannathan, Coimbatore
Akhilesh Gupta, New Delhi
N. Chhattopadhya, Pune
U.C. Mohanty, New Delhi
K.K. Singh, New Delhi
P. Sanjeeva Rao, New Delhi
D. Raji Reddy, Hyderabad
A.S.R.A.S. Sastry, Raipur
M.V.R. Sesha Sai, Hyderabad
G.G.S.N. Rao, Hyderabad
N.S. Murthy, Panthnagar
P.K. Mishra, Dehradun
S.D. Attri, New Delhi
Shenoi Sateesh Chandra, Hyderabad
S.C. Bhan, New Delhi
M.B. Rajegowda, Bangalore
G. Sudhakar Rao, Hyderabad
S. Pasupalak, Bhubaneswar
M. Sudhakar Rao, New Delhi
M.K. Khushu, Jammu
K.J. Ramesh, New Delhi
H. Venkatesh, Bijapur
S.A. Khan, Mohanpur
Padmakar Tripathi, Faizabad
R. Hussain, Hyderabad
Diwan Singh, Hisar
G.S. Buttar, Ludhiana
Rajendra Prasad, Palampur
D.W. Thawal, Pune
Conveners : V.U.M Rao, CRIDA, Hyderabad
Vyas Pandey, AAU, Anand

Local Organizing Committee

Chairman:
B. Venkateswarlu, Hyderabad
Co-Chairman:
V.U.M. Rao, Hyderabad
Members:
G.R. Korwar, Hyderabad
M. Maheswari, Hyderabad
M.S. Prasad, Hyderabad
G.R. Maruthi Shankar, Hyderabad
C.A. Rama Rao, Hyderabad
A.S. Rao, Hyderabad
D. Raji Reddy, Hyderabad
S.K. Yadav, Hyderabad
K.L. Sharma, Hyderabad
Kaushalya Ramachandran, Hyderabad
Ch. Srinivasa Rao, Hyderabad
G.R. Rao, Hyderabad
Y.G. Prasad, Hyderabad
S. Dixit, Hyderabad
V. Maruthi, Hyderabad
A.K. Shankar, Hyderabad
G. Ravindrachary, Hyderabad

M.S. Rao, Hyderabad

K.V. Rao, Hyderabad
K. Srinivas, Hyderabad
I. Srinivas, Hyderabad
J.V.N.S. Prasad, Hyderabad
S.S. Balloli, Hyderabad
G. Pratibha, Hyderabad
R.V. Adake, Hyderabad
N. Ravi Kumar, Hyderabad
K. Nagashree, Hyderabad
Rajkumar Dhakar, Hyderabad
K.V. Ramana, Hyderabad
M. Raghu Babu, Bapatla
S. Sudhir Kumar, Hyderabad
G. Srinivas, Hyderabad
Y.K. Reddy, Hyderabad
S.V.B. Krishna Bhagawan, Hyderabad

Convener:
B. Bapuji Rao, Hyderabad
Co-conveners
P. VijayaKumar, Hyderabad
M. Prabhakar, Hyderabad
S. Desai, Hyderabad
A.V.M. Subba Rao, Hyderabad
Scientific Steering Committee
P.S.N. Sastry, Hyderabad
B.V. Ramana Rao, Hyderabad
G.G.S.N. Rao, Hyderabad

Felicitations and Honors conferred during the National Symposium

A: Honorary Fellow of the Association
Dr.V.U.M. Rao
Dr. Gaurang Kar
B: Significant contribution to Association
Prof. P.S.N. Sastry
Prof. B.V. Ramana Rao
Dr. L.S. Rathod
Dr.Vyas Pandey
C: Retirees (Life member of Association)
Dr. G.S.L.H.V. Prasada Rao
Dr. D.D. Sahu
Dr. Ramaprosad Samui
D: Awardees
Prof. P.S.N. Sastry Award for the best M. Sc. Thesis in Agricultural Meteorology for the year
2011 - Mr. Rajkumar Dhakar
Prof. P.S.N. Sastry Award for the best M. Sc. Thesis in Agricultural Meteorology for the year
2012 - Ms. Ankita Jha
Dr. P.D. Mistry Award for the best Ph.D Thesis in Agricultural Meteorology for the year 2011 Mr. R.K. Pal
Dr. P.D. Mistry Award for the best Ph.D Thesis in Agricultural Meteorology for the year 2012 Ms. Barnali Saikia
Dr. S. Venkataraman Award for best paper on biotic and abiotic stresses published in J.
Agrometeorology for the year 2011 - Mr. Sevak Das
Dr. S. Venkataraman Young Scientist award for the year 2012 - Dr Ajeet Singh
One of the best three papers in J. Agrometeorology for 2010-11 - Mr. A.V.M.Subba Rao
One of the best three papers in J. Agrometeorology for 2010-11 - Dr. Joydeep Mukherjee
One of the best three papers in J. Agrometeorology for 2010-11 - Dr. K.K. Singh
E: Commendable Presentations:
a) Oral Sessions
Changes in the semi-arid areas in India - A.V.R. KesavaRao, Suhas P. Wani, M. Irshad Ahmed, K.
Srinivas, Snehal D. Bairagi and O. Ramadevi
Comprehensive methodology for assessment of agricultural vulnerability to climate change: A
case study of Indo-Gangetic Plains of India - Vinay Kumar Sehgal, Malti Rani Singh, Niveta Jain
and Himanshu Pathak

