Abburi VM Subbarao

• Ph.D
• Principal Scientist (Agrometeorology) at Indian Council of Agricultural Research

Rice yellow stem borer, Scirpophaga incertulas (Walker) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is a serious pest, that causes significant yield loss (10-40%) to rice crop in India and other parts of the world. This study emphasizes the prediction of the potential invasion risk, distribution, and further spread of S. incertulas during current and future climate c...

Groundnut productivity in rainfed regions of arid and semi‐arid agro‐ecosystems in southern India is highly vulnerable to intra‐seasonal rainfall variability as well as the timing, duration, frequency, and intensity of dry spells. The Rayalaseema semi‐arid region of India, a major groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)‐growing region, has experienced incr...

Climate change and variability are increasingly affecting agriculture and livelihoods in developing countries, with India being particularly vulnerable. Drought is one of the major climatic constraints impacting large parts of the world. We examined the effects of drought on crop productivity, evaluated the effectiveness of technologies in mitigati...

Changes in hailstorm dynamics to climate variability/change have become a topic of community interest recently. However, the lack of persistent and homogenous observations makes it difficult to confidently describe either its spatial shifts or its inter-annual variations. India, prone to hailstorms is impacted adversely, especially during pre-monso...

Analysis of spatial and temporal rainfall characteristics of various agroclimatic zones in Andhra in view of new districts formation.

Background: Peninsular India, being completely under the influence of monsoonal climate, suffers crop yield variability due to rainfall distribution-induced soil moisture constraints. Timely and appropriate assessment of this rainfall and soil moisture-induced crop yield variability serves as a key for exemplary relief assistance. Per cent availabl...

The All India Coordinated Research Project on Agrometeorology (AICRPAM) was initiated in 1983 to utilize the climatic resource potential for better agricultural planning, enhanced productivity, profitability and sustainable livelihoods. The project has generated valuable research output in the areas of agroclimatic characterization, crop-weather re...

The present study tests the accuracy of four models in estimating the hourly air temperatures in different agroecological regions of the country during two major crop seasons, kharif and rabi, by taking daily maximum and minimum temperatures as input. These methods that are being used in different crop growth simulation models were selected from th...

Gram pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hub.) is the major insect pest of pigeonpea and prediction of number of generations (no. of gen.) and generation time (gen. time) using growing degree days (GDD) approach during three future climate change periods viz., Near (NP), Distant (DP) and Far Distant (FDP) periods at eleven major pigeonpea growing loca...

This study investigates the spatial and temporal changes in Urban Settlements and Land Surface Temperature (LST) in Hyderabad from 1990 to 2020, highlighting the effects of urbanization on LST. Using Landsat 5 and Landsat 8 satellite imagery, Land Use Land Cover (LULC) change detection and LST analysis were conducted with the Split Window Algorithm...

Climate change is considered as a potential threat to sustainability of agriculture in India. Considering the importance of agriculture in the pursuit of the country’s development objectives, including the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, understanding possible impacts of climate change on productivity of major food crops in the...

This study investigates the spatio-temporal changes in maize yield under projected climate and identified the potential adaptation measures to reduce the negative impact. Future climate data derived from 30 general circulation models were used to assess the impact of future climate on yield in 16 major maize growing districts of India. DSSAT model...

Three years of field trial along with DSSAT v4.6 CERES-Rice model-based simulation experiment was carried out to study the impact of climate change on Sali rice yield under various Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) in the agro-climatic conditions of Jorhat, Assam. Field experiments were conducted during kharif, 2017, 2018 and 2019 at the...

Success of rainfed crop production is highly dependent on timely sowing/planting decisions. Variability in sowing/planting dates between years affect crop planning and thus could decrease farm profitability. Therefore, information on the optimum crop sowing window for the season will facilitate crop planning by farmers and other stakeholders. To de...

The dry spells and rainfall deficit within crop season, play vital role in determining productivity of rainfed crops. Dry Spell Index (DSI) was formulated to quantify cumulative impact of dry spells during kharif season (Jun-Sep) on major rainfed crops of India. District-wise variability of DSI were analyzed across rainfed regions of India using ra...

