Farmers to get accurate weather forecast ahead of monsoon

By the time the next monsoon arrives farmers in the state can bank on Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) for accurate information on rainfall, weather and temperature, critical to raising crops.

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) which got the go-ahead from the state government to set up AWS in 224 blocks in the state is in the process of finalising the tender between two leading contenders for the project with an initial outlay of Rs 15 crore of the total project cost of Rs 16.9 crore.

"The forecasting will be based on the Weather Research Forecast (WRS) model given by the National Centre for Atmosphere Research (NCAR), US. Using that model we will get a global circulation model," said Dr Jagannathan, professor and head of department of meteorology, TNAU.

"Using the output from NCAR, we will incorporate local weather information input from AWS and run a WRS of our own. This will lead to improved accuracy of the forecast for farmers, five days in advance of weather changes," he said.

There was extensive damage to crops following the recent rains across the state a situation that can be avoided if functional AWS systems are in place.