Variation in absorption of Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) and PAR use efficiency of
wheat and mustard grown under intercropping system - Sarika Jena, P. Bandopadhyay, R. Nath
and P.K. Chakraborty
Effect of high temperature in flowering stage of hybrid and inbred rice genotypes on seed set and
its related physiological characteristics - I.M. Khan
Mitigation options for climate change through Biofuel production and usage in India - I. Srinivas
and G. Rajeshwar Rao
Effect of different sowing environments and applied phosphorus on dry matter accumulation,
thermal indices at different growth stages and yield of fenugreek (Trigonella foenum- graecum
L) - R.P. Meena, B.L. Meena and N. S. Solanki
Resource conservation technologies for arresting soil loss, improving carbon sequestration and
land productivity-a panacea for climate resilient agriculture in rainfed hill ecosystem - Anup Das,
G. I. Ramkrushna, B.U. Choudhury, Sandip Mandal, K.P. Mohapatra, R. Krishnappa, D.J.
Rajkhowa, S.V. Ngachan, Jayanta Layek and G.C. Munda
Use of ICT tools for dissemination of weather based agro advisories: A critical analysis - K.
Nagasree, K. Ravi Shankar, Sreenath Dixit, B. Venkateswarlu, A.V.M. SubbaRao and Vijay
Jesudasan
Assessment of nitrogen status of castor using remote sensing techniques - K. Suresh, D.
Balaguravaiah and G. Jayasree
Spectral and spatial properties of rice brown plant hopper and groundnut late leaf spot disease
infestation under natural field conditions - M. Prabhakar, Y.G. Prasad, S. Desai and M. Thirupathi
b) Poster Sessions
Changes in length of growing period in future climate scenarios at selected locations of Chhattisgarh
state - N. Manikandan, A.S.R.S. Sastri, S.R. Patel and R. Singh
Reference crop evapotranspiration over India: A comparision of estimates from open pan with
Penman-Monteith method - B. Bapuji Rao, V.M.Sandeep, P.Shanti Bhushan Chowdary, V.P.
Pramod and V.U.M. Rao
Weather based sunflower yield forecast models in Northern Karnataka - J.R. Hiremath, A.K.
Guggari and H. Venkatesh
Exploration of possible adaptation strategies for climate resilient rice production systems in Assam
- Nivedita Doley, S. Barman, R.L. Deka and U. Barman
Phenology and productivity of mustard (Brassica juncea) as influenced by thermal regimes and
irrigation levels - N.S. Solanki, R.P. Meena, B. Bhavya, D.S. Rawat and V.U.M. Rao
Adaptation to climate change : Integrated nutrient use in cotton - V.S.L.Raj Rushi, K.P. Prasuna
Rani, P.R.K. Prasade and P.Anil kumar
Conservatrion agriculture in maize-horsegram system in rainfed Alfisols for soil carbon
sequestration and climate change mitigation - Sumanta Kundu, Ch. Srinivasarao, B. Venkateswarlu,
T. Satyanarayana, R.B. Mallick and R. Prakash Naik

Impact of coconut based cropping systems and soil moisture conservation measures on soil
temperature under coastal sandy soil - P. Subramanyam, R. Dhanapal and Haresha
Agro-advisories and crop planning on weather basis in scarcity zone of Maharashtra - J.R. Kadam,
J.D. Jadhav, S.B. Thorve, S.K. Upadhye and D.B. Bhanvase
Assessment of climate change and its impact on growth and yield of wheat under temperate and
sub-tropical conditions through DSSAT4.0 - Manpreet Kour, K.N. Singh, Mahender Singh, N.P.
Thakur, Dileep Kachroo and Rohit Sharma
Modelling methane emissions from rice fields in Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand Calibration and validation of DNDC model - Asha Latwal and A.S. Nain
Impact of weather parameters on emerging pest and diseases of tomato in Rangareddy district of
Andhra Pradesh - K. Sireesha, M. Vijaya, P. Madhavi Latha, R.V.S.K. Reddy, J. Dilip Babu, S.
Vennila, M. Srinivasa Rao and G.Kiran
Impact of climate change on rice diseases of Assam and its management options - Kuldeep
Talukdar, R.L. Deka and Dipika Deori

Recommendations of the National Symposium

Meteorological data at micro level may be collected on priority basis. If needed funds may be
sought from various funding agencies including ICAR for collection of the data.

In climate change projections, use of PRECIS or NATCOM data need to be suspended till the
IPCCs assessment report comes out by the end of 2013.

The quality of both meteorological and crop data should be ensured while projecting the future
yields using simulation models.

Regional yield estimates for future climatic conditions need to be based on multi-location studies
only, as the findings will go into policy decisions. In regional yield estimates, the input data on
management practices and cultivars evaluated should represent the average conditions of the
region.

Studies on climatic characterization have to be taken up with a purpose and based on sound
scientific hypothesis and mere statistical analysis of data has no relevance.

Climatic stability analysis needs to be performed on regional basis, with particular emphasis to
climate shifts in the transition zones.

The significance of trend analysis has to be evaluated based on changes in crop productivity.
Statistical significance alone has no relevance.

Emphasis may be given in climate change studies on resource conservation techniques which
have more practical utility.

Climate change impacts on allied sectors like poultry, sheep, goat and dairy may be carried out
in a system mode.

The positive impacts of climate change / variability are not being studied and reported. Attempts
may be made to identify such episodes.

The pest and disease forecasting models may target regional studies using GIS or such
relevant approaches. The emphasis should be on dynamic models but not on empirical / statistical
models alone.

Editorial Board
(Journal of Agrometeorology)

Editor-in-Chief

: Prof. B. V. Ramana Rao, Hyderabad

Email: buverarao@gmail.com

Managing Editor

: Dr. Vyas Pandey, AAU, Anand

Email: pandey04@yahoo.com

Editors

: Dr. A. M. Shekh, AAU, Anand

Email: amshekh15@yahoo.co.in

Dr. V.U.M. Rao, CRIDA, Hyderabad

Email: vumrao54@gmail.com

Prof. M. C. Varshneya, Pune

Email: mcvarshneya@gmail.com

Dr. G.S.L.H.V. Prasad Rao, KAU, Thrissur

Email: kauagmet@yahoo.co.in

Dr. Y. S. Ramakrishna, Jorhat

Email: ramakrishna.ys@gmail.com

Dr. S. S. Hundal, Ludhiana

Email: hundalss@yahoo.co.in

Dr. A.S.R.A.S. Sastry, IGAU, Raipur

Email: asastri@yahoo.com

Dr. N.V.K. Chakravarty, New Delhi

Email: nvkchak@rediffmail.com

Dr. T. N. Balasubramanian, Coimbatore

Email: ramshankar27@sify.com

Dr. G.G.S.N. Rao, Hyderabad

Email: ggsnrao@gmail.com

International Editors : Dr. M. V. K. Sivakumar, WMO, Geneva

Email: msivakumar@wmo.int

Dr. Orivaldo Brunini, Brazil

Email: brunini@iac.sp.gov.br

Dr. Samsul Huda, NSW, Australia

Email: s.huda@uws.edu.au

Dr. Federica Rossi, Italy

Email: f.rossi@ibimet.cnr.it

Prof. Roger Stone, Toowoomba, Australia

Email: Roger.Stone@usq.edu.au

Dr. Raymond Motha, USDA, USA

Email: RMotha@oce.usda.gov

Dr. Jim Salinger, Auckland, New Zealand

Email: j.salinger@auckland.ac.nz

Dr. Alexander Kleshchenko, Russia

Email: cxm-dir@obninsk.org

PREFACE
Climates are classified considering aggregate weather conditions that prevail over a given region on
an annual basis with some sub-classifications made from the behavior of seasonal weather conditions.
Scientists all over the world evolved strategies for agricultural planning, management and development
on the assumption that the weather conditions from season to season during different years will vary
within certain limits. However, the times are changing and the human greed to over exploit natural
resources for short term gains have contributed to changes in environment and as a consequence the
changes in climate were observed to the extent which was not realized before. Therefore, the agricultural
production systems have become vulnerable to climate change and the existing available technologies
are not able to address all the problems arising out of climate change and unimagined extremities in the
weather, thereby posing the problem of uncertainty.
Global temperatures are rising continuously and the debate is still on whether this is anthropogenic.
From the records and estimates available with IMD, the mean annual temperature of India increased by
0.5C over a period of last 155 years. Little is known about the reasons for changes in variability of
climate, although extreme temperatures and rainfall significantly influence crop yields. Rainfall intensity
and number of days with precipitation above 2.5 mm day-1 in a year stated to be on increase in many parts
of India. The frequency and duration of droughts or floods have profound influence on crop productivity
and National food security. Thus, it is imperative to make Indian Agriculture prepared to sustain the
projected extreme weather events in the years to come.
To address issues and challenges that may bring resilience in Indian agriculture to climatic variability
/ change, recently formed Association of Agrometeorologists, AP Chapter has organized a National
symposium on Climate Change and Indian Agriculture: Slicing Down the Uncertainties at CRIDA,
Hyderabad during 22-23 January, 2013. In all 376 participants across the country have presented lead
papers / oral and poster presentations focusing themes (a) Climate change - database, trends, projections
and impacts on agriculture and allied sectors; (b) Adaptation and mitigation strategies for climate resilience
in - natural resources; cops, livestock, poultry and fisheries; Insect-pests, diseases and weeds; (c) Value
added agromet advisory services / products and (d) Socio-economic aspects of climate change. Full
length papers were invited from the participants and peer reviewed by a panel of experts. There are 96
papers that were recommended by the panel encompassing new vistas viz., adaptation strategies
(agronomic/edaphic/economic), ICTs and even sectors like livestock and fisheries, that were hitherto
mostly not appeared in the journal. All these papers are brought out as special issue of the Journal in two
volumes. In the first volume 47 papers were accommodated and in the present second volume 49 papers
are being brought out now.
We are deeply indebted to Indian Council of Agriculture Research, New Delhi; Ministry of Earth
Sciences, Government of India; Department of Science & Technology, New Delhi; NABARD, Hyderabad;
ICRISAT, Patancheru; NCML, Hyderabad; giz India and State Bank of India, Edi Bazar Branch, Hyderabad
for generously financing this National Symposium and for publication of this special issue.
We sincerely acknowledge the support and assistance extended by Reviewers and AICRPAM Staff
in bringing out the special issue of Journal of Agrometeorology.

