Reliability of weather forecast and dissemination of such information at the farm level is very important. There should be a mechanism to disseminate information effectively through information communication technology such that every farmer gets weather service at his/her doorstep.
The Village Resource Centres under ISRO programme must be linked with online network to disseminate agro advisory based on weather forecasting. It is very pertinent during weather calamities to minimise crop losses. In an event of unusual summer rains in Kerala, Kutttanad and Thrissur paddy farmers suffered to a large extent.
If advance weather service is extended at community level, crop loss would have been minimised to some extent by covering the paddy grains, according to farmers. Properly implemented weather insurance schemes will also enable farmers to get relief during calamities.
As a long-term measure, drainage facilities should be improved at micro-level so that flood damage is minimised in addition to development of flood tolerance/saline tolerant paddy varieties.
As the paddy/wetlands act as water sink during the rainy season and water source during summer, such lands should be protected as the area under wetlands is declining very fast in addition to deforestation reduction across the Western Ghats so as to reduce the run-off and degradation of soils.
Drought management
In the case of plantation crops, summer droughts like 1983 and 2004
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