MANS demands action against self-proclaimed weather experts misguiding farmers

Pune: Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) urged state govt to take legal action against self-proclaimed weather experts allegedly misguiding farmers with unscientific forecasts amid drought-like situation.MANS appealed to farmers not to invest in agricultural activities based on such people’s advice. Hamid Dabholkar, son of slain rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and a member of MANS, told TOI, “The govt machinery is proving to be inadequate to spread scientific information to every farmer. Taking advantage of those gaps in the system, some self-proclaimed weather experts are using social media to spread unscientific forecasts and misguide farmers.”Hamid said while MANS volunteers were trying to reach out to as many farmers as they could, state govt should get into action and use its machinery to not only create awareness among farmers but also to take action against such social media users. “The state is going through a tough phase of drought-like situation and farmers should be advised not to spend much on farming activities. Some of these fake weather experts are still predicting rain and advising farmers to carry out their activities. The govt should take strict action against such people,” Hamid said.National and international weather experts warned of the El Nino effect on this year’s monsoon. MANS members said their advice should have been spread to every farmer.Milind Deshmukh, the state executive committee member of MANS, said, “We knew that there would be rain deficiency before the arrival of monsoon. Based on it, farmers should have been advised to be conservative in their agricultural expenses. Some social media influencers have been spreading wrong predictions. Farmers follow those influencers and tend to listen to them. The govt should step in and stop such influencers from harming the farming community.”Jayaji Suryavanshi, a farmer activist from Marathwada, the most affected region in the state, said, “We have been trying to reach out to farmers to suggest to them not to spend much on buying seeds and fertilisers. Considering the July rain, many farmers spent a lot on fertilisers because some influencers had predicted the rain activity to continue. Since August, there has been no rain in most of the region and farmers have incurred losses. During a crisis situation like drought, farmers need advice from experts and not social media influencers.”