The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) have signed an MoU to make reliable weather information more accessible to farmers through Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA).
DiCRA is an open-source digital platform supported by UNDP and NABARD, designed to provide climate and agriculture-related information for better decision-making.
Weather Data to Be Integrated into DiCRA
Under the partnership, IMD will provide district- and block-level weather forecasts, agrometeorological advisories, weather alerts and in-situ observations through the platform.
The information will be made available through a dedicated Weather Portal on DiCRA, alongside data on soil moisture, vegetation health, crop conditions and climate vulnerability.
Supporting Better Farm Decisions
The integration is intended to turn weather and climate information into more actionable insights for farmers and other stakeholders.
NABARD will use DiCRA’s digital infrastructure and open APIs to make the information available through its web portal, mobile interface and API integrations.
The platform will also support district-level advisories, seasonal risk alerts and weather-linked vulnerability assessments for farmers, researchers, policymakers, credit officers and field personnel.
Focus on Last-Mile Weather Information
NABARD Chairman Shaji Krishnan V. said the partnership would help convert climate information into timely action by bringing together IMD’s scientific expertise and NABARD’s rural institutional reach.
IMD Director General of Meteorology Mrutyunjay Mohapatra said the collaboration would help strengthen the last-mile delivery of accurate and usable weather forecasts to farmers.
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The MoU was signed by NABARD Chief General Manager Sanjeev D. Rohilla and IMD Scientist-G and Head, RMC Mumbai, Bikram Singh, in the presence of senior officials from both organisations.