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MahaMADAT (Drought Assessment in Maharashtra)

Intrpoduction

Maharashtra have been traditionally susceptible to droughts owing to its extreme
dependence of agricultural operations on the monsoon rainfall and poor bequest of

surface and groundwater resources. Maharashtra Government have devoted sizable
resources in strengthening resilience to droughts through creation of irrigation potential,

soil and water conservation, watershed management, development of stress tolerant

crop varieties, improved agronomic practices, etc. All these efforts undoubtedly blunted
the edge of droughts to a larger extent, yet the distress and disruption in the livelihood

of vulnerable sections of rural society, is at stake.

Drought, being a recurrent phenomenon in Maharashtra, has its destructive

effects through sharp decline in agricultural production and farm incomes, eventually,
culminated into shrinkage in opportunities for rural employment causing widespread

migration among farmers, farm labors, rural artisans and small rural businesses.

To a larger extent technological advances have substantiated the need for sole

dependence on crop productivity assessment based on annewari/paisewari or crop
cutting assessments in the determination of drought. Now, it is possible to arrive at an

objective, timely and accurate assessment of drought through the establishment of an
elaborate scientific drought monitoring methodology.

The early warning and assessment of agricultural drought requires handling a wide
range of data, generally from different sources, sharing a common spatial and / or non-

spatial component that making it possible to analyze and represent it in the form of

maps and statistics. Development of a dedicated Geo-Portal system for drought
assessment would streamline the implementation of the drought declaration activities.

In this context MRSAC developed Geo-Portal based on the guidelines provided
in Manual for Drought Management 2016, brought out by Ministry of Agriculture,

Cooperation & Farmers' Welfare, Govt. of India, and further summarized and enacted

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