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World Meteorological Organization
COMMISSION FOR AGRICULTURAL
METEOROLOGY
FIFTEENTH SESSION
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
15-21 July 2010
CAgM-XV/INF. 16
Submitted by
Secretary-General
Date:
29.VI.2010
Original Language:
English
Agenda Item
7.2
SYMPOSIA, SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
IN AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY
REFERENCES:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Sivakumar, M.V.K. and Ndegwa Ndiang'ui, 2007. Climate and Land Degradation. Springer. 623
pages
WMO, 2009. Guidelines for the Education and Training of Personnel in Meteorology and Operational
Hydrology: Volume 1, Supplement No. 2: Guidelines for Curricula in Agricultural Meteorology (WMONo. 258)
Orlandini, S., M.V.K. Sivakumar, T.H. Sivertsen, and A.O. Skjelvåg, 2009. Special Issue of Időjárás,
Volume 113, Number 1-2, January-June 2009
CAgM Management Group meeting, February 2010, Geneva, Switzerland – Doc. 6
CAgM Management Group meeting, June 2008, Obninsk, Russian Federation – Doc. 6
CONTENT OF DOCUMENT:
This document is only for information on the various symposia, seminars, and workshops in agricultural
meteorology and no decisions are based on the material provided herein. Observations/suggestions
coming out of its presentation would be recorded under Doc. 3.
CAgM-XV/INF. 16, APPENDIX
SYMPOSIA, SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS
IN AGRICULTURAL METEOROLOGY
1.
Workshops and meetings organized by WMO
1.1
International Workshop on Climate and Land Degradation
1.1.1
WMO organized an International Workshop on Climate and Land Degradation in
Arusha, Tanzania, from 11 to 15 December 2006 in collaboration with the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Tanzania Meteorological Agency. The
workshop was co-sponsored by the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID), the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Sixty-four participants from 30 countries attended the workshop.
1.1.2
The workshop focused on how climate induces and influences land degradation and
what measures need to be taken to enhance the applications of weather and climate information to
combat land degradation. Land degradation is a threat to natural resources with consequences on
food security, poverty, and environmental and political stability. The workshop noted that trends in
land degradation are assessed differently in various parts of the world. In combating land
degradation, bottom-up and top-down participatory management approaches that foster income
generating activities are required. Selected workshop recommendations included:
(a)
The network of climatological, hydrological and agrometeorological stations around the
world should be increased and strengthened to provide data on rainfall intensities, soil
temperature and soil moisture for land degradation monitoring, assessment and for the
implementation of the NAPs. Climatological and hydrological end products should be
developed in coordination with end user needs by relevant and competent personnel
and institutions;
(b)
Direct interactions between National Meteorological and Hydrological Services
(NMHSs) and the land users are needed to enhance the direct communication of
weather and climate information. There is a need to develop a cost-effective system to
communicate early climate forecasts to various stakeholders, in particular to farmers,
so that they can improve their land management practices.
1.1.3
The proceedings of the workshop were published by Springer in 2007 (see
reference 1).
1.2
Expert Group Meeting on Review of Curriculum in Agricultural Meteorology
1.2.1
An Expert Meeting on Review of Curriculum in Agricultural Meteorology at the PostGraduate Level was organized from 14 to 16 March 2007 in New Delhi, India at the National
Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) to develop a revised curriculum as well as
recommendations for its effective implementation. The meeting was co-sponsored by WMO,
NAAS, the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) and the Accademia Dei Georgofili (Italy) and was
attended by 17 experts including Dr Jerry Hatfield, President of ASA. Following the development of
the three categories of courses, the responsibilities for developing the detailed syllabi for different
courses were assigned to different participants in the meeting. It was agreed that for each of the
topics in a given course, curriculum will include both elementary and advanced issues. This would
allow the teaching faculty the flexibility to design the course as per the needs and priorities
identified in a given region. The meeting agreed that a publication on the “Guidelines for Curricula
in Agricultural Meteorology “ will be prepared in all the different UN languages and copies will be
distributed to all the Agricultural Universities around the world to effect the much needed changes
in post-graduate education in Agricultural Meteorology to cope with the new challenges.
CAgM-XV/INF. 16, APPENDIX, p. 2
1.2.2
The main outcome of the meeting was the publication of WMO guidelines in 2009 (see
reference 2). This publication is available online at http://www.wmo.int/agm.
