Cloud seeding is a groundbreaking technique to enhance rainfall offering hope for tackling drought conditions.
Cloud seeding experiments were carried out in Solapur city which gets less rainfall from June to September in 2018 and 2019,
There was 80% increase in rainfall over 100 square km area is Solapur city due to cloud seeding.
Cloud seeding effectiveness: It is proven effective for enhancing rainfall under suitable conditions.
The approximately cost of producing water through cloud seeding was 10 paisa per liter during the research experiment. Using indigenous seeding aircraft could reduce cost by more than 50%
Practical applications: cloud seeding can significantly benefit regions like Solapur which falls on the leeward side of western ghat and get low rainfall.
Additional water through cloud seeding has potential to alleviate the water scarcity issue in such areas.
Challenges:
Cloud seeding requires presence of moisture filled clouds which are not always available or predictable.
Cloud seeding does not occur during times when additional precipitation would be problematic, such as times of high food risk.
It would also alter natura water cycle.