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16 SCF Folio answer a survey questionnaire during the seminars. The questionnaire had two parts. The first referred to the participants’ profile which identified the respondents’ designations and sector/category representation. The second referred to the participants’ feedback which had 11 questions on what the respondents thought about PAGASA’s products and services. Aside from directly offering information to PAGASA, the responses to the questionnaire may also provide some insights to the project team members on how decisionmakers in agriculture source and make use of information regarding climate, including seasonal forecasts. Findings Majority of the respondents were municipal agriculturists and members of the academe with a few members of farmers’ groups. All of them considered weather/climate as a factor in planning and decisionmaking in their work/source of livelihood, with the majority claiming it is a critical factor. Radio/tv were cited as the sources of information about weather/climate used by the majority of the respondents, with PAGASA stations coming in second and the rest a split among local practices/beliefs, broadsheets/tabloids, advisories from head offices and associates and extension workers. In terms of awareness of PAGASA’s products and services, majority of the respondents in Leyte were aware while less than half of the respondents in Bukidnon were. Those who were aware and went on to rate these products and services gave generally good assessments. Suggestions given by the respondents on how to improve PAGASA’s products and services were basically the same as gleaned from the two surveys. Essentially, what the respondents want is for PAGASA to have a stronger presence in their municipalities and establish a stronger linkage with them. There was also a clamor for publications that are easier to understand, preferably PAGASA needs to do more to reach the people who use its products and services to make decisions that affect their work, especially since these people are in the rural areas and far from informationrich metropolises...More effort must also be made in making the information more understandable and more accessible to the clients. in the vernacular, and more information and education campaign (IEC) activities, trainings and seminars from PAGASA. Establishment of agromet and weather stations in their local government units (LGUs) was also shared by many of the respondents as well as the improvement of PAGASA’s facilities. Perhaps owing to the difference in the sector they belong to, the members of the academe in Leyte have access to the internet and thus wanted weather/climate data available online. The respondents in Leyte recommended a closer link between PAGASA and LGUs in order that the LGUs themselves could request the kind of information that are more suited to their constituents and localities. They also cited the need for more site-specific data that the local weather stations could regularly disseminate to the community. Those in Bukidnon, on the other hand, basically wanted to have agromet stations and rain collector systems facilities in addition to more related publications and trainings from PAGASA. Implications and recommendations It is clear that PAGASA needs to do more to reach the people who use its products and services to make decisions that affect their work, especially since these people are in the rural areas and far from informationrich metropolises. In order to achieve this, the weather bureau needs to have more partners in nongovernment organizations (NGOs), LGUs, the academic research community and individual experts who can help disseminate and explain weather/climate information. The more vigorous partnership with these groups and individuals would help establish better communication among the stakeholders and help make the receivers of information inform PAGASA of the data they need in their localities. More effort must also be made in making the information more understandable and more accessible to the clients. This would indeed be challenging since scientific data are difficult to translate to local dialects and so it is necessary to have more seminars and lectures by PAGASA particularly in the regions. Lastly, the mass media should be tapped not just to report weather forecasts that are usually steeped in weather jargon but also to explain basic concepts in order to reach more people. (SCF Project Updates, December 2005)
Communicating through climate indicator signs 17 Bronya Alexander and Peter Hayman Motorists are often exposed to informative road signs such as bushfire risk or number of road accidents. So why not have a sign to convey seasonal climate information Based on an idea from the Birchip cropping group in Victoria, along with funding from the South Australian Grains Industry Trust Fund and other organizations, the South Australia Research and Development Institute (SARDI) has developed the Climate Indicator signs. These large signs are used to convey a range of different types of seasonal climate information through the use of colored dials. They are placed in paddocks on the road side so that farmers and agriculturists can see the latest information and outlooks. The signs have also been shown and discussed at agricultural field days like the one shown in the photo above. There are six dials on the signs as seen in Figure 1 and described below. 1) Current growing season rainfall (GSR) decile – this is calculated by comparing the amount of current season rainfall with the long-term rainfall at the closest meteorology station. 2) Forecast GSR deciles – the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA) has designed an experimental system for producing seasonal climate forecasts. This system draws from indices based on the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and produces five years that are considered to have performed similarly to this year. The GSR from these five analogue years are indicated via the five arrows on the dial. 3) Probability of exceeding median rainfall using SOI – this shows two arrows. One represents the current Melissa Rebbeck from SARDI presents the Climate Indicator Signs at a Yorke Peninsula field day in South Australia in September 2006. outlook from the Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology for the chance of exceeding the median rainfall over the following three months. The other arrow is the outlook based on the SOI, provided by the Queensland Department of Primary Industries. 4) Yield Prophet – this indicates the expected crop yield from the Yield Prophet model developed by the Birchip Cropping Group. Yield Prophet is the interface to the crop simulation model called APSIM (Agricultural Production Systems Simulator), which simulates crop growth on a daily time step. 5) Nitrogen Calculator – this model, developed by CSIRO (Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Research Organisation), estimates the expected crop yield and the corresponding nitrogen amounts recommended for the soil. The expected yield from Nitrogen Calculator is indicated on the dial. 6) Soil moisture guide – this shows the Yield Prophet estimate for current stored soil moisture. The SARDI Climate Applications Unit is updating the signs in Morchard (upper north), Paskeville (Yorke ____________ The authors are Project Officer and Principal Scientist on Climate Applications, respectively, both from the South Australia Research and Development Institute (SARDI).
Page 1 and 2: SCF Folio A compilation of informat
Page 3 and 4: 3 Administration (PAGASA), the Phil
Page 5 and 6: 5 Learning the basics Dr. John Mull
Page 7 and 8: 7 The dry season is also subdivided
Page 9 and 10: 9 Tropical cyclone average tracks J
Page 11 and 12: 11 inevitably have impacts on the v
Page 13 and 14: 13 Reaching out and increasing awar
Page 15: 15 To ensure that the SCFs are rend
Page 19 and 20: 19 Table 1. Awareness, usefulness,
Page 21 and 22: 21 Very often, this leads to extrem
Page 23 and 24: 23 agency, PAGASA, and sent out to
Page 25 and 26: 25 municipality. LGUs may send in t
Page 27 and 28: 27 SCF is popular in Bukidnon but..
Page 29 and 30: 29 the Provincial Agriculture Offic
Page 31 and 32: 31 Analysis and research/survey res
Page 33 and 34: 33 As the results in this initial s
Page 35 and 36: 35 Table 2. El Niño and La Niña e
Page 37 and 38: 37 average, and wet years were calc
Page 39 and 40: 39 local corn growers. In guiding f
Page 41 and 42: 41 dominated regions of northern Ne
Page 43 and 44: 43 The influence of ENSO on frost r
Page 45 and 46: 45 It is the timing of the latest f
Page 47 and 48: A model for valuing seasonal climat
Page 49 and 50: 49 And on rice crop... Nueva Ecija
Page 51 and 52: 51 Security against climate variabi
Page 53 and 54: 53 been dominating the Table 1. Bor
Page 55 and 56: 55 The need to help rice and corn f
Page 57 and 58: 57 Figure 1. Rainfall outlook, July
Page 59 and 60: 59 In Cebu: use of SCF gives higher
Page 61 and 62: 61 units of N fertilizer based on g
Page 63 and 64: 63 Determining corn farmers’ deci
Page 65 and 66: 65 Table 2. Farmers’ responses to
Page 67 and 68:
67 Project Team Australia Dr. Peter
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