Crop stage-specific information on the impacts of projected climate change on crop and irrigation water requirements are essential for improving productivity. This study investigated the possible implications of projected climate change on the phenology, effective rainfall (Peff), crop (CWR) and irrigation water requirements (IWR) of maize in eight...

Among the environmental variables, total amount of rainfall received and its distribution during the crop-growing season plays a pivotal role. These are characterized by seasonal wet and dry spells of precipitation, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. The crop development is affected, if the dry spells coincide with the sensitive phenological...

Prediction of local scale frost events can be helpful for farmers to minimize crop loss due to frost damage. This study aims to detect a temporal trend in the occurrence of frost events and develop frost prediction models using multivariate statistical techniques like logistic regression, artificial neural network model, and thumb rules for two div...

Policy brief on district level climate change risk and vulnerability assessment for India based on IPCC's AR5 framework

Assessment of soil moisture availability and timely declaration of drought are keys for exemplary relief assistance in water stressed regions. Percent available soil moisture (PASM) is one among several drought declaration indices, needs evaluation with respect to individual crop and cropping system, as the amount of water requirement varies with r...

Automatic Weather Stations Network and Microlevel Agromet Advisory Services and their benefits to farmers under AICRPAM-NICRA project

Drought in Andhra Pradesh under future climate change scenarios

Farmers benefit due to the usage of timely agromet advisories issued by AICRPAM centers at different locations, Data collection under AWS network established

Crop weather calendars (CWC) serve as tools for taking crop management decisions. However, CWCs are not dynamic, as they were prepared by assuming normal sowing dates and fixed occurrence as well as duration of phenological stages of rainfed crops. Sowing dates fluctuate due to variability in monsoon onset and phenology varies according to crop dur...

Multi-model ensemble of Maximum (Tmax) and Minimum (Tmin) temperature data of four Representative Concentration Pathways viz., RCP 2.6, RCP 4.5, RCP 6.0 and RCP 8.5 of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project 5 (CMIP5) models were generated for ten major groundnut growing locations of the India to predict the number of generations of Spodoptera litura...

Cetacean strandings have been a common occurrence in the past and has been recorded in various places. There have been attempts to explain the phenomenon of mass beaching with various theories. Here in this article we propose a hypothesis on the recent mass stranding of Short-finned pilot whales Globicephala macrorhynchus in the southern coast of T...

This report contains a district level assessment of risk of Indian agriculture to climate change following the framework given by the Fifth Assessment Report of IPCC.

Climate change is emerging as an important threat to agriculture, food security and livelihoods. The impacts are likely to be more in rainfed agriculture. In this paper, we have examined the yield vulnerability of sorghum and pearl millet to climate change through panel data regression using the district level data for 1971-2004 and climate project...

The impact of climate change is most visible through extreme weather events. The information on extreme weather events in India are scattered and there has been very less efforts to analyze it. There is an immediate exigency to collect, compile and analyze micro level data on incidence of extreme weather events. This information is used for designi...

The impact of climate change is most visible through extreme weather events. The information on extreme weather events in India are scattered and there has been very less efforts to analyze it. There is an immediate exigency to collect, compile and analyze micro level data on incidence of extreme weather events. This information is used for designi...

learning new things

Sixteen pongamia families were evaluated in a field experiment for eight consecutive years in dryland conditions to identify stable, high-yielding families. The trial was conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Each family, consisting of nine trees per replication, was planted at a spacing of 3 m × 3 m. Yield stabil...

Experiments were conducted to understand the direct and indirect effects of temperature and elevated CO2 (eCO2), on tritrophic interactions of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata L.), legume aphid Aphis craccivora Koch and coccinellid predator Menochilus sexmaculatus Fab. Reduction of the leaf nitrogen (6%), amino acid (6%) and protein (7%...

The projected demand of maize production in India in 2050 is 4-5 times of current production. With the scope for area expansion being limited, there is need for enhancement of yield. This calls for identifying areas where huge unrealized yield potential exists. With a view to address the issue, the present study delineates homogeneous agro-climatic...

Experiments were conducted to understand the direct and indirect effects of temperature and elevated CO2 (eCO2), on tritrophic interactions of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata subsp. unguiculata L.), legume aphid Aphis craccivora Koch and coccinellid predator Menochilus sexmaculatus Fab. Reduction of the leaf nitrogen (6%), amino acid (6%) and protein (7%...

