BATHINDA: Researched by climate change unit of Centre for Science and Environment( CSE ) has released new report on Agrometeorological advisories in India themed ‘ weather and the farmer’. The report is about how climate adaptation actually works on the ground in vulnerable sectors. The aim of the report is two-fold to shift the global debate about adaptation and the role of the public versus the private sector. Secondly, to use the Indian experience to guide the development of similar tools in other climate-vulnerable countries.“The report assesses the agromet advisory system – the inter-linked institutions, technologies and actors who collect weather data to generate forecasts and combine these forecasts with crop data and expertise to generate practical advice for farmers. This system is critical because it can enable farmers to cope with increasing climate uncertainty, which is overwhelming traditional knowledge of weather and cropping patterns. India’s agromet system is properly understood as three connected systems – weather forecasting, crop data collection and research, and agricultural ‘extension’ (which reaches technology and expertise to farmers). The CSE report breaks down the system into three sub-sectors – weather data and forecasting, creation of agromet advisories, and dissemination of advisories”, says CSE Director General Sunita Narain and writer of report Tarun Gopalakrishnan.“We see significant investment in technology in India – including in automatic weather stations and mobile technology to disseminate advisories. But there is a lack of quality control of data, gaps in data sharing, a lack of specificity in forecasts and advisories and uneven investment across different states. Worse, investment in critical human resources has decreased – especially the expertise required to create advisories tailored to farmers’ economic and geographical context, and the human power which trains farmers to implement the advice," says the report.CSE recommends to define the responsibilities of different government ministries and departments particularly the responsibility to collect and manage weather data versus crop data.