ABSTRACT
Weather plays the dominant role in farm production. Weather is always variable, and farmers have no control over this natural phenomenon. Cli mate variability persisting for more than a season and becoming a drought puts great pressure on land and vegetation. Normal land-use and manage ment systems become imcompatible with prevailing climate, and farm pro duction is drastically reduced. Abnormalities such as drought and associ ated farm losses are not very frequent, but losses due to short-term climate variability and sudden weather hazards such as flash floods, untimely rains, hailstorms, and severe frost do occur year after year. Losses in transport, storage, and due to parasites, insects, and diseases are the indirect results of abnormalities in weather conditions and are a recurring feature. It has been estimated (Mavi, 1994) that, directly and indirectly, weather contributes to approximately three-quarters of annual losses in farm production.
