In a novel step, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has developed a public portal that can forecast agricultural drought conditions across India up to four weeks in advance.
The web portal, KrishiDrought, has been developed by the institute’s Ecohydrology research group, led by Professor Karthikeyan Lanka at the Centre for Studies in Resources Engineering (CSRE), in collaboration with the Centre for Climate Studies.
Announcing the initiative on its official X account, IIT Bombay wrote, “We are pleased to announce the launch of http://KrishiDrought.in, a public portal providing weekly agricultural drought forecasts across India, with up to four weeks of advance warning at approximately 9 km spatial resolution (provided at district level).”
According to the institute, the platform combines satellite observations, hydroclimatic datasets, dynamical forecasts and advanced deep learning models to help farmers and government agencies prepare for potential droughts.
“The portal provides weekly agricultural drought forecasts at a spatial resolution of approximately 9 kilometres, with information available at the district level,” it said.
“Soil moisture is an important indicator of agricultural health, as it reflects the amount of water available in the ground to support crop growth. Monitoring changes in these conditions can help identify regions that may be at risk of agricultural drought,” it said.
Timely information on declining soil moisture levels could help farmers and authorities plan irrigation, make informed crop-management decisions and undertake other preparedness measures before drought conditions worsen.
The portal’s weekly forecasts, which offer up to four weeks of warning, are intended to give stakeholders more time to assess potential risks and plan their response.
With climate variability posing growing challenges to agricultural planning, the initiative seeks to make scientific forecasting more accessible to those who need it.
The public platform aims to support farmers, government agencies and other stakeholders in making timely decisions, preparing for drought conditions and mitigating potential agricultural losses.
However, IIT Bombay’s announcement did not share how farmers would receive the forecasts or how the information would be disseminated to help them make decisions on the ground.
The portal was formally launched as part of CSRE’s Golden Jubilee celebrations at IIT Bombay.
