Pokhara, June 20

Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, and Green Forest Programme are all set to install weather forecasting technology, targeting small farmers in collaboration with Small Earth Nepal at Puranchaur of Pokhara Lekhnath Metropolitan City, Kaski.

The Small Earth Nepal Chair Dhiraj Pradhananga said they were set to install a new technology to forecast weather of up to three days in advance. The technology will be brought in a matter of days.

Speaking at a programme organised by the Small Earth in Pokhara, Dhiraj said they would offer training to farmers and put the schedule of weather forecasting on the notice board. And, the schedule would be sent via SMS to farmers’ mobile phones. “The data will be updated on a daily basis. In the first phase, 25 farmers from Puranchaur will be sent data through SMS”, said Pradhananga. Through the technology, farmers can protect their vegetables and food crops.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology releases a type of balloon that flies freely up above around 12 kilometres from the earth into the sky in Kirtipur which will measure wind direction, humidity and temperature. This will definitely help forecast the weather of up to three days in advance. Weather expert Professor Madan Shrestha said they had started the work at Kaski’s Puranchaur as a pilot project.