B.Sc. (Agricultural Meteorology)
Bachelor of Science

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What is Agricultural Meteorology:

A wing of meteorology that examines the effects of weather and climate on crops, livestock, and various agricultural activities. The branch of agricultural meteorology dealing with atmospheric bio-sphere processes occurring at short time periods is known as micrometeorology, sometimes called crop micrometeorology for managed vegetative ecosystems and animal biometeorology for livestock operations. The branch that studies the processes and impacts of climatic factors over larger time is usually referred to as agricultural climatology.

Agricultural meteorology or agro-meteorology, addresses topics that often require an understanding of biological, physical, and social sciences. It studies processes that occur from the soil depths where the deepest plant roots grow to the atmospheric levels where seeds, spores, pollen, and insects may be found. Agricultural meteorologists interact with scientists from many disciplines.

Agricultural meteorologists collect and explain weather and climate data needed to understand the interactions between vegetation and animals and their atmospheric environments. The climatic information developed by agricultural meteorologists is valuable in making proper decisions for managing resources consumed by agriculture, for optimizing agricultural production, and for adopting farming practices to minimize any adverse effects of agriculture on the environment. Such information is crucial to ensure the economic and environmental sustainability of agriculture now and in the forthcoming weather observations.

Agricultural meteorologists also evaluate and provide information on the impact and consequences of climate variability and change on agriculture. Increasingly, agricultural meteorologists assist policy makers in developing strategies to deal with climatic events such as floods, hail, or droughts and climatic changes such as global warming and climate variability.

Agricultural meteorologists are involved in many aspects of agriculture, ranging from the production of agronomic and horticultural crops, trees, and livestock to the final delivery of agricultural products to market. They study the energy and mass exchange processes of heat, carbon dioxide, water vapour, and trace gases such as methane, nitrous oxide, and ammonia, within the biosphere on spatial scales ranging from a leaf to a watershed and even to a continent. They study, for example, the photosynthesis, productivity, and water use of individual leaves, whole plants, and fields. They also examine climatic processes at time scales ranging from less than a second to more than a decade.

Eligibility for B.Sc. (Agricultural Meteorology)

The minimum eligibility criteria for B.Sc  Agriculture Science is 10+2 with science as a subject having 50% marks. Admission to B.Tech courses is based on the performance of entrance exams and the duration of the courses is 4 years. For Master’s degree programmes one has to complete B.Sc or B.Tech and the duration is 2 years. For a Ph.D degree having a duration of 3Years one has to complete his Master’s degree in their related fields.

Institutions providing B.Sc. (Agricultural Meteorology):

• Aliah University, Kolkata, West Bengal
• Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University
• Anand Agricultural University
• Assam Agricultural University
• Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishva Vidyalaya
• Birsa Agricultural University

Courses:

Courses in Agricultural Science: The various courses offered in Agricultural Science where a student can opt are:

• B.Sc. Agriculture
• B.Sc. Agriculture (Hons.)
• M.Sc. Agricultural Biochemistry
• M.Sc. Agricultural Biotechnology
• M.Sc. Agricultural Economics
• M.Sc. Agricultural Engineering
• M.Sc. Agricultural Meteorology
• M.Sc. Agriculture
• M.Sc. Agronomy
• M.Sc. Entomology
• M.Sc. Plant Breeding and Genetics
• M.Sc. Plant Pathology
• Ph.D. Agronomy
• Ph.D. Entomology
• Ph.D. Plant Pathology
• M.Sc. Dairy Technology and Agricultural Extension
• Post Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Business Management (P.G.D.A.B.M)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Extension Management (P.G.D.A.E.M)

Role of Agricultural Meteorologists

Agricultural Meteorologists are trained to deal with soil, water, weather, crops and meteorological principles to agriculture. As the success or failure of agriculture depends upon the chains of five factors viz. seeds, soil, weather, technology and farmers skills. Any weak link in the chain finally determines the agricultural production.

Scope of Agricultural Meteorology:

• To study climatic recourses of given area for effective crop production.
• To develop weather based effective farm operations.
• To study crop weather relationship in all major crops and forecast yield.
• To establish the relationship between weather parameters and crop pest and disease infestation.
• To modify the microclimate through various means to raise agricultural productivity and also to get off-season crops.
• To delineate agro climatic zones for defining agro climatic analogues so as to make effective and fast transfer of technology for sustainable development of agriculture.
• To prepare crop weather diagrams and crop weather calenders for ease of farmers.
• To develop crop growth simulation models for assessing/ obtaining potential yield in various agro climatic zones.
• To monitor droughts on crop wise as well as area wise for effective drought management and finally.
• To develop weather based agro advisories to sustain crop production by utilizing various weather forecasts and climatic forecasts.

Status of Agricultural Meteorology in India

A separate division of agricultural meteorology was started in 1932 as one of the division of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Pune, to deal with the studies of Agril. Meteorology under the auspice of Indian Council of Agril. Research (ICAR) and got the status of permanent department of the IMD in 1943.

The National Commission on agriculture (1976) has recommended a separate department of Agril. Meteorology in all State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) and ICAR research institutes to strengthen teaching, research and extension in Agril. Meteorology and to train the technical personnel.

The ICAR has started a separate "All India Coordinated Research Project on Agrometeorology" (AICRP on Agrometeorology) in 1985 under dry land agriculture and attached to the Central Research Institute for the Dry land Agriculture (CRIDA). The ICAR also supports research project in Agril. Meteorology under ICAR ad-hoc schemes and National Agriculture Technology Project (NATP).

