Azerbaijan Plans To Increase Number Of Weather Stations To 181 - Official

(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 8. Azerbaijan plans to increase the number of meteorological stations operating to provide data for accurate weather forecasts to 181, Trend 's correspondent reports from the event.

Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilhama