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Andean farmers plant their fields before and during the initial months of the rainy season, avoiding planting all of their fields on a specific date or with the same crop. This traditional technique reduces climatic risks that occur as a result of the high interannual climate variability and also assures a minimum production for self-consumption during years of poor production. Farmers make decisions according to their expectation and based on previous experiences of risk and they have developed their own systems for weather and seasonal climate forecasting based on meteorological and astronomical phenomena as well as biological behavior of wild species (). However, in comparison to other Andean areas, studies in La Encañada and Tambomayo show that these indicators are more related to short-term decision-making such as when to apply agro-chemicals, than what, when, where and how to plant and crop. Although formal weather and seasonal climate forecasts are available from the Peruvian National Service of Meteorology and Hydrology, these are used only in a few cases, due to the inadequate spatial resolution and the lack of training to interpret them properly. Similarly, but at a different level, the extension offices provide general-purpose recommendations without using these forecasts.

Substantial advances in the efforts to model planetary weather systems, and resulting improvements to general circulation models (GCMs), have led to better predictability of the climate fluctuations, especially 1 to 6 months in advance (). Pioneers in generation and distribution of seasonal climate forecasts include the IRI and NOAA. Wise utilization of this information by the farmers and policy makers can contribute substantially towards achieving sustainability in agricultural production. Notwithstanding constant endeavors to improve the living standards of the developing countries like India, which ranks second in the population in the world, particular challenges still remain unattended in the arena of securing sustainable food production. In this context, it is worthwhile to explore and apply climate forecasts for strategic decision-making in agriculture and related areas, especially in the semi-arid regions, which are characterized by high interannual variability in rainfall and consequent uncertainty in water availability for rainfed farming operations.

Recent developments in weather and seasonal rainfall prediction have increased the accuracy and reliability of forecasts of the Indian monsoon. Despite these advances, availability and access to location-specific forecasts to take proper decisions at the farm level is very limited. Traditionally farmers in India have been using a set of indicators that have varied levels of dependability for rainfall prediction and have evolved several coping strategies and mechanisms.

Pengalengan is the main potato production center in the Bandung district of Indonesia. About 76% of potato production of this district comes from Pengalengan, while contribution of Bandung to total production of West Java was about 60%. A significant reduction in the production in this subdistrict will have a great influence on potato supply in the region. Farmers at Pengalengan plant potato almost throughout the year. They divided the planting season into three seasons, i.e. Porekat (January–April), Ceboran (May–July) and Wuku (September–December). The area planted to potato in Ceboran is much lower than in other two seasons as it is the dry season and farmers normally use paddy fields or lands close to water sources or irrigation facilities. Farmers plant their dry lands with potato only in the Wuku and Porekat seasons. Thus planting dry lands commences after the onset of wet season (normally early September).

Groundwater, the most assured widely available source of irrigation water, influences India’s industrial and agricultural growth (Rao et al. 1996). About 12.5% of India’s annual precipitation percolates into the groundwater, where it is protected from evapotranspiration. Demand for water by the agricultural, domestic and industrial sectors has increased considerably over the years, resulting in unsustainable exploitation of groundwater resources. The number of wells has increased from 7.78 to 9.98 million (dug out), 2.13 to 4.77 million (shallow tube) and 33.3 to 49.1 million (deep tube) over the last 10 years. Continuous cropping reduces potential recharge by reducing downward flux of rainfall (O’Connell et al. 1995). Although vast, India’s groundwater resources are not inexhaustible, as evidenced by continuous decline in groundwater levels in regions such as the Coimbatore district in western Tamil Nadu.

Corn is the second most important crop in the Philippines in terms of total area planted and overall value next only to rice. Yellow corn is the most important corn type in the Philippines, and is primarily used as feed especially for poultry and swine. In 2003, more than 844 885 ha of agricultural land in the Philippines were planted to yellow corn.

Dryland agriculture in India is practiced on 97 million ha of the cultivated area that supports 40% of the human population and 60% of livestock population by producing 44% of the food and fodder requirements. Even if India can achieve the full potential of irrigation in 139.5 million ha, still 75 million ha drylands would continue to depend on rainfall from southwest (SW) and northeast (NE) monsoons, characterized by high rainfall variability that cause most of production uncertainties. Thus dryland agriculture continues to play a crucial role in India’s food security. However, productivity gains have been relatively insignificant and risk-averse dryland farmers have to improve agricultural productivity with suitable management options and matching application of farm inputs to maximize crop productivity and income, while minimizing crop failure and input losses against uncertainties of seasonal weather to feed the booming population.

The Mekong River Delta (MRD) is the largest rice producing area and one of the most densely populated areas of Vietnam. However, farming is very risky because it is climate dependant. The variation of climate from year to year leads to a considerable variability in crop production. Water deficiency and water excess associated with seasonal climate variability have a significant consequence on rice production.

Recurrent drought conditions that prevailed in the Sahel region of West Africa during the 1970s and 1980s have seriously challenged the resiliency of ecosystems and the adaptive capacity of human societies (). This has triggered increased attention from the scientific community, resulting in a significant augmentation in climate-related publications and allowing for a better understanding of the complex regional and local climates.

Rainfall variability has become a major agricultural issue in sub-Saharan Africa, especially since crop production is mainly rainfed. Irrigation technologies are expensive and their implementation is slow. Many researchers now believe that some understanding of the causes of rainfall variability would lead to measures that could be used to investigate reduction in total rainfall and/or drought effects.