CRIDA, Hyderabad
10.12.2013

Editors
Special Issue, JAM

Volume 15

Special Issue - II

December 2013

Journal
of
Agrometeorology
CONTENTS
H. VENKATESH, SAVITA B. NASHI, J. R. HIREMATH, V. B. NARGUND and S. N. KULKARNI. Adoption of
weather forecasts A precursor towards adaptation to climate change

01

K.V. RAO, I. BHASKARA RAO, V. U. M. RAO, B. BAPUJI RAO, J. V. N. S. PRASAD and MALLIKARJUNA
REDDY. Comparison of two weather generators for rainfall simulation: A case study for humid and semi arid
environments

06

JAGDISH SINGH, RABI MOHTAR, ERIK BRAUDEAU, DHANWINDER-SINGH and GARY HEATHMEN.
Evaluation of pedostructure based model Kamel under soils with varying clay content for prediction of soil moisture

14

Y.G. PRASAD, S. SAM KOSHY, P. SOWJANYA, Y. NAGARAJU, P. NAVEEN KUMAR, S. DESAI and M.
PRABHAKAR. Application of wireless sensor network based decision support system for pest management
advisories in groundnut

21

K. BOOMIRAJ, K. BYJESH, K. LAKSHMI, N. SRITHARAN, R. KAMAL KUMAR and D. JAWAHAR. InfoCrop

a crop simulation model for assessing the climate change impacts on crops

26

A.V.R. KESAVA RAO, SUHAS P. WANI, K. SRINIVAS, PUSHPRAJ SINGH, SNEHAL D. BAIRAGI and O.
RAMADEVI. Assessing impacts of projected climate on pigeonpea crop at Gulbarga

32

R.H. LAXMAN, N.K. SRINIVASA RAO, R.M. BHATT, A.T. SADASHIVA, V.S. JOHN SUNOJ,
GEETA BIRADAR, C.B. PAVITHRA, K.M. MANASA and K.H. DHANYALAKSHMI. Response of tomato
(Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) genotypes to elevated temperature

38

S. MAJI, M. BHOWMICK, R. NATH and P. K. CHAKRABORTY. Effect of sunlit leaf area index (L*) on total dry
matter and crop growth rate of potato planted under different dates and nitrogen levels

45

MOHAMMAD SHAMIM, DEVENDRA SINGH, B. GANGWAR, K.K. SINGH and VIPIN KUMAR.
Agrometeorological indices in relation to phenology, biomass accumulation and yield of rice genotypes under
Western Plain zone of Uttar Pradesh

50

RAJKUMAR DHAKAR, V. K. SEHGAL, SHIVANI NAGAR, V. U. M. RAO, B. BAPUJI RAO, P. VIJAYA

KUMAR, A. V. M. SUBBA RAO and RAVI DUPDAL. Impact of drought on spatio-temporal pattern of phenology
in Rajasthan

58

SAON BANERJEE, SUDIP CHATTERJEE, ASIS MUKHERJEE, SUMAN SAMANTA and MRIDUL BOSE.
Variation of crop evapotranspiration from the potato field at two selected locations of West Bengal, India

64

P. VIJAYA KUMAR, V.U.M. RAO, O. BHAVANI, A.P. DUBEY, P.K. SIDHU, S.R. PATEL and B.
VENKATESWARLU. Optimizing sowing dates and selection of varieties of wheat through long-term crop and
weather analysis

67

A. V. M. SUBBA RAO, M. JAYPAL, V.U.M. RAO, V. NARSIMHA RAO and N.S. RAJU. Mandal-wise analysis
of dry spell probability during different growth stages of rice in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh

73

SUCHANDAN BEMAL, DIWAN SINGH and SURENDER SINGH. Impact analysis of climate variability on rice
productivity in eastern agroclimatic zone of Haryana by using DSSAT crop model

80

S. RATNAKUMARI, S. BHARATHI and V. CHENGA REDDY. Influence of weather variables on phenology and
productivity of Bt and N Bt cotton in rainfed vertisols

86

E. PARAMESWARI, V. DAVAMANI, S. ARULMANI, K. SARAVANAN, V. RAVI and T. JAYARAJ. Assessment

on the reduction of Green House Gas (GHG) emission by nitrification inhibitor under intensive rice system of
Cauvery Delta Zone (CDZ)

94

RAJEEV RANJAN and A. S. NAIN. Discrimination of wheat crop using remote sensing in Tarai region of
Uttarakhand

99

K. SURESH, D. BALAGURAVAIAH and G. JAYASREE. Assessment of nitrogen status of castor using remote
sensing techniques

105

K. NAGASREE, K. RAVI SHANKAR, B.VENKATESWARLU, SREENATH DIXIT, B.M.K RAJU, A.V.M.

SUBBARAO and VIJAY JESUDASAN. An analysis on use of ICT tools for dissemination of weather based agro
advisories

110

M. MURALIDHAR, M. KUMARAN, J. ASHOK KUMAR, J. SYAMA DAYAL, M. JAYANTHI, R. SARASWATHY,

N. LALITHA, A. PANIGRAHI, A. SREENIVASA RAO, B. MUNIYANDI and P. MURUGAN. Climate change
and coastal aquaculture in West Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh: Impacts, vulnerability, adaptations and mitigations
for resilience

116

R. REJANI, T.R. RUPA and M.G. NAYAK. Suitability of cashew growing areas in India an appraisal using GIS

123

P. THIMME GOWDA, S.I. HALIKATTI, H. VENKATESH, S. M. HIREMATH and B. N. ARAVINDKUMAR.

Phenology, thermal time and phasic development of pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan L. Millisp.) grown under intercropping
system

129

M. SURESH, P. PADMAVATHI, N. R. G. VARMA and R. JAGADEESHWAR. Effect of weather and growth stage
of crop on Alternaria leaf spot development and progress in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.)

