Bhubaneswar: Nobel Laureate Prof. Michael Kremer, along with a 12-member team from the University of Chicago, praised the Krushi Samrudhi Helpline (KSH) of Odisha’s Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department (DA & FE) during a meeting with state officials. He noted the initiative has been instrumental in reaching last-mile farmers and helping them protect crops from climate-related challenges.

Prof. Kremer recommended the integration of AI-based forecasting tools that take rainfall, temperature, and humidity into account to predict pest incidence more accurately. Such forecasts, he said, would enable farmers to adopt timely precautionary and preventive measures against extreme weather and pest attacks. He further stressed the importance of combining multiple weather forecasting models with the existing KSH system for greater reliability.

At the meeting held at Krushi Bhavan, Kremer and his team also shared insights from their ongoing research on the dissemination of weather forecasts and their acceptance among Odisha’s farming community.

Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Principal Secretary of DA & FE, highlighted the department’s holistic strategies, which include Comprehensive Rice Fallow Management, crop insurance, customised agro-advisories, digital crop surveys, farmer registry (Krushak Odisha), adoption of stress-tolerant crop varieties, and digital pest monitoring. He also pointed out the contingency plan jointly developed with OUAT to mitigate the adverse impacts of weather aberrations.

Prof. Kremer lauded these initiatives and expressed interest in forging a knowledge-sharing partnership with the state. The meeting was also attended by senior government officials, OUAT scientists, and members of the Climate Resilience Cell (CRC).