15 Lakh TG Farmers to Receive Weather Updates Via Messages
The messaging service has been designed by Development Innovation Lab India and Evidence Action which have signed an memorandum of understanding with the agriculture department to provide weather updates to farmers on a regular basis.
Hyderabad: Fifteen lakh farmers in Telangana will henceforth receive updates on weather – focused on their mandal – with the state government launching the ‘Telangana Weather Advisory’ messaging service on Saturday.
The first test message they received said the chances of the regular rainy season – the monsoon – beginning before June 10 were poor, with only a 15 per cent possibility of the rainy season starting before that date.
The message titled “When will the rainy season begin?”, said “rains in you mandal could begin any day after June 10 with chances of the rainy season beginning around that time being high. There is 85 per cent chance that the monsoon season will begin after this date. (This is based on information from May 28).”
Launching the service on Saturday, agriculture minister Tummala Nageswara Rao said the messaging service, will provide mandal wise information on rains, temperature and overall weather conditions on a regular and timely basis. All the 15 lakh farmers who are Rythu Bharosa beneficiaries will receive the messages.
Nageswara Rao said farmers with smartphones using WhatsApp can send any questions they have using the voice messaging on the app, and answers will be provided with the help of a artificial intelligence response system.
The messaging service has been designed by Development Innovation Lab India and Evidence Action which have signed an memorandum of understanding with the agriculture department to provide weather updates to farmers on a regular basis. Ankur Garg, the country director for Evidence Action explained how the firm was using AI systems to help farmers.
Nageswara Rao said the new service will assist farmers enormously especially in times when sudden changes in weather were creating challenges for farmers. “It is vital to provide farmers with accurate weather information and provide information to them on their questions.”
The event was attended among others by agriculture secretary K Surendra Mohan, commission agriculture Dr B. Gopi, and other senior officials.