135

CH. SRINIVASARAO, VIJAY S. JAKKULA, SUMANTA KUNDU, SUDHANSHU S. KASBE, R. VEERAIAH,

S. RAMMOHAN, S. DIXIT, M. DINESH BABU and K. VENKANNA. Management of intermittent droughts
through on-farm generation of organic matter: Participatory experiences from rainfed tribal districts of Andhra
Pradesh

140

CHANDRA BHAN, S. V. SINGH, R. C. UPADHYAY, O. K. HOODA and BEENAM BALIYAN. Impact of

temperature variability on physiological, hematological and biochemical profile of growing and adult Murrah buffaloes

146

N. RAVI KUMAR, K. SUBAHARAN, T.N. JANAKIRAMAN, HEMALATHA THIAGARAJAN and B.M.K. RAJU.
Detecting motion of insects in varied environments using digital image analysis

153

BARUN BISWAS, L.K. DHALIWAL, S.K. MANN, GURBIR KAUR and P. KASHYAP. A model based approach
for predicting Karnal Bunt disease of wheat under Punjab conditions

158

P. K. PANKAJ, D. B. V.RAMANA, RITA RANI, M. NIKHILA, D. SUDHEER and K. P. CHOWDARY.

Thermotolerance of sheep in relation to coat colour

163

J.V.N.S. PRASAD, CH. NAGA JYOTI, K. RAVICHANDRA, CH. SRINIVASARAO, K. SRINIVAS, M.B. GULED,
I.M. SARAWAD, S.R. MULLA, V.V. ANGADI, G.R. CHARY, P.K. MISHRA and B. VENKATESWARLU. Effect
of long-term tillage and sources of nitrogen on crop yields of sorghum- sunflower rotation and soil carbon sequestration
in rainfed vertisols

170

P. DHANYA, A. RAMACHANDRAN, PRASANTA KUMAR BAL and P. THIRUMURUGAN. Recent and future
weather and climate trends of Kancheepuram, Tamil Nadu and their possible impacts on agriculture

176

K. V. S. L. RAJ RUSHI, P. PRASUNA RANI, P. R. K. PRASAD and P. ANIL KUMAR. Adaptation to climate
change: Integrated nutrient use in cotton

183

G. S. PRATYUSHA KRANTHI, K. V. RAO, J. V. N. S. PRASAD, RAJBIR SINGH and V. U. M. RAO. Spatial and
temporal assessment of net primary productivity for Andhra Pradesh using MODIS data

188

ATHAI GUPTA and S. A. KHAN. Effect of temperature on grain protein content of wheat

194

G.R. RAO, A. SHANKER, P. SATHI REDDY, K. MADHUSUDAN, M. MAHESHWARI and B.

VENKATESWARLU. Microclimate, gas exchange, canopy architecture and photosystem II (PSII) photochemistry
as influenced by spacing in Pongamia pinnata

199

R. HUSSAIN, K. K. DUTTA, D. TAMULY, R. L. DEKA and P. G. KHANIKAR. Farmers perception of climate

change impact and its mitigation in Golaghat district of Assam

203

K. DEVAKI, T. PRATHIMA, T. MURALIKRISHNA, A. RAMAKRISHNA RAO, U. VENKATESWARLU and K.

SUMA. Impact of weather factors on incidence of leaf miner Aproaerema modicella, (Gelechiidae: Lepidoptera)
on kharif groundnut in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh

209

GAGANPREET KOUR, V.K. WALI, M.K. KHUSHU, PARSHANT BAKSHI, AKASH SHARMA and CHARU
SHARMA. Studies on the irrigation scheduling in low chilling cultivars of peach under subtropical conditions

212

CH. SRINIVASARAO, B. VENKATESWARLU, Y. SUDHA RANI, A.K. SIKKA, A.K. SINGH, K. D. KOKATE
and S. DIXIT. Impact assessment of climate resilient technology on carbon balance using EX-ACT model: A case
study in three rainfed tribal villages of Andhra Pradesh

217

M.K. KHUSHU, CHARU SHARMA, SANJAY KOUSHAL, RAJEEV SHARMA B. BAPUJI RAO and V.U.M.
RAO. Simulation of phenology, growth and yield of maize in a humid sub-tropical region of India using CERESMaize model

222

Short Communications
NAVNEET KAUR and K. K. GILL. Evaluating canopy temperature based indices for irrigation scheduling and
yield prediction in wheat

227

R. NAGARJUNA KUMAR, K. SRINIVAS REDDY, M.S. NATHAWAT, NILANCHAL PATEL, L.K. SHARMA
V.S. RAHORE, G. RAVINDRA CHARY, G. R. MARUTHI SANKAR, B. SAILAJA and N.S. RAJU. Long-term
rainfall analysis of Ranga Reddy district of Andhra Pradesh using GIS

230

PARVINDER KUMAR, SURENDER SINGH and DIWAN SINGH. Regional climate variability analysis and
impact assessment on wheat productivity : A case study in Haryana

235

S.R. PATEL, S. CHANDRAWANSHI and S. BHELAWE. Heat unit requirement of different rice varieties in
Chhattisgarh plain zone

238

D. RAJALAKSHMI, R. JAGANNATHAN, V. GEETHALAKSHMI and A.P. RAMARAJ. Assessing the impact of

change in climate on the water use index (WUI) and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of rice

241

SUBHARANJAN DAS, SWARUP BISWAS, SAON BANERJEE and ASIS MUKHERJEE. Projected boro rice
yields for different locations of West Bengal using DSSAT model

244

VANITA K. KHOBARKAR, R.G. DESHMUKH and S.W. JAHAGIRDAR. Effect of rainfall on cotton yield in
Yavatmal District

245

KUSHAL SARMAH, RIJUMANI RAJBONGSHI, PRASANTA NEOG and MARCY MAIBANGSHA. Rainfall
probability analysis of Lakhimpur, Assam