1.3
Symposium on Climate Change and Variability – Agro Meteorological Monitoring
and Coping Strategies for Agriculture
1.3.1
WMO with the EU COST ACTION 734 organized a Symposium on Climate Change
and Variability - Agro Meteorological Monitoring and Coping Strategies for Agriculture in Drøbak,
Norway, near Olso, from 4 to 6 June 2008. This symposium was held in conjunction with CAgM
Expert Team on Climate Risks in Vulnerable Areas: Agrometeorological Monitoring and Coping
Strategies (ETCRAM) under the Open Programme Area Group 3 on Climate Change/Variability
and Natural Disasters in Agriculture. The symposium brought together 10 experts from ETCRAM
and 65 experts from Europe. The local organizers were the Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and
Environmental Research (Bioforsk), Division of Plant Health and Plant Protection and the
Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. The
meeting was organized into several sessions which included: agroclimatic indices and simulation
models, current trends of agroclimatic indices and simulation model output, developing and
assessing future regional and local scenarios of agroclimatic conditions, risks and foreseen
impacts on agriculture, and conclusion and recommendations.
1.3.2
Several presentations from the Symposium were published as a Special Issue of
Időjárás, the Quarterly Journal of the Hungarian Meteorological Service (HMS), in 2009 (see
reference 3).
1.4
International Workshop on Advances in Operational Weather Systems for Fire
Danger Rating
1.4.1
The International Workshop on Advances in Operational Weather Systems for Fire
Danger Rating was held in Edmonton, Canada, from 14 to 16 July 2008. This event was coorganized by WMO, the Canadian Forest Service (CFS) of Natural Resources Canada, and the
Global Observation of Forest and Land Cover Dynamics (GOFC-GOLD) in collaboration with a
number of other co-sponsors. This workshop brought together more than 70 participants. The
International Workshop was followed by the ET 1.3 meeting on Agrometeorological Aspects of
Sustainable Agricultural Development (ETASAD).
1.4.2
The meeting was organized into several sessions which included: opening of the
workshop; fire danger rating (FDR) approaches and role of weather information – international
reports; FDR system enhancement; several parallel breakout groups; and status of operational
guidelines for weather-based FDR. During the workshop different operational methods used in fire
danger rating (FDR) systems around the globe were discussed. New developments in system
design and potential enhancements were also analysed. It was decided that there would be two
deliverables from the workshop: a brochure on Operational Fire Weather Guidelines and
proceedings of the Workshop.
1.5
International Symposium on Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia
1.5.1
The International Symposium on Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia was
held in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in August 2008 and was attended by around 250 participants from
17 countries. The Symposium was co-sponsored by WMO, together with the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
Pacific (UNESCAP), the Ohio State University, the University of Dhaka and the Government of
Bangladesh. It identified several key recommendations, knowledge gaps and opportunities for the
design of programmes aimed at minimizing short- and long-term vulnerability of the region to
climate change. Some of the key recommendations based on keynote presentations, poster
papers and working group deliberations included:
CAgM-XV/INF. 16, APPENDIX, p. 3
(a)
Create a Climate Change and Food Security in South Asia Network (CCFSSANet) and
establish a South Asia Climate Outlook Forum (SACOF), both to be maintained by
WMO;
(b)
Stimulate multidisciplinary research on topics related to climate change and food
security in South Asia;
(c)
Initiate and strengthen cooperation among academic, research and policy institutions,
international organizations, and NGOs to provide opportunities for human resource
development and relevant training needs; and
(d)
Strengthen regional institutional and policy mechanisms to promote and facilitate
implementation of location specific adaptation and mitigation practices.
1.6
Workshop on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation to Agriculture, Forestry
and Fisheries at the National and Regional Levels
1.6.1
The Workshop on Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation to Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries at the National and Regional Levels was held in Orlando, Florida, USA on
18-21 November 2008. This Workshop was sponsored by WMO, the United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA), and the Southeast Climate Consortium (SECC) of United States of America
and was held in conjunction with a meeting of the SECC and CAgM Implementation/Coordination
Team (ICT 3.1) on Climate Change/Variability and Natural Disasters in Agriculture (ICCND). Thirty
participants from over 10 countries attend the workshop. Experts presented state-of-the-art papers
on operational applications and innovative techniques on climate change adaptation. They also
developed recommendations for producing and using weather and climate information for planning
and implementing effective climate change adaptation strategies at the national and regional
levels.
1.6.2
Initial plenary workshop sessions were open to all interested participants in the
application of meteorology to developing solutions to regional and national problems facing
agriculture, forests, and fisheries as a result of climate change. The remainder of the workshop
was devoted to concurrent WMO ICT and SECC sessions. A set of conclusions and
recommendations were prepared in both the WMO ICT 3.1 and the SECC sessions, and reviewed
and discussed in the final joint session of the workshop.
