Economic impact of periodic meteorological advisories in Kushinagar district

Abstract

This investigation was carried out during Kharif 2021 in order to assess the use of disseminated advisory bulletins and their economic feasibility in rice crops. During Kharif 2021, a survey was carried out in four blocks of the Kushinagar district, which falls under the North Eastern plains zone of Uttar Pradesh, to examine the effectiveness of agro advisories issued from KVK, Kushinagar as per weather periodicals available Indian Meteorological Department, Delhi. The impact was assessed on feedback in terms of the use of the agro-meteorological Advisory Services. The crop was monitored (AAS farmers) throughout the season as compared to neighboring plots wherein the situation of these farmers was compared with nearby fields (non-AAS farmers). Expenditures incurred under inputs, labor, etc. were regularly penned down to get a general idea of the cultivation practices followed/ adopted. Farmers who followed the agreement advisories fetched nearly 11.89 percent higher yields besides an 18.42 percent reduction in input cost as compared to non-AAS farmers. These results were found similar to the study conducted by Singh. S.P. 2020. According to the assessment study, farmers who used real-time agro-advice services received a 22% greater net return on their wheat harvest. The net economic gain can be attributed to the crop management practices employed such as timely field preparation and sowing, fertilizer application, need-based weeding, harvesting, irrigation, and judicious pesticide treatments.