247

D.P. DORKAR, P.S. KAMBALE, V.G. MANIYAR and J.D. JADHAV. Soybean (Glycine max L.) crop coefficients
(Kc) for Marathwada region of Maharashtra

251

ABDUS SATTAR and S.A. KHAN. Rainfall variability and its impact on kharif rice in Nalanda district of Bihar

253

December
analysis
on use :of110-115
ICT tools
for dissemination
of weather based agro advisories
Journal of 2013]
Agrometeorology 15An
(Special
Issue-II)
(December
2013)

110

An analysis on use of ICT tools for dissemination of

weather based agro advisories
K. NAGASREE*, K. RAVI SHANKAR, B.VENKATESWARLU, SREENATH DIXIT,
B.M.K RAJU, A.V.M. SUBBARAO and VIJAY JESUDASAN1
Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture, Santoshnagar, Hyderabad - 500 059, Andhra Pradesh
1
iKisan, Punjangutta, Hyderabad - 500 082, Andhra Pradesh
*E-mail: knagasri@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT
Access to the weather based information service to the farming community and extension functionaries through
timely forecasting of information on occurrence of pests and diseases, crop operations to be carried out
during weather sensitive crop growth stages plays a pivotal role in reducing weather related risks. Though
farmers are availing weather information through various mass and electronic media (Radio, T.V etc.), the
usage of the information for decision making is constrained as the information is deficient of agro-advisories
and lack of location specific content. Hence an attempt was made to deliver timely and need based location
specific weather information through the usage of different communication channels for reaching the unreached.
It is in this context that CRIDAs NAIP project on Sustainable rural livelihoods through enhanced farming
systems productivity and efficient support systems in rainfed areas which is an action research pilot project in
selected village clusters of the 8 backward districts of Andhra Pradesh involving a consortium of institutions
from public, private and NGO sectors attempted to disseminate weather based information services and
advisories through integration of ICT tools like Touch screen information kiosk, Display announcement package,
Interactive voice response system (IVRS), Sasyavani mobile based agro advisories. The present paper analyses
the utility of ICT tools in the diffusion of weather based knowledge services in terms of relevance, accessibility,
timeliness, and location specificity.

Key words: ICT tools, weather information, farmers, dissemination

Despite the latest developments and advancements in
the information and communication technologies, rainfed
agriculture is subjected to the vagaries of the monsoon, and
the production is limited by the fluctuations in the weather
parameters like temperature, rainfall, relative humidity, wind
speed. Dryland agriculture is especially affected by this.
Timely information at the proper time will provide the
necessary inputs to the farmers for the effective management
of risk associated in maintaining profitable agriculture on
sustainable basis in the case of extreme weather events .It
will also help in conservation of natural resources and
environment (Ramakrishna et al., 2008). The ability of the
farmers to make decisions and planning about choice of crops,
technologies is often limited by the non availability of
customised weather information. Hence, information on
weather is helpful to farmers in organizing the activities of
farm operations and management of the resources available
to them effectively and thereby minimizing the losses due to
weather fluctuations. Anurag et al. (2012) stated that the
advancements in ICT can be utilized for providing accurate,
timely, relevant information and services to farmers, thereby
facilitating an environment for more remunerative
agriculture.

Weather based agro-advsories disseminate needful

information to manage the weather sensitive crop operations
before and during the crop season, harvest and post harvest
which also becomes a part of risk management for weather
aberrations. It also prepares the farmer to adapt to weather
variability and climate change. Rajireddy et al. (2013)
expressed the difficulty for extension specialists to deal with
the climate uncertainty and variability and to make to inform
the farming community on the selection of best options
through agro-advisories on real time basis under the rapid
changing climate situations. As the dissemination of weather
based information in a timely and cost effective manner is a
challenge to traditional extension approaches, use of the
modern extension tools like information communication
technologies is the need of an hour.
Hence, an attempt was made in this study to deliver
the timely and need based location specific weather
information through the usage of different channels for
reaching the unreached. It is in this context that CRIDAs
NAIP project on Sustainable rural livelihoods through
enhanced farming systems productivity and efficient support
systems in rainfed areas, which is an action research pilot
project in selected village clusters of the 8 backward districts

111

NAGASREE et al.

of Andhra Pradesh involving a consortium of institutions from

public, private and NGO sectors, attempting to disseminate
weather based information services and advisories through
integration of ICT tools like touch screen information kiosk,
Display announcement package, Interactive Voice response
system IVRS, Sasyavani mobile based agro advisories.
Rathore (2011) stated that task of AAS is to provide
information to help farmers make the best possible use of
weather and climate resources. The use of electronic media
such as email or the internet is picking up as the access of
these methods to the farming community is significantly on
the rise.

[Vol. 15, Spl. Issue-II

ICT tools in the study

Touch screen information kiosk
As a part of outreach event through ICT tools it was
planned to introduce touch screen, an unique interactive tool
for one stop access to information to cater the needs of
individual or very small group of farmers with minimum
literacy standards. Touch screen information kiosk version
(Fig. 2) was set up in a stand-alone system equipped with
content containing appropriate images and voice backup files
of different topics with a finger touch facilitating user-friendly
interaction like ATMs.

The paper explores how the weather based information

and knowledge was generated and disseminated in
agricultural extension system specifically, using Information
and Communication technologies (ICTs) to generate, blend,
adapt to users conditions. The practical insights about the
usage of IT tools for percolation of the advisory services to
the farmers were also studied.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The Knowledge Sharing Center (KSC) at grass roots
level under the project provided access to value added
information services on latest tools and technologies of
agriculture for improving the rural livelihoods. It facilitated
the sharing of data, information and the collective knowledge
gleaned from research, experiences and interaction with
cluster partners. The custom tailored services include
information and knowledge dissemination of weather
advisory services, package of practices, crop diagnostic
services, plant protection measures, dynamic market
information, in an integrated manner, through the ICT tools
presented in Fig. 1.

