1. National Conference on Agriculture for Rabi Campaign, 2017
Recommendations of Group V: Management of Drought

2. Summary of the Session 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
About the Drought Manual and Drought Declaration Process
Current Agricultural Situation In the Country
Example of Drought Monitoring in Karnataka
Brief Presentations from Different States

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Drought Declaration Parameters
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.

6. Institutionalization
Recommendations:
Institutionalization
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

7. Thank you.