India is primarily an agrarian country with more than half its population engaged in agriculture and allied activities. They contribute about 18% of India’s GDP. Agricultural activities, despite its significance, are disproportionately dependent on weather, chiefly the monsoon, which is unpredictable at the best of times.

Any delay in monsoon, or unseasonal, excessive or low rain, variance in weather patterns like heat or cold waves during the farming period, would affect crop growth, quality and quantity of total crop production.

Climate change has only made the situation worse as weather patterns are disrupted across the globe. According to a World Resources Institute study, global agricultural productivity might be reduced by 17% by 2050 as fertile farmlands face ruin due to extreme climate events caused by climate change. Flooding, inundation, drought, cyclones are depleting the soil of its nurturing properties for agriculture.

Weather forecast in farming

In view of such uncertainties, the weather forecast and its dissemination to farmers assumes more importance. Weather forecasts in farming are the answer to these problems. It is akin to possessing intelligence that can guide the farmer to make better agricultural decisions by assessing weather impact on crops. This intelligence can be utilised to make smarter decisions which may include crop irrigation, optimum time to fertilise, and what days are suitable for working in the field to increase productivity.

The University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute conducted a study in Telangana according to which those farmers who listened to the weather forecast were able to change their planting decisions accordingly, proving weather forecast to be an important climate adaptation tool for the agricultural sector.

Weather forecasts in farming not only improve agricultural production by reducing agricultural risks and losses, but they also save resources by increasing nutrient and water use efficiency. Accurate medium-term and real-time weather updates can mitigate weather impact on crops. A farmer could save water and money by not irrigating when rain is forecast. Similarly, agricultural weather forecasts would lead to farmers choosing the optimum time and rate to apply fertiliser. Farmers can hold back applying fertiliser if rain is forecast to stop the fertiliser from getting washed away and wait to ensure the farm is moist enough to let the fertiliser move down into the soil.

Read also: The Importance of Soil Health and How to Maintain It

Weather based farming

Weather forecasts in farming makes agriculture more efficient along with encouraging cost-saving farming methods. Weather-based farming counters the effects of weather aberrations which may cause
(i) physiological under-performance by crops (ii) physical damage to crops (iii) soil erosion and (iv) may render the agricultural inputs ineffective.

Weather based farming relies on weather information, especially in precision agriculture which emphasises accuracy and control while growing crops. This practice relies on utilising a combination of modern technology like GPS, satellite imagery, IOT, sensors, drones, AI to optimise farming practices by analysing data.

These technologies provide real time data which can be interpreted to map and monitor conditions which can be interpreted, and final conclusions drawn in tandem with weather forecasts. The farmers can then utilise this information to manage their farming decisions better and increase their produce. Weather based farming techniques make agriculture more scientific because this approach negates the losses accrued due to poor judgement of farmers who rely on their intuition, experience, and observation to predict weather.

Farming efficiency tips

Weather based farming techniques coupled with modern agricultural practices bring in more efficiency in farming. These smart farming solutions increase agricultural productivity. Some of these farming efficiency tips would include methods like drip irrigation and rainwater harvesting. The former delivers water directly to the plant’s roots. It reduces water requirements while increasing crop yields. Similarly, rainwater harvesting, another cost-saving farming method, helps farmers collect and store rainwater which is a great aid during dry spells.

Cover cropping and crop rotation are two interrelated farming efficiency tips which protect the health of the soil when extreme climate events are causing more damage to this vital requirement for agriculture. Cover cropping is essentially planting specific crops to cover the soil during periods when the primary crops are not growing. Crop rotation is the practice of rotating the types of crops grown in a specific area each season. These two methods enrich the soil apart from preventing soil erosion.

Other farming efficiency tips would include using methods of cultivation like crop diversification, vertical farming, aeroponics, and hydroponics in which farmers can choose a basic weather forecast to reduce their risk and increase their productivity and income.

Crop insurance and farmer risk management

Weather forecast, weather based farming, efficient farming practices equip the farmer with the knowledge to reduce risk to both crops and their income. However, one of the most effective ways for farmers to protect their incomes from any harm caused to their crops by extreme climate events is to buy crop insurance.

Crop insurance builds a financial safety net around farmers while providing them much needed security. The University of Chicago study cited above also found that crop insurance changes the behaviour of farmers towards farming. 

Overall, farmers who bought crop insurance increased the land they cultivated and the amount they spent on up-front investments like seeds and fertilizer. Given the safety net the insurance provided, they responded with a large increase in investments—even though the forecast would have caused them to instead reduce investments. In this way, insurance and forecasts could be used as complimentary climate adaptation strategies: Forecasts let farmers make the right investments for the coming year, while insurance protects them against risk.

According to this study, there is a direct connection between more accurate forecasts guiding informed investments in agriculture which means more prosperous farmers leading to a healthier overall economy. Crop insurance, meanwhile, played a complementary role because it increased cultivated land and upfront investment by about 12 per cent.

This shows the important role that crop insurance plans can play in mitigating risks to farmers’ produce and incomes when used in a strategic manner with weather forecasts in farming.