Dimapur, Feb. 7 (EMN): Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), Ministry of Earth Sciences, has installed two Agromet Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) as Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Lumami and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Yisemyong.
The commissioning programme of the two agromet AWS was held on Monday with Y Kikheto Sema, Agriculture Production Commissioner as special guest at KVK, Lumami and KVK, Yisemyong.
Sema in his speech thanked the Indian Meteorological Department for working closely with the state government for improvement of weather-related services in the state.
He particularly thanked Dr. K N Mohan, Deputy Director General, IMD-NE for promptly bringing about many visible developments in the field of meteorology during his tenure and for personally visiting the state to take stock of the ground situation.
He stated that in Nagaland, 70 % of the population living in the rural areas depends on agriculture and allied activities. Out of this, 73% are engaged in jhum/shifting cultivation and 27% are engaged in settled farming. The traditional way of cultivation i.e. jhum is not found to be economically viable and ecologically sustainable. This is because the farmers are still practicing old and traditional methods but the weather is changing very fast, he said. In the past year, the state faced a drought-like situation wherein the state did not receive any rainfall in the monsoon season. However, the state government could not send any advisory to the farmers because there were no such facilities, it stated.
Sema said that due to climate change, prediction of seasonal weather has become challenging without the aid of modern observing equipment. Considering the challenges at hand, the state government has appointed K Khekiho Shohe as state nodal officer to coordinate with the IMD, KVK, ICAR and state government for all matters related to meteorology. He said that after assuming his role, the state is already seeing tangible developments in the subject.
He lauded the State Nodal Officer Meteorology for taking up his responsibility with sincerity and proactively coordinating with all the stakeholders for improvement of Meteorology related services in the state.
Dr. K N Mohan in his keynote address thanked the state nodal officer and the state government for extending all possible help to the IMD. He also stated that this was just the beginning and IMD was looking forward to installing Agro Met AWS in all the district headquarters. Dr. Mohan also gave a brief technical report on the different sensors that the AWS is equipped with and its functions, while a demonstration was given by Sunit Das, Scientist-E, IMD.
Prof. Pardeshi Lal, Vice Chancellor, Nagaland University in his address stated that with the help of AWS, ‘we should be able to forecast the weather way ahead of time and prepare and adapt for the eventuality.’
Prof. Lal thanked IMD for the installation of AWS at the University Campus and expressed hoped that it will be beneficial for both farming and scientific community.