• Name of the Programme: P.G. Diploma in Climate Services in Animal Agriculture

• Total duration: One Year

• Scope: Capacity building in climate change and animal agriculture provides an integrated approach to the analysis of climate change and processes in the context of sustenance of animal agriculture and environmental management. The vision of the climate services in animal agriculture is to enable society to better manage the risks and opportunities arising from climate variability and change, especially in animal agriculture which is most vulnerable to such risks. This will be done through development and incorporation of science-based climate information and prediction into planning, policy and practice. The PG Diploma holders are expected to practice climate resilience animal agriculture for sustenance of food security against climate change risks.

• Pattern of course (Semester/annual): Two semesters

• Mode of teaching (Regular/distant): Regular

• Language of teaching: English

• Colleges/ Institutions offering the programme with number of seats at each college

PG/PG Diploma/PhD Programmes
 

• Eligibility for admission: M.V.Sc/Ph.D/ B.V.Sc. & A.H. in the case of departmental/ Sponsored candidates
• Mode of selection and admission: As per KVASU selection procedure
• Seat reservations: Nil
• Syllabus (Provide as a separate document)/ Link to Syllabus in case of VCI & AICTE
• Mode of evaluation: As per the KVASU academic regulations
• Attendance requirement: As per the KVASU academic regulations

Climate Services in Animal Agriculture
P.G. Diploma
Courses at a glance and course content

CAM 720 Weather and Climate (1+0)

Objectives

Students acquaint the relevance of science of meteorology and climatology in the field of Livestock Meteorology. Students understand and are well equipped with the interactions between weather, climate and physical environment of animal agriculture.

Theory

Unit I

Science of climatology and meteorology – Livestock Meteorology and Biometeorology-introduction to weather and climate-composition of atmosphere- global warming and greenhouse gases-weather and climate variables-temperature-humidity-pressure-sunshine-radiation- wind – evaporation – snow and dewfall – General circulation

Unit II

Seasons - seasons in India – seasonal variations of weather variables-Influence of geographical co-ordinates on weather variables – thermal structure of atmosphere-land and sea breeze – Climate of India

Unit III

Clouds –definition and classification-cloud genera- clouds with vertical development-low clouds-middle clouds – high clouds – cloud measurements-warm and cold clouds –features of tropical and extra-tropical clouds-Role of clouds in radiation and water cycles-cloud seeding-clouds and precipitation

Unit IV

Monsoon season – summer and winter monsoons-southwest monsoon - post and northeast monsoon seasons - climatological features of monsoon - monsoon depressions- monsoon trough and oscillations and associated weather phenomenon- rainfall and intra seasonal and inter annual variations - annual and monsoon rainfall over the country

Unit V

Components of the climate system-atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and lithosphere-Radiation and heat balance of the earth's atmosphere and hydrological cycle

CAM 721 Meteorological Instruments and Database Management (2+1)

Objectives

To acquaint the students with the meteorological instruments and data base management for climate analysis and services

Theory

Unit I

Fundamentals of measurement techniques; theory and working principles of meteorological instruments - barometers, thermometers, psychrometers, hair hygrometer, thermohygrograph, Psychrometers, Assmann Psychrometer, psychrons, leaf wetness recorder and Infrared thermometer and soil thermometers

Unit II

Exposure and operation of meteorological instruments/equipments in met/livestock-met observatories-single and double Stevenson screens- Radiation instruments – solarimeters –pyranometers, UV Biometer and sunshine recorder

Unit III

Precipitation and dew instruments - working principles of rain gauge, self recording rain gauge, snow recorder and Duvdevani dew gauges. Wind instruments - working principles of anemometer, wind vane, anemograph-Pan evaporimeter

Unit IV

Automatic weather station – data logger and sensors, computation and interpretation of data- Data and information - types of data – weather data storage and retrieval - biophysical data including livestock- Importance of database management; data requirements; data collection and recording (Automatic and manual). Data structure/format; quality control of data; techniques of climatic data generation; missing data; introduction to different software for database management. Processing and analysis of data and data products; value addition of data and data products; data users, public, commercial, academic or research. Availability, accessibility and security of data; evaluating the cost of data; e-management of data.

