India
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis today inaugurated the state's first automatic weather station at Dongargaon here.
Updated : Apr 30, 2017, 04:36 PM IST
Maharashtra chief minister
Devendra Fadnavis today inaugurated the state's first
automatic weather station at Dongargaon here.
"Around 2,065 such weather stations will come across
Maharashtra on public private partnership (PPP) model in this
year and 1,000 of these will be set up by June 2017," said
Fadnavis while addressing a farmers' gathering after the
inauguration.
Agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar, guardian
minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule, top bureaucrats and
officials of weather forecast firm Skymet Weather Private Ltd,
which will be setting up such stations, were present on the
occasion.
"This is one of the unique project in the country,
which will measure wind direction, wind speed, air
temperature, relative humidity and record amount of rainfall.
"This information will be shared with farmers who can
then manage sowing in a much better and planned way as per the
weather conditions," said Fadnavis.
The weather conditions for farmers in different
regions will be available on Mahavedh portal (Maharashtra
agriculture weather information network) and mobile
application of Skymet.
"The IMD forecast is limited to four zones. However,
this new system of automatic weather station (AWS) will
provide forecast upto taluka level," said the chief minister.
"Around 12 12 kms area of the taluka will have one
AWS," he said.
Fadnavis said digital kiosks will be set-up in every
Gram Panchayat to provide weather information and expert
advice on crop pattern to be followed by the farmers.
In the first phase, information will be shared using
SMS and in the second phase all the Gram Panchayats will get
half hourly weather condition information.
The chief minister also highlighted the importance of
power and water and how Jalyukta Shivar (water conservation
programme of the Maharashtra government) is helping villages
increase their irrigation potential.
Fadnavis said due to increased irrigation, for the
first time the agriculture growth rate has turned positive in
last 7 to 8 years.
(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)