Publication

This project builds on previous work in India and Pakistan (APN2000-017), which established a network of research teams with capacity to apply agricultural

systems analysis to evaluate options for managing climatic risk. Building on that foundation, this project documented and delivered benefits from climate

information to agricultural decision makers, and plotted a course for large-scale, sustained operational support of seasonal climate information and prediction

within the target countries (India, Indonesia and Pakistan).

The final year culminated in a stakeholder workshop, during which an organisational ‘consortium’ approach was adopted by participants. This

consortium approach builds on the existing network and maintains the momentum generated by this project. Directors of CRIDA and NCMRWF agreed

to jointly take the lead in the development and set-up of such a consortium. The consortium will address the gaps in knowledge, institutions, and policy that

obstruct change at the ground level. 

The stakeholders considered the project to have had a major impact on the conduct of cross-disciplinary research, highlighting the importance of simulation

modelling being the glue that connects several disciplines, providing a focus on outcomes relevant to end users and not ‘science for science’s sake’. This aspect

was highlighted in a presentation by one of the Indian farmers at the stakeholder workshop. In addition, the project had achieved considerable capacity building

via staff training and the development of post-graduate scholarship opportunities. The science conducted by the team was highly regarded and considered an

excellent example of the value of international, cross-disciplinary research, as evident by the publications arising from this project.