India is an agrarian economy with most of the population engaged in agricultural activities. As the conditions are getting adverse with the emerging environment, related problems to it and government’s false promises of compensating them, the suicide rate has increased. Science has used various technologies to support farmers; here is a new technique to help them to irrigate their fields by precipitation. Cloud Seeding is a new thing that came into news some days ago, for helping Maharashtra farmers by using it to ignite rain fall.
What This Term Means?
Well, the actual meaning of the term resides in the term itself. Cloud seeding is the process of producing clouds artificially. The process is done by introducing or spreading dust particles or cooling agents in the sky over the area where rain is required, which will ultimately lead to the formation of clouds. The basic theory behind this technique is that when sun rays warms up the atmospheric air of earth, the temperature of the air decreases resulting in its upward movement along with the moisture. The moisture and war air gets cooled down as they move upward. Spreading up of dust particles in them will lead to the formation of ice crystals with the help of moisture and dust particles. These clouds can’t move further resulting in precipitation or rain. The introduction of these particles of cooling agents is done by either using aircraft or by high pressure canisters which sends them to the clouds.
Advantages of Cloud Seeding
- This technique is used to produce the clouds and bring rain to the draught prone areas for better rain and boosting crop yield.
- It is also used to reduce the size of hailstones where hail stones precipitate in large size
- It is also used on some airports to reduce fog which has always been a cause of mishaps on airports
- This technique is used to clear the air in the fields during matches or concerts.
Why Recently in News?
In a step forwarded by Maharashtra government, the officials were sent to the draught suffering area to conduct the cloud seeding experiment in order to produce artificial rain to provide relief to the people. The experiment is reported to be conducted on 9 August, but the officials may start it earlier. The requirement of this technique was felt after the study revealed that the ground water level has gone much deep since 2010 making a situation of acute water scarcity consecutively on second year. About 1/3 of the total talukas in Maharashtra have got 50% of the average rain this year. The water level of major dams is also going low. India is a nation where most of the people are engaged in agricultural activities and water scarcity will not only destroy their crops but also their moral for further cultivation. The state is always stays in news for the farmer suicide and it makes the agriculture very hard.
Conclusion
Supporting agriculture should be the first priority of government as the farmers are the base of India. The farmers deserve salute for continuing farming even after several crop failures. If this experiment goes successful then it will be a master stroke for retaining agriculture in draught effected areas of India.
