Weather forecasts for farmers

The plan of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) to bring three million farmers under its network of agro-related weather information sounds good. Currently, the DAE runs a project under a network covering 30,000 farmers across the country. The World Bank-funded project 'Bangladesh Agro-Meteorological Information System (BAMIS)' was launched in 2019 to better equip farmers with forecasts on weather -- good or bad -- and natural disasters. In view of positive results from the project, the DAE is now reportedly planning to expand the scope of the project in collaboration with a foreign development agency. According to a FE report, an impact assessment of the BAMIS project shows farmers under two unions in Cox's Bazar could save crop worth Tk 10 million after they were provided with the forecast of cyclone Mocha. This underscores the importance of leveraging advanced scientific methods to anticipate weather conditions, particularly in the face of global climate change.

In Bangladesh, till today, farmers mostly rely on their knowledge, past experience and power of observation and perception to predict the weather. As a result, they sometimes experience significant losses due to misjudgment. The inaccuracy of these methods has been further compounded by the now-frequent and unpredictable changes in weather due to climate change. The modern method of weather forecasting in farming refers to the prediction of the atmospheric condition of a place at a given time to ascertain its suitability or unsuitability for agricultural activities. This practice stems from the relationship between stable atmospheric conditions such as rainfall, sunshine, temperature, humidity, air, and bountiful yield. Since farming as a whole chiefly depends on seasons and weather, forecasting facilitates to properly plan farm operations, such as planting, irrigation, fertiliser application, pruning/weeding etc. One of the advantages of weather forecasting is its preemptive quality -- empowering farmers with the knowledge of an area's climatic changes before they occur.

The importance of weather forecasting must be taken into consideration because the world has to deal with global warming, climate change and its damaging effect on the world's food production. Reports say, global agricultural productivity might be reduced by 17 per cent by 2050 as fertile farmlands are being ruined due to hurricanes, tornadoes and constant flooding, depletion of the nurturing properties of soil for sustainable agriculture. As a result, modern farming through rapid technological advancement creates room for empowering farmers with the requisite skills and technical know-how to turn their farm fortunes around based on application of weather forecasting in farming.

Considering the significant role weather forecasting plays in enhancing agricultural output, the aforementioned DAE initiative should gradually bring under its fold more and more farmers. Efforts are reportedly underway to enhance the effectiveness and user-friendliness of the forecasting system. A web portal for weather monitoring has been established, alongside plans to install agro-meteorological touch screen kiosks in 487 upazilas. These kiosks will feature data display screens at upazila agriculture offices. If the project progresses according to the plan, its success will significantly improve the country's agricultural productivity in the long term.