National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign, 2017
Recommendations of Group V: Management of Drought
Objective
• To review the status of the Implementation of the Drought Manual
• To understand the difficulties, if any, faced by states in implementing drought manual
• To assess the current agricultural situation of the country Participating States
Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan & Tamil Nadu
Chair: Secretary, Relief, MP Moderator: Director, MNCFC
Presentations Made
1. About the Drought Manual and Drought Declaration Process 2. Current Agricultural Situation In the Country
3. Example of Drought Monitoring in Karnataka 4. Brief Presentations from Different States
Summary of the Session
Advantage of the Drought Manual:
as found by the States
• Quantitative, objective, scientific approach has been used
• Timelines have been defined for timely drought declaration and management
• Emphasis has been given on geo-coded ground truth
• Drought has been categorized into Severe and Moderate
• Highly informative for drought management/relief
• Long term and short term mitigation measures have been well
defined.
Recommendations:
Role of States
• States need to follow the Drought Manual for Drought Declaration.
• For Moderate Drought situation SDRF can be used.
• States are expected to participate in the weekly video conference, conducted by the Ministry.
• Flexi fund available with states from Centrally Sponsored Schemes may be used fro Drought mitigation.
• Promote the utilization of Crisis Management Plans and Crop Contingency Plans for drought management.
Recommendations:
Drought Declaration Parameters
• Scanty rainfall may be considered for <50% rainfall
• Area Sown with of -33% deviation may be considered as severe
• There is need to have a brainstorming workshop on redefining the values of Soil moisture based indices
• Conflict with SDRF/NDRF norms, if any, may be avoided.
• The area, which experience successive droughts, may be treated differently
• IMD may develop SPI at block/Taluk level
• Automatic data sharing from IMD is required
• There is a need to enrich state agencies for soil moisture index computation
• There is a need for developing an App at national level to collect Ground truth Data.
• States need to establish AWS/ARG, at least, at bock level for better assessment of drought at sub district level
• Every state needs to develop a Drought Monitoring Centre in the lines of Karnataka state. The Central Government may promote this.
• A National Drought Monitoring Centre may be established to support the states in Drought Assessment