Fig. 2 : Farmwomen accessing information through touch screen

kiosk

Display announcement system

The Display Announcement Package (DAP) approach
involved the use of videos in the form of screening DVDs/
CDs for technology transfer so that farmer can easily gain
understanding and adopt a field level to increase the crop
productivity. Here the LCD TV screen was connected to
computer for screening movies of technologies.
Interactive voice enquiry system
When the farmer was at out station / away from KSC /
at remotely held distant place, he/she can avail this IVRS
facility making a call to initial payable service IVRS number
and later IVRS toll free number 1800 4252 436. Pre recorded
voice files guide the user to avail the information on weather
information.

Fig. 1 : Flowchart on services of KSC using ICT tools

Sasyavani
Weather based information was made available to
farmers through text based SMS messages and voice alerts
using the mobile phones considering its vast net work and
enhanced penetration among the rural communities. (Fig. 3)

December 2013]

112

An analysis on use of ICT tools for dissemination of weather based agro advisories

Rangareddy and Cuddapah were selected randomly and the

data was collected through structured interview schedule and
focus groups discussions.
The interview schedule measured the effectiveness
using Likert scale of measurement and the weighted mean
score under the likert scale was calculated using the following
formula
f1x1+f2x2+f3x3+f4x4+f5x5
__
X = ---------------------------------------------------------------Xi
f = Weight/score given to each response of the respondent
x = Number of responses for the specific item
Xi= Total number of responses
The data was analysed using SPSS-17 for the simple
descriptive statistical analysis like mean, frequency,
percentage and correlation to draw conclusions.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The research findings reveal the utility of ICT tools in
terms of timeliness of information, usefulness, frequency of
usage by the users accessibility of information for decision
making and planning weather sensitive operations.

Fig. 3 : Screenshots of sasyavani alert

Internet
Another important ICT tool internet was introduced to
explore an opportunity to wide spread technology outreach
and access to information.
The project created the extension platform with the
innovative and available tools among the latest information
and communication technologies that would bridge the
weather based information gap between researchers, farmers
and extension functionaries.
Four hundred respondents from the NAIP cluster
villages of 8 districts of Andhra Pradesh ie. Anantapur,
Mahabubnagar, Adilabad, Nalgonda, Warangal, Khammam,

Frequency of usage of services for ICT tools

The response from the farmers revealed that majority
(80.25%) of the respondents frequently utilized the services
of sasyavani, i.e, mobile based agro advisory services on daily
basis. In the case of touch screen kiosk 71% of the respondents
used it on the monthly basis, whereas 32% of the respondents
utilized DAP based information services on weekly basis.
93% of the farmers rarely used internet for accessing weather
based information (Table 1).
The results indicated that the information through the
mobile phone tools offer more scope in the frequent usage of
the service compared to other ICT (Fig. 4).

Table 1 : Distribution of respondents towards the Frequency of usage of the services from ICT tools
ICT tool
Touch screen kiosk
DAP
Internet
IVRS
Sasyavani

Daily

Weekly

0(0)
1(0.25) *
0(0)
128(32)
0(0)
0(0)
0(0)
65(16.25)
321(80.25) 56(14)

Fortnightly

Monthly

Rarely

Never

Score

Rank

1(0.25)
93(23.25)
0(0)
71(17.75)
11(2.75)

284(71)
34(8.5)
4(1)
0(0)
9(2.25)

92(23)
144(36)
372(93)
264(66)
3(0.75)

22(5.5)
1(0.25)
24(6)
(0)
(0)

2.66
3.5075
1.89
2.5025
5.7075

III
II
V
IV
I

(Daily=6 Weekly=5 Fortnightly=4 Monthly=3 Rarely=2 Never=1; *Values in ( ) indicates the percentage of responses)

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[Vol. 15, Spl. Issue-II

NAGASREE et al.

Fig. 4 : Frequency distribution of farmers usage of different ICT

tools

Fig. 5 : Opinion of respondents towards timely services

Timeliness
Timely availability of the weather based information
is crucial to farmers as most of the crop operations are weather
sensitive. The timely availability of reliable information on
agriculture output is of great significant information for
planning and policy making especially for weather based crop
forecasts. Efforts were made in the project for timely
provision of weather information. The perception of the
farmers on the effectiveness of timeliness of ICT tools is
given in Table 2.

information followed by IVRS to provide timely information

(58%) (Fig.5). The information provided by touch screen
kiosk was rated in time by 55% of the respondents and
nearly 84 % rated DAP tool for providing late information.
As most of the times, the ICT tool mobile phone is handy
and with users only, the users referred the services of
sasyavani whenever they need, especially the usage was more
in the surrounding villages other than the village where
exactly the knowledge share centre was located.