Practical

Working with the above instruments in the meteorological observatory- taking observations of relevant parameters. Computation / interpretation of the data- Types of instruments and data recording, AWS data retrieval, storage and transfer, Exposure to different software for livestock-met data analysis; exposure to statistical software, Temporal and spatial analysis of data; Value addition to data, Introduction to internet protocols, Uploading and downloading data, password and security of data, E-management of data
 

CAM 722 Climate Change and Weather Related Disaster Management (1+1)

Objectives

Students acquaint the science of climate change and its implications in the society. Understanding the Earth’s climate and being able to visualize climate change and its triggering factors. The course will inculcate students with knowledge of the impacts of climate change on weather related disasters and its economics and lead to an understanding of climate change impacts and the possible policy options for mitigation and preparedness

Theory

Unit I

Climate Change and variability - Role of Greenhouse Gases with respect to global warming and climate change - Livestock and GHGs - Meaning and definition of climate change; Different types of climate (geological, anthropological, geological, archeological, historical, climatological and hydrometeorological)

Unit II

Origin of earth-atmosphere - water system and timeline of its evolution; Methods of determining past climate (pollen, ice cores, tree-rings, sediments, corals, sea-shells and rocks); Theories of causes of climate change - Natural causes (continental drift, volcanoes, earth-sun geometry, ocean circulation etc.); and Human causes (human population, deforestation and other human activities, greenhouse gases etc.)

Unit III

Weather extremes - Heat and cold waves - droughts and floods - cyclones - fog-thunderstorms - duststorms, snowstorms and icestorms – cloud bursts- mudslips, landslides and avalanches-forest fires-sea level rise- weather related disaster management techniques

Unit IV

Global circulation models (GCMs) - 4th and 5th IPCC ARs

Unit V

Global, regional and local climate change and climate projections

Practicals

Analysis and interpretation of GCM outputs – downscaling – Analysis of climate change trends - Estimation of methane-Direct and indirect methods.

CAM 723 Statistical Techniques in Climatology (2+1)

Objectives

To acquaint students with the statistical techniques in relation to climatology and climate change and variability

Theory

Unit I

Definition and scope of statistics, Diagrammatic and Graphical representation of data, Descriptive statistics – Measures of central tendency, Dispersion, Skewness, Kurtosis, Probability Theory, Probability Distributions – Binomial, Poisson and Normal distribution,

Unit II

Testing of Hypothesis, Parametric Tests – Z test, t-test and F-test, One way and Two way ANOVA and Non-parametric tests – Chi square test, Mann Whitney U Test, Kruskall Walli’s ANOVA. Simple correlation coefficient and its test of significance, rank correlation, Simple and multiple linear regression.

Unit III

Introduction to Matrices and Vector spaces, Principal Component Analysis, Factor Analysis, Canonical Correlation Analysis, Cluster Analysis

Unit IV

Introduction to time series analysis and climate data processing. Measurement of seasonal fluctuations, Measurement of cyclical fluctuations, Periodogram analysis, Harmonic analysis, serial correlation and correlogram. Statistical methods in weather and climate forecasting, Auto regressive Integrated Moving Average for short term forecasting, Introduction of Statistical packages for Time series Analysis.

Practicals

Analysis and interpretation of climatologically data using software’s namely spreadsheets, SPSS, Gretl. Handling tabled data sets for plotting charts, Correlations, Linear and non linear regression, Tests of significance, multiple regression, Principal components, Factor analysis, cluster analysis, Time series methods for climate forecasting.
 

CAM 724 Climate Resilient Animal Agriculture (2 +1)

Objectives

Acquaint the students with the adaptation and mitigation techniques to minimize the ill effects of climate change and variability for the sustenance of food security. The course will inculcate students with knowledge of the impacts of climate change on weather related disasters and its economics and lead to an understanding of climate change impacts and the possible policy options for mitigation and preparedness

Theory

Unit I

Animal and physical environment-Geographical distribution of animals – climate zones and animal distribution - housing and climate chambers - micro - climate - definition and its importance in relation to animal agriculture - principles and layout in animal house planning - farmstead and animal houses - site selection and housing requirements for various livestock farms and farm structures - effects of microclimate in grazing and housed animals

Unit II

Heat and cold tolerance in animals-measurement of microclimate - climate chambers-disease control measures and sanitation of all types of livestock-Hopkins bioclimatic law - Animal behavior and adaptation to climate variability and change. Microclimate modification and livestock environments for better adaptation.

Unit III

Pollution effects on livestock and its products. Photoperiod and light response in production of animal species, Rehabilitation methods with special reference to the livestock. Climate risk assessment and mitigation measures - Vulnerability assessment - Human response survey to assess their readiness to face the natural disasters with special reference to livestock.

