Adoption and impact of weather-based agro-advisory services on climate resilience among Kinnow growers in Sirsa, District of Haryana

Introduction

Agriculture remains one of the most climate-sensitive sectors of the global economy. In India, where a significant proportion of agricultural production depends on monsoon rainfall, climate variability poses major risks to crop productivity and farm livelihoods. The increasing frequency of extreme weather events, such as droughts, heat waves, heavy rainfall, and storms, has intensified production uncertainty, particularly in semi-arid regions (IPCC, 2021) [13] . Weather-based agro-advisory services have emerged as an important tool for improving agricultural decision-making under climate variability. These services provide farmers with timely information regarding weather forecasts and recommended crop management practices, enabling them to optimize farm operations such as irrigation scheduling, fertilizer application, pest management, and harvesting. In recent years, advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have facilitated the widespread dissemination of agro-advisory information through mobile phones, digital platforms, and extension networks. In India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), in collaboration with agricultural universities and research institutions, has developed district-level agro-meteorological advisory services to support farmers in managing climate-related risks. Several studies have shown that weather-based advisory services can significantly enhance agricultural productivity and resource-use efficiency by enabling farmers to adopt climate-smart practices (Mittal & Mehar, 2016; Rao et al., 2011) [18,21] . Despite the growing availability of agroadvisory services, their effectiveness largely depends on farmers' awareness, perception, accessibility, and trust in the information provided. Socio-economic characteristics such as education, farm size, and access to digital technologies often influence the adoption of advisory services.

Understanding farmers' perception and utilization of these services is therefore essential for improving their design and delivery (Manjusree et al., 2022 & Ratiya et al., 2022) [25,24] Sirsa district of Haryana represents one of the major horticultural production regions in northern India, particularly for kinnow cultivation. However, the region is characterized by a semi-arid climate, low and erratic rainfall, and increasing temperature variability, which pose significant challenges to fruit production (Manjusree et al., 2022 & Ratiya et al., 2022) [25,24] . Weather-based agroadvisory services have the potential to help farmers mitigate climate risks and improve orchard management practices. Therefore, the present study was undertaken to examine farmers' awareness, perception, and utilization of weatherbased agro-advisory services and to identify constraints faced by farmers in accessing and using agro-advisory information.

Graphical abstract

Materials and Methods

The study was conducted in Sirsa district of Haryana, India, a major horticultural production region characterized by semi-arid climatic conditions and high temperature variability. The district experiences an average annual rainfall of approximately 318 mm, most of which occurs during the monsoon season. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study. A total of 140 horticultural farmers cultivating kinnow orchards were selected using random sampling techniques from different villages across the district during the agricultural year 2023-24. Primary data were collected through a structured questionnaire covering farmers' socio-economic characteristics, awareness and use of agro-advisory services, perceived effectiveness, utilization constraints, and crop production impacts. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency distributions and percentage analysis) and inferential methods. A perception index assessed farmers' attitudes toward advisory services, while constraint analysis and ranking methods identified major accessrelated challenges. An integrated analytical framework examined relationships among socio-economic characteristics, advisory perception, adoption behavior, and farm-level outcomes. All statistical analyses were interpreted at a 5% level of significance.

Results and Discussion

Despite the growing availability of agro-advisory services, their potential remains largely unrealized due to unequal awareness among farmers. The extent to which socioeconomic characteristics determine farmers' knowledge of these services was examined using the chi-square (χ²) test, with results presented in Table 1. [1,18] . However, gender showed a significant association (χ² = 3.91, p = 0.048), with male farmers recording an 84% awareness rate versus 72% among females. This gap reflects deep-rooted socio-cultural barriers, unequal resource access, and women's limited representation in formal agricultural training impediments well-documented as critical constraints on women's access to climate information (FAO, 2023; Witinok-Huber & Radil, 2021; Gumucio et al., 2020) [10,19,12] . The size of landholding was the only non-significant variable (χ² = 5.72, p = 0.057). Although medium farmers showed a slightly higher awareness rate (88%), differences across farm categories were not statistically meaningful. This is a policy-encouraging finding, indicating that mobile-based digital advisory platforms are progressively bridging resource-based disparities among smallholders and large farmers alike (Tamru et al., 2025; Ramaraj et al., 2023) [3,20] . As per the data stipulated in [14,26] . The study revealed that education and social participation stand out as the dominant determinants of advisory awareness. These findings affirm that scaling agro-advisory uptake demands a multidimensional strategy: strengthening human capital, expanding inclusive social networks, bridging gender divides, and investing in simplified digital extension infrastructure capable of reaching even the least-resourced farmers. Among the explanatory variables, education emerged as a highly significant determinant (β = 0.64, p = 0.002) with an odds ratio of 1.89, indicating that an increase in education level nearly doubles the likelihood of adopting agro-advisory services. [14,9] . [11,31] . In contrast, age exhibited a negative and non-significant effect (β = -0.12, p = 0.081), indicating that older farmers' slightly lower adoption likelihood is largely mediated by education and social participation rather than age alone (Aryal et al., 2018) [2] .The results of this study are consistent with a growing body of literature emphasizing the role of socio-economic and institutional factors in shaping the adoption of climate information services. For instance, Aker et al. (2016) [1] highlighted the importance of ICT access and education in improving agricultural advisory uptake, while Tamru et al. (2025) [3] emphasized the role of trust and reliability in climate information services.