1.7
International Workshop on Drought and Extreme Temperatures
1.7.1
An International Workshop on Drought and Extreme Temperatures was held in Beijing,
China, from 16-17 February 2009 to review the increasing frequency and severity of droughts and
extreme temperature events around the world. More than 40 scientists participated in the
workshop, organized jointly by WMO and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA). The
workshop was made up of several sessions on the following topics: drought indices and monitoring
with examples from various WMO Regions; national drought policies and coping strategies;
extreme temperatures with a focus on China; monitoring and assessment of climate change,
drought and extreme temperatures. The workshop adopted several recommendations to cope with
increasing droughts and extreme temperatures on agriculture, rangelands and forestry:
(a)
To develop a unified and standardized drought index that can be practically applied to
a wide-range of agricultural purposes across the world;
(b)
WMO should make appropriate arrangements to identify the methods and to marshal
resources for the development of standards for agricultural drought indices in a timely
manner.
CAgM-XV/INF. 16, APPENDIX, p. 4
1.8
International Workshop on Adaptation to Climate Change in West African
Agriculture
1.8.1
An International Workshop on Adaptation to Climate Change in West African
Agriculture was held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 27-30 April 2009. It was jointly
sponsored by WMO, the Food Agriculture Organization (FAO), the State Agency for Meteorology
of Spain (AEMET), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Economic Community of West
African States (ECOWAS), the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT), the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the General Directorate of Civil
Aviation and Meteorology of the Government of Burkina Faso. The workshop brought together over
70 experts and key decision-makers to discuss and recommend climate change adaptation options
for the agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries sectors in West Africa. The Workshop identified
several key recommendations, knowledge gaps and opportunities for policy makers, researchers
and extension systems, international organizations, and NGOs to implement programmes
designed to minimize short- and long-term vulnerability of the West African region to climate
change. The following are selected principal recommendations:
(a)
Mobilize necessary resources to strengthen research on the impact of climate change
on agriculture in the different agro ecological zones of West Africa as empirical
evidence and research results in this area remain largely insufficient;
(b)
Establish a West and Central African Network on Climate Change and Food Security
(ROCACCSA); and
(c)
Establish, as part of the implementation of the ECOWAS Sub-regional Action
Programme on Climate Change, a Technical Secretariat comprising of competent
institutions at the national and regional level in West Africa and with international
institutions and organizations.
1.9
Meeting of the International Workshop on the Content, Communication and Use
of Weather and Climate Products and Services for Sustainable Agriculture
1.9.1
An International Workshop on the Content, Communication and Use of Weather and
Climate Products and Services for Sustainable Agriculture was organized at the University of
Southern Queensland, Australia, from 18-20 May 2009 in Toowoomba, Australia. This workshop
was jointly sponsored by WMO, the University of Southern Queensland, the South Australian
Research and Development Institute, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the US National
Oceanic and Aeronautic Administration, the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research
(APN), and the Australian Managing for Climate Variability Research and Development
Programme and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The workshop
brought together more than 80 scientists mainly from Asia and the Pacific, members of two CAgM
Expert Teams (1.2 ET on Content and Use of Agrometeorological Products by Farmers and
Extension Services - OPAG 1; 2.3 ET on Communication of Agrometeorological Products and
Services -OPAG 2), and representatives of the agricultural sector, both from the academic world
and the farming community. After the International Workshop, CAgM Expert Team Meetings were
held on 21 May 2009.
1.9.2
The programme of the workshop was covered in seven technical sessions with the
following topics: agrometeorological products for farmers and extension services; communication
of weather and climate products for farmers and extension services; case studies of applications of
weather and climate products for agriculture; agrometeorological analyses: gaps and limitations;
new products and tools for communication and dissemination of agrometeorological products and
services and their impacts; enhancing interactions between weather and climate services and
farmers.
CAgM-XV/INF. 16, APPENDIX, p. 5
1.9.3
Of special note, there was a Farmer’s Roundtable Session with six Australian farmers.
The farmers represented a range activities and interests including the Australian grain and peanut
industry, the Queensland Farmers Federation, organic farming, horticulture (flowers and speciality
vegetables), cattle ranching, and wheat farming. They obtain their weather and climate information
from a broad range of sources including the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, local agricultural
radio programmes, local TV, and the Internet (CPC, IRI, SSTs forecasts, etc.). Most of the farmers
would prefer to have free and accurate climate forecasts over free seeds and fertilizers.