The Department of Science and Technology (DST) Govt. of India has a mission mode research project under the national center for medium range weather forecasting (NCMRWF) and Agro meteorological advisory services.

Career Opportunities for Agril. Meteorologists

Meteorologists can work in academia for research and developmental activities in private and government agencies such as Central and State Agril. Universities, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), Space Application Center (SAC), National Remote Sensing Agency (NRSA), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). In private sector Agril. Meteorologists work as consultants to many organizations including NGOs involved in water shed management, command area and rural development programmes. The job opportunities in government sector includes teaching, research and development and extension activities as Scientists, Assistant Professors, Research Officials, Subject Matter Specialists and Agril. Meteorologists at senior level in various universities, SAUs, KVKs, ICAR, DST, ISRO, NRSA, SAC, FAO and other organizations involved in high level research, development extension consultancies, planning and policy framing activities.

Postgraduate degree in Agril. Meteorology

Professional degree at PG and Doctorate level in Agril. Meteorology are offered by State Agricultural Universities (SAUs), Deemed Universities (DUs) and other universities

Advantages/Benefits:

Agro-meteorological research as a support system needs ongoing regional,  national  and local  prioritization. Priority aspects identified at the international workshop in Accra in February 1999 were:

• Agrometeorological  aspects  of  the  efficient use and management of resources in the full production environment, as defined in the introduction;
• Reduction   of  impacts   on  the  resource base, yields and income from natural disasters, including pests and diseases, natural  climate  variability and increasing variability induced by climate change, and preparedness  and prediction using  agro- climatic  information;
•  Validations and applications of databases and  models  for  well  specified   systems and users; and ways to ensure that research results are adopted in farming.

These subjects also turn up as priorities in the new Open Programme Area Group (OPAG) structure, with its Expert Teams (ETs), discussed later in this brochure. The impor- tance of policy issues and education/ training/extension as support  systems in agri- cultural  meteorology is best illustrated in considering applications and services.

Applications and Services

If support systems are not used operationally for agrometeorological applications in agri- culture, forestry, rangelands and fisheries, they do not serve any purpose.  Examples of actual agro-meteorological services from CAgM literature are:

• Agro-climatological  characterization, using different methodologies;
• Advice  on  design  rules  on  above  and below ground microclimate manage- ment  or   manipulation, with  respect  to any appreciable  microclimatic improve- ment: shading, wind protection, mulching, other surface modification, drying,  storage, frost protection, etc.;
• Advice,   based   on   the   outcome    of response farming exercises, from sowing  window to harvesting time, using   recent   climatic   variability  data and statistics  or simple  on-line  agro-meteorological information;
• Establishing measures to reduce the impacts  and to mitigate the conse- quences of weather and climate related natural disasters for agricultural production;
• Monitoring and early warning exercises directly  connected to already estab- lished measures;
• Climate predictions and forecasts and meteorological forecasts for agriculture and  related  activities,   on  a  variety  of time  scales, from  years to seasons and weeks, and from  a variety  of sources;
• Development and validation of adapta- tion strategies to increasing climate variability and climate change and other changing  conditions in the physical, social  and  economic   environments of farmers;
• Specific  weather  forecasts  for  agricul- ture, including warnings of suitable conditions for pests and diseases and/or advice on mitigation measures, such as fire weather monitoring.
• Advice on measures to reduce the contributions of agricultural production to global  warming and on keeping an optimum level of non-degraded land dedicated  to agricultural production;
• Proposing means of direct agrometeo- rological assistance in the management of  natural   resources   for  the  develop- ment of sustainable farming systems via technological advances with strong agrometeorological components.

A recent policy support paper for the Management Group (MG) of CAgM distin- guishes two levels of increase in operational use of knowledge generated  by the support systems. The first  includes  general agrome- teorological action support  systems for mitigating the impacts of disasters, e.g. monitoring, early warning, forecasting, focused quantitative analyses, general weather  advisories, etc.  It  is  helpful   if  the most suitable contemporary scientific knowl- edge is combined with local adaptive strategies  (based on traditional knowledge). An  appropriate policy  environment, based on social concerns and environmental considerations, can  help  develop  the  right mix of strategies for preparedness  and prob- lem solving  in practice.The second  level  of increase  in operational use of knowledge relates to agrometeorolog- ical services supporting the decisions and actions of producers.The relatively scant actual use of agrometeo- rological services in agriculture, particularly but not only in developing countries,  can be attributed to:

• Insufficient  education   and  training  of user communities, including the farm advisory services, that provide specific agricultural advice (the services) from more general but focused agro-meteorological  information.
• Lack of cooperation between the institutions  providing information and relevant advisories (operational use of knowledge) and those responsible for their transfer  to the farming community (on the ground  direction and decision- making).In general, when the level of education  and skills of farmers  is insufficient to cope with new or aggravating agro-meteorological problems, which  can  be  anywhere   in  the world,  there may be a need for intermediaries, trained and equipped to provide services, to assist in solving these problems. This can be the solution to the above constraints on effective use of services. These intermediaries may belong to public as well as private institutions and an economy of such services will always have to be developed. In developing countries, there remains risks that very few high-level agro-meteorological personnel and limited resources are geared towards modern specializations. This situation is accentuated by low quality data and the limited absorption capacity of  agricultural decision makers for agro-meteorological products.

First, priority problems/needs and priority agro-meteorological services have to be identified through a participatory approach with farmers.  Methodologies come second but are essential. The methodologies need to be applied with detailed consideration of the specific data and eco-regional conditions.