Similarly, Aryal et al. (2018) [2] and Appiah & Guodaar (2022) [29] reported that farm size, education, and experience significantly influence the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices. The strong influence of social participation observed in this study also aligns with findings from Krishna et al. (2013) [14] , who emphasized the role of social networks in accelerating the diffusion of agricultural innovations.

The results presented in Table 3 reveal clear and statistically significant patterns in farmers' access, awareness, and utilization of agro-advisory services. A large majority of farmers (87.1%) were aware of agro-advisory services, with a highly significant difference (χ² = 67.20, p < 0.001), indicating widespread dissemination and strong awareness levels. This reflects the growing reach of ICT-based agricultural extension systems (Aker et al., 2016; Dupdal, 2023) [1,7] . Among the sources of awareness, CCS Haryana Agricultural University (35%) was the dominant source, followed by social media and NGOs, with significant variation across sources (χ² = 12.86, p = 0.005). This suggests that farmers rely more on credible institutional and digital platforms than informal channels, highlighting the increasing role of formal institutions and digital media in knowledge dissemination (Trendov et al., 2019; World Bank, 2019) [11,31] . [9,18,3] . The frequency of usage showed variability, with daily (32.9%) and occasional (32.1%) use dominating, and a significant difference across categories (χ² = 42.15, p < 0.001). This reflects heterogeneity in adoption behavior, suggesting that farmers use advisories either routinely or situationally depending on climatic conditions and perceived relevance (Rao et al., 2011) [21] . [29,3] . [2,30] . Perception of service quality was also high, with 62.8% of farmers reporting timely availability (χ² = 68.92, p < 0.001) and 62.9% indicating that advisories are easy to understand (χ² = 72.11, p < 0.001). These findings suggest that the delivery mechanisms and communication formats of advisory services are largely effective. However, the presence of responses indicating delays and difficulty suggests scope for further improvement in localization and clarity. In terms of accuracy, 45.7% of farmers rated advisories as excellent, followed by 31.4% rating them as fair, with a significant variation (χ² = 51.84, p < 0.001). This indicates that while overall confidence in advisory accuracy is high, inconsistencies in forecast precision may influence farmers' trust. Forecast uncertainty remains a known limitation in agro-meteorological services, particularly in semi-arid regions (Tamru et al., 2025) [3] . The perceived usefulness of agro-advisory services was notably high, with 45.8% of farmers considering them very helpful and 26.4% somewhat helpful, supported by a significant chi-square value (χ² = 49.23, p < 0.001). This confirms that farmers clearly recognize the practical benefits of advisory services in farm management decisions. Comparable levels of farmer satisfaction and perceived usefulness of weather-based agroadvisory services have also been reported in other Indian regions (Kumar et al., 2021) [15] . Regarding impact, a majority of farmers (55.0%) reported moderate improvement in kinnow production, with a highly significant difference (χ² = 82.17, p < 0.001). This suggests that agro-advisory services contribute positively to agricultural outcomes by improving the timing and efficiency of farm operations such as irrigation, pest control, and nutrient management. Similar findings have been reported in studies highlighting the role of climate information services in enhancing productivity and resilience (Maini & Basu, 2016; Rao et al., 2011) [22,21] . Similar economic and farm-level benefits of agrometeorological advisory services have been reported elsewhere (Dupdal et al., 2020) [8] . The findings emphasize that improving timeliness, accuracy, and user-specific

International Journal of Agriculture and Food Science https://www.agriculturaljournals.com customization of advisories can further enhance their effectiveness and impact. These findings are consistent with earlier evidence showing positive farmer perceptions and perceived advantages of weather-based agro-advisory services (Manjusha et al., 2019) [16] .

Constraints affecting advisory utilization and their mitigation

The key problems faced by farmers while using weatherbased agro-advisory services are illustrated in Fig. 2.

