IIT to develop rain forecast model

The agriculture ministry has asked the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, to prepare a medium term weather forecasting model with technical inputs from the Indian meteorological department, a senior farm official said.

"IIT Delhi is developing a forecasting model that would predict the likely weather conditions at least two weeks in advance," agriculture secretary Radha Singh said at CII's India Economic Summit 2004 in New Delhi.

The institution is taking basic inputs from the MET department, Singh said, adding the medium term model would help farmers plan their strategies in a more scientific manner.

She said the model would be developed after studying the weather conditions over a period of two years. The agriculture ministry has allocated Rs 15 crore (Rs 150 million) to IIT for this purpose, she added.

Singh said Indian agriculture is gradually shifting from summer crop to winter crop as evident by enhanced crop acreage during the rabi season.

Highlighting the strengths of India's agriculture sector, she said the resilience of the domestic agriculture sector was amply demonstrated after the drought in 2002.

Irrigation coverage stands at 40 per cent of total crop acreage while the rest of the coverage area at 60 per cent is rain-fed.