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`Data collection vital for climatic risk management'

By Our Staff Reporter

COIMBATORE, SEPT. 19. Scientists need to collect large amounts of data on various climatic parameters in order to develop comprehensive mathematical models to manage climatic risks, the Vice-Chancellor, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), C. Ramasamy, has said.

He was speaking at a recent ten-day training programme on `Systems Approach for Climatic Risk Management in Agriculture,' sponsored by Global Change Systems Research Analysis and Training (START), United States, and Asia Pacific Network (APN), Japan.

Averting climatic risks was possible by using mathematical models, and also carrying out crop-weather modelling, remote sensing, drought monitoring, weather forecasting, and providing advance information about attacks from pests and plant diseases.

He observed that climate was a `dynamic entity' and posed the most potent risk to farming operations. Climate was the `most vital input' for agriculture, but often caused widespread damage. For this reason, climatic risk management was important at every level of agricultural planning. "Reports have shown that an increase of one degree Celsius due to climate change will reduce the duration of the wheat crop by one week," he said.

Changes in rainfall

In a similar manner, adverse changes in rainfall affected rice production drastically, because nearly 60 per cent of the rice area in the country was under rainfed cultivation. Low temperature caused the rice crop to absorb up to 20 per cent less nutrients. Dry and wet spells, cyclonic storms and extremes of temperature during the cropping season also reduced crop yield.

Climate affected the pest population, and this factor too was significant because pests alone destroyed food that was sufficient to feed 135 million people globally, every year.

The Director, Soil and Crop Management Studies, TNAU, V. Murugappan, said that the University would soon release RiskPro, the software for predicting weather changes.

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