Weather prediction through indigenous knowledge and relevance in agriculture education : A review

Abstract

Increased user friendly weather information determines the resilience of farmers to climate change. In India, provisionof local specific, reliable, timely, modern weather information services that effectively addresses the needs of farmers. Indigenoustechnical knowledge (ITK) is the total of knowledge and practices based on people’s accumulated experience in dealing withproblems related to various aspects of climate vagaries. These are undocumented and passed on from generation to generationthrough experimental learning processes and word of mouth. The indigenous knowledge based weather forecasting practicedby humans for millennia helps to reduce uncertainty in agriculture. Before modern weather forecasting methods, ruralcommunities used indigenous knowledge, mostly based on observations of atmospheric conditions, astronomic and birds andanimal activities, to predict weather over short and long periods. This reviewed paper highlighted and documented indigenousweather forecasting knowledge of the farming community. It can be improvised and used effectively for disaster risk reductionin inaccessible areas.