1.9.4
The workshop concluded that agrometeorological products are valuable to farmers and
national economies because agriculture is always sensitive to climate and there is an unmet
demand for climate information in all countries. Despite the advances made in improving weather
and climate forecasts, the application of these products at the field level has not been “up to the
mark” because of the lack of effective contact between the providers of weather and climate
information and farming communities. There remains a need for greater interaction with the
farming community to ensure greater agricultural productivity: the National Meteorological and
Hydrological Services (NMHSs) have not been allocating adequate resources to meet this need.
1.10
Inter-Regional Workshop on Indices and Early Warning Systems for Drought
1.10.1
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) along with the National Drought
Mitigation Center (NDMC), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), US National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
(UNCCD) together with a number of other co-sponsors organized a an Inter-Regional Workshop on
Indices and Early Warning Systems for Drought at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in Lincoln,
USA. The workshop brought together 54 participants from 22 countries from all the different
regions of the world. The workshop was organized in sessions on the following topics: overview of
drought indices and early warning systems for drought; impacts of drought; overview of regional
drought indices currently in use; strategies to manage hydrological and agricultural droughts;
emerging drought monitoring technologies; and the implementation and improvement of drought
early warning systems. The workshop endorsed the “Lincoln Declaration on Drought Indices” which
stated the following recommendations:
(a)
Drought indices and early warning systems must be implemented from the beginning
with the end-users in mind;
(b)
The National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) around the world are
encouraged to use the SPI to characterize meteorological droughts in addition to the
indices currently in use;
(c)
WMO was requested to take the necessary steps to implement this recommendation. A
comprehensive user manual for the SPI should be developed that will provide a
description of the index, the computation methods, specific examples of where it is
currently being used, the strengths and limitations, mapping capabilities, and how it can
be used;
(d)
Two working groups with representatives from different regions around the world and
observers from UN Agencies and Research Institutions should be established to further
discuss and recommend, by the end of 2010, the most comprehensive indices to
characterize the agricultural and hydrological droughts.
2.
Workshops and Meetings co-sponsored by WMO
2.1
International Conference on Challenges and Opportunities in Agrometeorology
2.1.1
An International Conference on the Challenges and Opportunities in Agrometeorology
was held in New Delhi, India from 23-25 February 2009. This workshop was organized by the
CAgM-XV/INF. 16, APPENDIX, p. 6
Indian Meteorological Society and co-sponsored by WMO, the India Meteorological Department,
Ministry of Earth Sciences, Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Science and Technology, the
Indian Council of Agricultural Research and other Indian organizations. More than 100 participants
attended the workshop. This workshop was followed by a meeting of the CAgM Implementation
and Coordination Team (ICT) on Support Systems for Agrometeorological Services. The workshop
brought together the global agrometeorological community, administrators and policy makers to
debate and devise improved methods and techniques for better prediction, preparedness and
mitigation of the adverse weather impacts on agriculture production. It provided strategies to make
the farming community, the risk managers and the media aware of the possible impact,
consequences and mitigation measures to sustain food security. The following are selected
recommendations:
(a)
NMHS’s should use about 5% of their budget to interact with users;
(b)
NMHS’s should be proactive in getting involved with existing agricultural fora such as
farmer field days in order to further improve user interactions.
2.2
International Symposium on Climate Change and Adaptation Options in
Agriculture
2.2.1
An International Symposium on Climate Change and Adaptation Options in Agriculture
was held in Vienna, Austria from 22-24 June 2009. The workshop, sponsored by WMO, the
adaptation of agriculture in European regions at environmental risk under Climate Change
(ADAGIO) project, EU COST ACTION 734 “Impact of Climate Change and Variability on European
Agriculture”, the Central and Eastern Europe Climate Change Impacts and Vulnerability
Assessment” (CECILIA) project, was hosted by the University of Natural Resources and Applied
Life Sciences in Vienna. Over 60 participants attended the International Symposium from many
European countries and organizations. The symposium was held in conjunction with the Meeting of
the RA VI (Europe) Working Group on Agricultural Meteorology.
2.3
OECD Conference on Sustaining Soil Productivity in Response to Global Climate
Change – Science, Policy and Ethics
2.3.1
WMO co-sponsored the Conference on Sustaining Soil Productivity in Response to
Global Climate Change – Science, Policy and Ethics, which was organized by the Trade and
Agriculture Directorate of OECD under their Cooperative Research Programme: Biological
Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, in Madison, Wisconsin (USA) from
29 June to 1 July 2009. The scientific programme of the Conference was covered in two sessions
during which 23 oral presentations were made. The two technical sessions covered the issues of
Policy and Ethical Considerations (first day) and Sustainability and Climate Change (second and
third days). The Conference brought out several interesting aspects concerning soil productivity
and climate change, especially policy and ethics.
3.