Climate change is a likely threat to agriculture, food security and livelihoods of farmers. This paper attempted to (i) convert the climate change projections into agriculturally relevant variables at the district level, (ii) assess the relative vulnerability of districts to climate change,and (iii) understand the farmers’ perceptions about climate...

Improving water productivity is a major concern globally and more problematic in arid and semiarid regions. Decision support system based on crop simulation models can be a handy tool for improving water use efficiency. In this chapter, we have described and compared how water stress factor is quantified in seven widely used crop models, viz. DSSAT...

This is a district level assessment of relative vulnerability and risk in eastern India following the IPCC,2014 framework.

Climate change is characterized by increasing temperatures (especially night temperature), changes in rainfall pattern, increasing frequency of incidence of extreme weather events such as drought, flood, heat wave, cold wave. Understanding what is likely to happen in future helps in planning appropriately and assessment of vulnerability to climate...

A concise information brochure about the AICRPAM project

A brief description about how precision farming works in agriculture

Keeping in view the recent variability in weather and climate, the Central Research Institute for Dryland Agriculture (CRIDA), Hyderabad pioneered in starting a flagship research programme of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) named ‘National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA)’. The project aims to enhance resilien...

The kharif 2016 started on hopes of better Southwest monsoon as India Meteorological Department predicted 106% of LPA rainfall at country level. The detailed prediction showed above normal rainfall in western and normal to below normal rainfall in eastern and northeast regions of India. Though the total rainfall received during the season was sligh...

This edited and compiled publication towards Annual Research Highlights of NICRA program (2015-2016) covering field crops, horticulture, livestock, fishery, poultry.

Heat wave is a hazardous weather-related extreme event that affects living beings. The 2015 summer heat wave affected many regions in India and caused the death of 2248 people across the country. An attempt has been made to quantify the intensity and duration of heat wave that resulted in high mortality across the country. Half hourly Physiological...

This publication is based on the data of weather parameters like temperature, humidity and rainfall. Climate of a region determines the crop suitability while the weather determines the productivity of crop. The intra-seasonal variability in weather and climate has caused greater variability in agricultural productivity. In the arena climate change...

Contingency interface meetings were held during May-July, 2016 in the states of Rajasthan, MP, Maharashtra, Assam, Meghalaya, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Karnataka, West Bengal, Jharkhand towards preparedness for excess monsoon, deficient monsoon and extreme climatic events with State Government Officials in collaboration with DAC, M...

A field experiment was conducted at Thrissur during kharif seasons of 2013 and 2014 using two rice varieties (Jyothi and Kanchana) and five dates of planting (June 5th, June 20th, July 5th, July 20th and August 5th). CERES-Rice model of DSSAT v 4.6 was used to simulate the phenology and grain yield of rice. Calibration of genetic coefficients was d...

Assessing vulnerability to climate change and variability is an important first step in evolving appropriate adaptation strategies to changing climate. Such an analysis also helps in targeting adaptation investments, specific to more vulnerable regions. Adopting the definition of vulnerability given by IPCC, vulnerability was assessed for 572 rural...

Though the onset of monsoon and sufficient rains in the month of June ensured timely sowing of many crops, prolonged dryspells at the end of June and July month affected the prospects of many kharif crops in almost all regions. The Southern and North-west regions were the most afected ones with a deficit of 15% and 17%, respectively. The deficit ra...

Numerous estimates for the coming decades project changes in precipitation resulting in more frequent droughts and floods, rise in atmospheric CO2 and temperature, extensive runoff leading to leaching of soil nutrients, and decrease in freshwater availability. Among these changes, elevated CO2 can affect crop yields in many ways. It is imperative t...

The “green revolution” era in India had largely bypassed the rainfed agriculture. In order to achieve overall development of agriculture, it is essential to bridge the yield gaps, enhance profitability, minimize risk and improve the livelihoods of millions of people dependent on rainfed agriculture. Therefore, regionally differentiated intervention...

Uttarakahnd is a predominantly an agricultural state. Climate change is an important aspect that is likely to influence agriculture and thus food security and livelihoods of farmers. This paper attempted to (i) convert the climate change projections into agriculturally relevant variables at the district level, (ii) assess the relative vulnerability...