Unit IV

Role of traditional animal species in changed climate scenario-methane emissions-deforestation reduction-climate change and animal nutrition-thermoregulation and multiple stresses’ management in animals-climate sensitive animals and management- Construction of climograms and hygrothermographs - Weather and climate effects on animal production- comfort and discomfort zones

Practicals

Measurement of microclimatic observations and analysis - construction of wind roses- Automatic weather station including self recording instruments for microclimatic observations- Duvdevani dew gauge; measurement of humidity using station hygrometer, psychrometers, psychrons and leaf wetness recorder and leaf wetness counters; thermograph, hygrograph and thermohygrograph - Barograph - Installation of weather instruments; recording and tabulation of weather observations within shelters and database management-score cards for animal houses-time and motion study in animal houses-planning for various animal housing-Modified microclimate and enriched housing systems and their models.

CAM 725 Computer Science and Climate Modelling (1+1)

Objective

This course builds an understanding of the structure of computers and how they execute programs, data representation and computer arithmetic in relation to climate science. The course is also aimed to develop problem-solving strategies, techniques and skills to help students develop the logic, ability to solve the problems efficiently using C programming and climate related programs.

Theory

Computer Fundamentals and applications, I/O devices, primary and secondary memories. Word processing, Spread sheets, Slide presentations, DBMS, ICT Tools, Programming Fundamentals with C - Algorithm, techniques of problem solving, flowcharting, stepwise refinement; Representation of integer, character, real, data types; Constants and variables; Arithmetic expressions, assignment statement, logical expression. Arrays, string processing. functions, operators, recursion, pointers and files. Program correctness; Debugging and testing of programs- ARIMA models and GCM models.

Practical

Word processing, Spread sheets, Slide presentations, Data storage and retrieval, Applications of Information Communication Technology, Conversion of different number types; Creation of flow chart, conversion of algorithm/flowchart to program; Mathematical operators, operator precedence; functions, Sequence, control and iteration; Arrays and string processing; Pointers and File processing-Hands on experience in ARIMA and GCM Models and models related to climate and weather predictions

CAM 726 Weather and Climate Forewarning and Livestock Advisory (2+1)

Objectives

To acquaint the students with the weather and climate forewarning in relation to preparation and dissemination of livestock advisory for the benefits of livestock farmers
Students will develop an understanding of the interactions between climate, animal physiology and animal production. They will develop a capacity to recommend improved animal husbandry management through livestock advisory based on weather forewarning

Theory

Unit I

Weather forecasting: Introduction of various fields of meteorology (Synoptic, Physical. Dynamical and Numerical meteorology). - Basic principles of weather forecasting-
Weather forecasting and animal agriculture-importance and relevance. Organisation of Meteorological Department- Observational network, (basic observations, Radars and satellites and their uses)

Unit II

Preparation of weather Charts- Identification (Lows, Highs, Jet Streams, troughs and ridges etc.) , and interpretation of weather systems from the surface and upper air charts - Tropical systems and extra-tropical systems and their interaction - tropical cyclone and other weather systems. Use of Satellite and Radar data in weather forecasting- Definition of short, medium, long range and extended forecasts including now-casting. Methods of forecasting for different ranges – Extended weather forecasting- GCM modelling and outputs -Live stock and climate analysis - Indigenous Technological Knowledge (ITK) base - signals from flora, fauna, insects, birds, and animals behaviour

Unit III

Weather modification techniques - Artificial cloud seeding and rain making-Livestock Advisory based on weather and climate forewarning - Verification of weather and climate forecasting - use of various techniques in live stock advisory dissemination and feedback from livestock farmers

Unit IV

Climate modelling – GCM models –Climate forewarnings-network programs in climate science-national and international status in climate modelling

Practical

Preparation of livestock advisory based on weather forewarning and dissemination - visit to IMD station (SMC) for hands on experience on weather forewarning –field visits.

CAM 727Climate Change Policy and Planning (1+0)

Objective

To acquaint the students with the polices and planning in relation to climate change adaptation and mitigation in the field of animal agriculture

Theory

Evolution of climate change policy-making and the growth in the role of the State at the national and supra-national level in directing environmental policy: history and current trends in climate change policy in India; the value of the Kyoto protocol and its implementation mechanisms; post-Kyoto global scenarios; issues of policy-making and planning in the face of uncertainty; the Indian political experience; Indian climate change policy and planning in relation to energy, agriculture, water resources, biodiversity and coastal environments; the Copenhagen-post Copenhagen agreements; policy directions of states both individually and collectively, with particular reference to the role of the USA, the European Union, India and China.

CAM 728 Credit Seminar (0+1)

Presentation of seminar by individuals on focused areas in relation to climate change animal agriculture

Semester II*

CAM 729 Climate Services in Animal Agriculture (Project Work): (0+10)

Poultry farming
Dairy farming
Pig farming
Goat farming
Pet animals and birds
Zoo and captive animals
Disease forewarning
Wild Life and Human Conflicts
Zoonoses