Other workshops and meetings co-sponsored by WMO
3.1
The following are other workshops and meetings co-sponsored by WMO during the
intersessional period:
(a)
Workshop on African
16 November 2007);
Fire
Danger
Requirements
(Accra,
Ghana,
15-
(b)
First Venezuelan Congress and 5th Latin American Meeting in Agrometeorology
(Maracay, Venezuela, 28–30 November 2007);
(c)
Workshop on Climate and Crop Disease Risk Management: An International Initiative
in the Asia-Pacific Region (Dhaka, Bangladesh, 11-14 February 2008);
CAgM-XV/INF. 16, APPENDIX, p. 7
(d)
International Symposium on Agrometeorology and Food Security (Hyderabad, India,
18-21 February 2008);
(e)
Climate Change and Biodiversity in the Americas (Panama City, Panama, 2529 February 2008)
(f)
CTA International Seminar on the Implications of Global Climate Change for
Sustainable Agricultural Production Systems in ACP countries (Ouagadougou, Burkina,
26-31 October 2008);
(g)
INTROMET 2009 – International Conference on “Challenges and Opportunities in
Agrometeorology” (New Delhi, India, 23-25 February 2009);
(h)
Development of Interfaces to Improve Communication of Climate Information to
Farmers and Farming Communities: Cook Islands Pilot (Rarotonga, Cook Islands,
11-13 January 2010).
4.
Representation at Meetings of Other Organizations
4.1
During the 2006 to 2009 intersessional period, WMO was represented at the following
meetings (CAgM-XV/Doc. 8. provides details of meetings with international organizations):
(a)
First General Meeting on “Adaptation of Agriculture in European Regions at
Environmental Risk under Climate Change (ADAGIO)” held from 14 to
16 February 2007 in Vienna, Austria;
(b)
Seventh Meeting of the Group of International Advisors of the ICRC, held from 27 to
28 March 2007, in Geneva, Switzerland;
(c)
The Center for Research on the Changing Earth System (CRCES) Workshop on
Societal Impacts of Decadal Climate Variability in the United States, held from 26 to
28 April, in Kona, Hawaii;
(d)
Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held from 5 to 7 June 2007 in Geneva,
Switzerland;
(e)
Kickoff meeting of the project “Climate Information Applied to Agricultural Risk
Management in the Andean Countries” held from 14-15 June 2007 in Guayaquil,
Ecuador;
(f)
ASSINCER (Intersectorial Association about cereal and other arable lands) meeting
during the National Congress "The days of Study of Italy Grains 2007" held on
28 September 2007 in Bologna, Italy;
(g)
Annual Meeting of the American Society of Agronomy held from 4 to 9 November 2007
in New Orleans, USA;
(h)
Meeting on Project INTERREG IIIB ACCRETe Agriculture and Climate Change: how to
Reduce human Effects and Threats, held on 28 January 2008 in Parma, Italy;
(i)
UNECE 3rd Regional Implementation Meeting on Sustainable Development held from
28-29 January 2008 in Geneva, Switzerland;
(j)
31st Session of the Governing Council of IFAD held from 13-14 February 2008 in
Rome, Italy;
CAgM-XV/INF. 16, APPENDIX, p. 8
(k)
Sharing Knowledge across the Mediterranean (4), held from 7 to 9 April 2008, in Crete,
Greece;
(l)
60th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development held from 5 to
16 May 2008 in New York, USA;
(m)
Second Steering Committee Meeting of CTA held from 9 to 10 September 2008 in
Wageningen, The Netherlands;
(n)
Argentinean Congress of Agrometeorology held from 8 to 10 October 2008 in Jujuy,
Argentina;
(o)
Preparatory Meeting for CAgM-XV held in Brasilia on 10 October 2009;
(p)
GLOBE Meeting held from 26 to 28 January 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland;
(q)
High Level Meeting on Food Security for All (RANSA), held on 26 and 27 January 2009
in Madrid, Spain;
(r)
Second Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction held from 16 to
19 June 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland;
(s)
Brazilian Congress of Argometeorology and Meeting of the Organizing Committee for
CAgM-XV held from 21 to 25 September 2009 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil;
(t)
First Session of the International Agricultural Cooperative Organization held on
18 November 2009 in Geneva, Switzerland;
(u)
20th World Association of Beet and Cane Growers (WABCG) Consultation with
International Sugar Organization held on 23 November 2009 in London, UK;
(v)
Nurturing Arid Zones for People and the Environment: issues and Agenda for the
21st Century held from 24 to 28 November 2009 in Jodhpur, India;
(w)
Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development, held from 2831 March 2010 in Montpellier, France.
__________