Assam State Monsoon Forum Promotes Climate Resilience and Adaptation in Agriculture, First-of-its-kind Initiative

GUWAHATI: The Assam State Monsoon Forum (ASMF) organised a meeting at the Administrative Staff Service College in Guwahati on July 5. The event was the first of its kind in the country to be organised at the state level and was a collaborative initiative of the Department of Agriculture, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP).

Tej Prasad Bhusal, Secretary to the Government of Assam and Director Horticulture, Department of Agriculture, highlighted the importance of horticulture and nutritional security in the changing climate.

The forum's meeting was opened with welcome remarks by Bhaskar Pegu, Director of Agriculture Assam, who informed of the collaboration with the WFP in building capacities of resilience and adaptation among smallholder farmers in the ENACT-Assam project and strengthening the use of climate services at all levels, including the organisation of the Monsoon Forum.

Laying down the objectives of the forum, Pradnya Paithankar, Head of Climate Resilience and DRR, highlighted the need for the use of climate information for anticipatory action and adaptation planning. Gyanendra Dev Tripathy, Principal Secretary, Revenue Department, and CEO of ASDMA, mentioned in his opening remarks the opportune timing of organising such a forum when Assam is reeling under severe floods. The forum was graced by the Director General of Meteorology, IMD Dr. Mrutyunjay Mahapatra, who congratulated the Government of Assam for organising such a forum, which is the first one at the state level.

The technical presentations by IMD elaborated on the climate services and various products of IMD and their uses and limitations. The presentations were a great learning experience, and the connection between IMD as information providers and various departments and stakeholders as consumers of the services helped facilitate action.

The forum was widely attended by various sectoral departments, including the ASDMA, NDRF, Environment and Climate, Department of Health, ASRLM, APGCL, Food & Civil Supplies, Agriculture, Sericulture, NABARD, and academic institutions such as Assam Agricultural University and IIT-Guwahati. They presented how they are using the climate information and what is required for building climate adaptation and contingency planning.

The event was closed with assurance from the IMD and Department of Agriculture to strengthen this two-way dialogue through multi-sectoral coordination for the benefit of the farmers, vulnerable groups, and people of Assam in general. WFP assured its technical contributions to the government's efforts. The forum aimed at using climate information and forecasts for improved sectoral planning.

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