New agricultural early warning system

With assistance from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP), Afghanistan will soon have an agricultural information and early warning system. Overseen by the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Ministry of Reconstruction and Rural Development, the system will help the government monitor crops in an effort to enhance food security. "The objective of the 'Support to Food Security Surveillance' project - of which the agro-meteorological project is a part - is to improve conditions of food security amongst the Afghan people, particularly amongst the most vulnerable segments of the population, Rabah Mekhol, an FAO agro-meteorologist, told IRIN from the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Thursday. In an agency statement earlier this week, a pre-winter survey of food and agriculture was being conducted in more than 500 villages, covering all major watersheds and agro-ecological zones in the country. According to Hector Maletta, FAO's senior food security adviser, the assessment will allow an updated measurement of the 2001-2002 crop season after the recent harvest of the spring crops and a forecast of cultivated areas and cropping patterns for the 2002-2003 season. "The system will develop increasingly accurate crop forecasts," Maletta said, noting that timely predictions of food shortages and information about the agricultural practices of rural households would help to improve food security countrywide. With field work set to conclude in January, except in a few remote areas where it might take a little longer, the expert said the survey was closely connected with WFP's recently concluded vulnerability assessment and mapping exercise and would combine analysis of village-level data with information from farm households. In an effort to improve seasonal monitoring and crop production forecasting, some 60 gauges are being installed across Afghanistan to measure precipitation. "We have already established a rain-gauge network within Afghanistan, with around 40 rain-gauges installed," Lekhal observed. The agriculture ministry has selected six agricultural research stations - in Kabul, Konduz, Baghlan, Mazar-e Sharif, Herat and Jalalabad - where complete agro-meteorological systems will be set up. Upon completion, the systems will provide climatic information on the seven agro-ecological zones of Afghanistan. Data on rainfall, air and soil temperature and humidity, wind speed, radiation, snow and frost coverage would be available from the systems. A bulletin would be issued every 10 days analysing the agro-meteorological situation and its repercussions on yields and production of major crops such as wheat, maize, barley and rice, the statement said. "Our main goal is also to train and teach the local specialists - agricultural and meteorology staff counterparts - on the latest tools and methodologies of agro-meteorology," Lekhal said. Two training workshops will take place at the agriculture ministry on the installation of rain gauges and on rain observation. The trainees, with knowledge and equipment provided through FAO, will become part of a fully operational agro-meteorological service in Afghanistan.