Timely provision of service

Timely provision of the weather based service is a
crucial factor for the farmer in planning farm operation right
from soiling to harvesting regarding timeliness of services
provided by different ICT tools. About 88% of the
respondents rated sasyavani for providing advance

Ease of operation of services

The operation and using the ICT tools depends on
the ease in handling the ICT tool of machinery. When the
respondents were asked about the ease of operation in ICT
tools, 78% of the respondents stated the mobile phone is the
easiest ICT tool to operate (Table 3). 66% respondents opine
moderate accessibility through touch screen kiosk have some

Table 2 : Distribution of respondents towards the timeliness of the services

ICT tool

Advance

In time

Late information

Score

Rank

Touch screen kiosk

DAP
Internet
IVRS
Sasyavani

40(10)
2(0.5)
125(31.25)
3(0.75)
352(88)

220(55)
65(16.25)
177(44.25)
231(57.75)
46(11.5)

180(45)
335(83.75)
98(24.5)
166(41.5)
2(0.5)

1.85
1.1775
2.0675
1.585
2.875

IV
V
II
III
I

(Advance=3, In time=2, Late information=1)

Table 3 : Opinion of the respondents towards ease in accessing information from various ICT tools
ICT tool

Easy to access

Moderately

Difficult to access

Score

Rank

Touch screen kiosk

DAP
Internet
IVRS
Sasyavani

2(0.5)
132(33)
7(1.75)
59(14.75)
312(78)

265(66.25)
256(64)
321(80.25)
185(46.25)
49(12.25)

133(33.25)
12(3)
72(18)
156(39)
39(9.75)

1.6725
2.3
1.8375
1.7575
2.6825

V
II
III
IV
I

(Easy to access=3, moderately=2, Difficult to access=1 ; *Values in ( ) indicates the percentage of the responses)

December 2013]

114

An analysis on use of ICT tools for dissemination of weather based agro advisories

Table 4 : Response of the farmers towards the overall usefulness of ICT tools
ICT tool

Valuable

Useful

Normal use

Not useful

Useless

Score

Rank

Touch screen kiosk

DAP
Internet
IVRS
Sasyavani

5(1.25)
24(6)
22(5.5)
76(19)
254(63.5)

259(64.75)
48(12)
110(27.5)
139(34.75)
128(32)

133(33.25)
318(79.5)
258(64.5)
172(43)
3(0.75)

1(0.25)
9(2.25)
2(0.5)
2(0.5)
2(0.5)

2(0.5)
1(0.25)
8(2)
11(2.75)
22(5.5)

3.66
3.2125
3.34
3.6675
4.5425

III
V
IV
II
I

(Valuable=5, Useful=4, Normal use=3, Not useful=2, and Useless=1 )

degree of the complexity appears while using touch screen

kiosk and internet (Fig. 6). However 39% of the farmers gave
feedback IVRS time taking process to access the information
which involves some difficulty in using the tool while 33.25%
told education levels limits the operation of touch screen
information kiosk. When the feedback was sought the overall
usefulness of various ICT tools for availing weather based
information, 63.5% of the respondents told sasyavani was
the most valuable service in terms of usefulness. Whereas
65% rated touch screen kiosk was useful to and 79.5% of the
farmers rated DAP followed by 64.5% useful tool and 79.5%
of the farmers rated DAP.

Table 5 : Relationship between socio economic variables

and utility of the information
Variable

Correlation
coefficient

Socio economic variables

Age
Education
Farm size
Extension contact
Gender
IKU group membership

-0.18
0.18
0.02
0.15
0.21
0.42**

Attributes of weather information

Relevance
Timeliness
Location specificity
Regularity
Frequency of usage
Ease of operation of using ICT tools
Accuracy of information

0.22
0.56**
0.60**
0.21
0.14
0.32*
0.18

(* Significant at 5% level; ** Significant at 1% level)

Fig. 6 : Response towards ease in accessing information through
ICT tools

Usefulness of ICT tools

When the feedback was sough on the overall usefulness
of the different ICT tools for availing weather based
information, 63.5% of the respondents told sasyvani was the
most valuable service in terms of usefulness. Whereas 65%
rated touch screen kiosk was useful tool and 79.5% of the
farmers rated DAP for normal use (Table 4).
Relationship between socio economic variables and utility
of the information
The present study identifies the correlates in
characterizing the utility and effectiveness of weather based
information services disseminated through the use of ICT
tools. Table 5 reveals the correlation coefficients of

effectiveness of weather based information (Y) with variables

which include socio economic variables and attributes of the
quality of weather based information services like relevance,
accessibility, timeliness and location specificity.
Location specificity, timeliness, IKU group
membership showed significant relation with the utility of
weather based information services effectively. The findings
are in confirmation with Raji Reddy et al. (2013), who
stressed the importance of agro-advisories in disseminating
locally appropriate technologies and management techniques
that enable farmers to adapt to climate change situation
specific to their localities and Josh (2013) who stated that
ICT has the potential to become a strategic enabler of climate
and weather information systems by not only providing a
platform to scale the dissemination of information to farmers

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NAGASREE et al.

at unprecedented levels, but also do so at the level of

localization and temporal specificity that is an important
element of effective and actionable weather information.
Hence the result confirms the importance of location specific
information suitable to their farming conditions, timely
information and strengthening local membership for usage
of the services plays crucial role in determining the
effectiveness in usage of weather based agro advisories when
disseminated through ICT tools.
CONCLUSIONS
The CRIDA experience reiterates multichannel
approach is effective in reaching the targeted audience which
includes combination of ICT tools, focused group
discussions, participatory extension methods and most
importantly the individual contacts. The information to be
disseminated should be customized to the local conditions
and meet the priorities of the users. The information
dissemination through ICT tools should be based on the
demand and needs of the clientele for effective outreach.
However when dissemination of weather agro advisories is
through ICT tools then it should consider the important
parameters like location specificity, timeliness, ease of
handling tools, usefulness and group activity for effective
outreach. Among different type of ICT tools, mobile based
agro advisories i.e sasyavani is instrumental for reaching
target audience and also dissemination of the advisories.

[Vol. 15, Spl. Issue-II

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