The World Meteorological Day is celebrated every year on 23 March since 1950. In view of creating awareness among the farmers, students and public on climate change and its impact on farming and other allied activities, the Agro Climate Research Centre (ACRC) of TNAU observed World Meteorological Day on Tuesday.
The event was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor of TNAU N.Kumar. He stressed that every citizen should be aware of the impact of changing environments and how climate affects their day to day life.
He also highlighted the need for protecting precious resources in order to sustain farming on the long run. J.F.S.Kennedy, Dean of Post Graduate Studies indicated the climate change phenomena over the past several million years and how climate change continues to impact society.
R.Santhi, Director in-charge of Crop Management spoke on the connectivity of soil fertility and climate change over years. SP.Ramanathan, Professor and Head of the Agro Climate Research Centre (ACRC) in his welcome address outlined the need for commemorating the World Meteorological Day every year and the present climate change impacts on the monsoon behaviour and the impact of unseasonal rains on crop yields.
A special lecture on “Impact of Climate change on Bioresources in Antarctic Ocean” was delivered by M.Palanisamy, Scientist of Botanical Survey of India, Coimbatore based on his personal experience with Antarctica expedition. The pattern of melting of ice glaciers over the years and how it affected the flora and fauna were discussed. Two publications of ACRC were released during the event.
A couple of competitions were held for the students. Around 80 farmers, students and Scientists of TNAU participated in this program.