District Database of Agricultural Statistics - A Database Management System

Assessing vulnerability to climate change and variability is an important first step in evolving appropriate adaptation strategies to changing climate. Such an analysis also helps in targeting adaptation investments to regions that are more vulnerable. According to IPCC, vulnerability is “the degree to which a system is susceptible to, or unable to...

This study deals with the estimation of monthly average daily global solar radiation incident on a horizontal surface at a location using meteorological data for different cities of Andhra Pradesh state. The regression equations of two types of models are developed for various locations of the state having varied climatic regions using measured met...

Goals of the Crop Modelers during this Workshop: 1) to calibrate and intercompare multiple crop models (APSIM, DSSAT, INFOCROP, and STICS) against rice and wheat data at sites in South Asia, 2) to simulate growth and yield sensitivity of those four crop models for rice and wheat to temperature and carbon dioxide levels, and 3) to demonstrate the pr...

Climate change scenarios generated using GCM models are mostly based on grid data for the entire country or for a given state. Most international organizations use this data in generating the scenarios for India. An attempt has been made to make a comparison of rainfall trends based on 1 ° × 1 ° grid data and data collected from a dense network of...

Water is an important for all forms of life and it is becoming scarce natural resource in the future owing to climate variability / change which aggravates the situation. Water resources are inextricably linked with climate. Climate change and variability would be the principal source of fluctuation in global food production, particularly in the se...

This study presents a simple methodology to estimate diurnal patterns in dew point temperature/relative humidity on weekly basis from mean minimum temperature or the morning relative humidity under semi-arid climatic conditions of Hyderabad. The sinusoidal and exponential models for day time and night time temperature pattern have been utilized in...

Agriculture is heavily weather dependent in India. The economy of the country is largely synchronized to the success of agriculture every year, as it contributes nearly 25% to gross domestic product (GDP). Farming community, planners and line department people always look forward to the accurate forecast from the weather men for decision making pro...

Time series analysis of annual mean, maximum and minimum temperature revealed of 47 stations spread acress different regions in India revealed the increasing trend in maximum temperature, lowest in 20 per cent stations in north zone and highest in 75 percent of the stations in south zone. On the other hand, increase in minimum temperature is observ...

Climate variability and change will increase pressure on natural resources and will affect food security at global and local scales. Several studies on effect of increased temperature levels on crop production endorse that there would be drastic reductions in crop yields, especially in important cereals like rice and wheat in India. In north Indian...

Integrated approach in the field of agrometeorology has been set as the theme for the future. Integration results from past efforts in agrometeorology with the support from basic and applied research to bridge the gap. Adoption to new approach to analysis, utilization of modern tools like remote sensing, simulation modelling and communication syste...

Year-to-year fluctuations in water balance reveal shifts in the normal climatic types of status and changes in their moisture regimes of a particular location. Moisture Index (Im), the difference between humidity and aridity index, serves as a useful index of relative moisture regime from one region to another. The present study on variation in moi...

Heavy/very heavy rainfall results in landslides, flash floods and crop damage that have major impacts on society, the economy and the environment. Farming community especially small and marginal category in the semi-arid regions does not have fast resilient ability to tide over ill effects of vagaries of weather and therefore they are disproportion...

Large investments of about Rs.800 billion since Independence has gone into development of surface irrigation projects and the gross irrigated area increased from 22.56 m ha to 75.14 m ha by 2000-01 in India. In spite of large-scale developments in irrigation sector, the agricultural production remains static at 212 mt, a cause of great concern, whi...

Field experiments on rainfed castor beans (Ricinus coinmunis L.) were conducted for 4 consecutive years (1990—1993) to study the effect of weather on the yields of different spike orders of castor, viz., primaries, secondaries and tertiaries. In these experiments, castor Cv. Aruna was planted on three different dates (treatments) in each year. The...

Field experiments on rainfed castor beans (Ricinus communis L.) were conducted for 4 years (1990–1993) to explain the variability in radiation use efficiency (RUE) and water use efficiency (WUE) in relation to meteorological parameters. In these experiments castor c.v. Aruna was sown on three different dates (treatments) in each year.The results fr...