Untimely circulation of advisories emerged as the most critical barrier (47.1%, n=66), followed by technical problems (32.1%, n=45), unrelated or wrong information (9.3%, n=13), difficulty in interpretation (7.1%, n=10), and service charges (4.3%, n=6), indicating that cost is the least significant obstacle while timeliness, technical accessibility, and content relevance are the dominant constraints determining whether farmers can translate advisories into actionable decisions (Manjusree et al., 2022 & Ratiya et al., 2022) [25,24] . The predominance of untimely advisory circulation (47.1%) is particularly concerning given the inherently time-sensitive nature of weather-based recommendations, where even minor delays can render crop management advice obsolete. Rathore et al. (2025) [23] established that advisory decisionutility is critically dependent on last-mile delivery speed, while Gitau et al. (2025) [6] emphasised that real-time mobile dissemination is essential under increasing weather variability. Technical problems (32.1%) reflect the infrastructural fragility of rural digital systems, where poor connectivity, low smartphone penetration, and unreliable electricity collectively impede advisory access barriers documented by Gouroubera et al. (2023) [28] and Ma et al.

(2023) [27] as the foremost systemic constraints to ICT-based advisory adoption in South Asian smallholder systems, underscoring the need for hybrid delivery models integrating digital platforms with community-level extension intermediaries. Unrelated or wrong information (9.3%) and difficulty in interpretation (7.1%) collectively reflect gaps in advisory quality, localisation, and communication design. De Roo et al. (2019) [17] highlighted that credibility is contingent on hyper-local relevance, while Ramaraj et al. (2023) [20] demonstrated that comprehension improves significantly through simplified regional-language advisories with visual aids and action-oriented recommendations. Notably, service charges (4.3%) remained the least cited barrier, consistent with Mittal and Mehar (2016) [18] , who found that willingness to pay rises once farmers perceive demonstrable utility reinforcing that improving timeliness and content quality is a far more effective adoption lever than subsidybased cost reduction. Overall, farmers prioritised quality, accessibility, and usability over cost concerns. The strong emphasis on accuracy highlights it as the primary driver of trust and sustained use, as inaccurate forecasts can lead to poor decisions and reduced confidence. This aligns with dee Roo et al. (2019) [17] , who identified perceived accuracy as the key determinant of advisory engagement, and Gitau et al. (2025) [6] , who showed that improved local forecast precision increases farmers' willingness to act, underscoring the need for better meteorological infrastructure and real-time satellite integration. The demand for more descriptive information indicates a need for crop-specific, actionable guidance rather than generic forecasts. Ramaraj et al. (2023) [20] and Rathore et al. (2025) [23] similarly emphasised that contextualised, action-oriented advisories improve adoption and decisionmaking among smallholders. Requests for training (16.4%) and simpler content (12.1%) reveal gaps in capacity and communication. Gouroubera et al. (2023) [28] and Ma et al.

(2023) [27] identified low digital literacy as a major barrier to ICT-based advisory use, while Mittal and Mehar (2016) [18] showed that simplified language and visual/audio formats enhance understanding among less-educated farmers. Finally, the low demand for removing registration charges (5.7%) confirms that cost is a minor concern compared to service quality. Overall, the findings suggest that policy efforts should focus on improving forecast accuracy, localising content, simplifying communication, and strengthening farmer capacity to maximise the impact of weather-based agro-advisory services.

Conclusion

The study demonstrates that weather-based agro-advisory services have considerable potential to improve climate resilience and farm-level decision-making among Kinnow growers in Sirsa district. The high level of farmer awareness, perceived usefulness and reported production benefits indicates that timely, accurate and crop-specific weather information can support better decisions related to irrigation, plant protection and other weather-sensitive orchard operations. However, delays in information delivery, technical problems, information quality and difficulties in interpretation remain important constraints. The findings provide a basis for developing farmer-friendly, village-and block-level agro-advisory policies in Haryana.

Advisories should be localized according to crop stage, weather risk and farmers' information needs and delivered through multiple accessible channels, including SMS, WhatsApp, voice messages, KVKs and extension personnel. Greater emphasis on local weather observations and simple, actionable messages can further improve their effectiveness.

The study also highlights the potential to link weather advisories with Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojna (PMFBY) and Mukhymantri Bagwani Beema Yojna (MBBY) as complementary components of climate risk management. Weather advisories can help farmers anticipate weather risks and undertake preventive measures, while PMFBY and MBBY provide financial protection against eligible crop losses that occur despite such measures. Thus, a coordinated framework of weather information → localized advisory → preventive action → insurance protection can help Haryana move towards a more anticipatory, climate-resilient and farmer-centred agricultural policy. The approach can also be replicated for other crops and districts facing increasing weather and climate risks.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgmentsThe authors express their sincere gratitude to all the farmers of Sirsa district, Haryana, who generously participated in this study and shared their valuable time, experiences, and insights. Their cooperation was instrumental in the successful completion of this research. The authors are also thankful to the faculty members and experts of CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, for their guidance and support during the study. Appreciation is extended to the Department of Agriculture and allied extension agencies for providing relevant information and facilitating fieldlevel interactions.

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