Nobel laureate Professor Michael Kremer and his 12-member team from the University of Chicago visited Krushi Bhavan on Saturday to discuss a research project on weather forecast dissemination system and its rationality, validity, and acceptability among the farming community in Odisha.
The meeting, organised in the Krushi Bhavan conference hall in presence of Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary, Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department (DA & FE), focused on improving how weather information is shared with the state’s farming community.
Professor Kremer praised the department’s existing Krushi Samrudhi Helpline (KSH), acknowledging its success in helping farmers protect their crops from climate-related issues.
He proposed integrating an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based forecasting system that would use data on rainfall, temperature, and humidity to predict pest incidence.
Such forecasting system, he noted, would help farmers to adopt precautionary and preventive measures to protect crops from abnormal weather occurrences.
He further emphasized that integrating multiple weather forecasting models with the existing KSH system of DA & FE is the need of the hour.
Padhee highlighted the department’s comprehensive strategies, including Comprehensive Rice Fallow Management for enriching soil biomass, crop insurance, customised agro-advisories, digital crop surveys, farmer registry, the Krushak Odisha database, adoption of stress-tolerant crop varieties, and digital pest monitoring.
He also mentioned the contingency plan, developed by the department in collaboration with OUAT, to help mitigate the adverse consequences of weather aberrations in the state.
Kremer commended these initiatives of the department and expressed his hope for a productive partnership to facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expertise.
The meeting was attended by key officials, including Shubham Saxena, Director of Agriculture and Food Production; Subrat Kumar Panda, Director of Soil Conservation and Watershed Development; the Additional Secretary; senior departmental officers; scientists from OUAT; and members of the Climate Resilience Cell (CRC).
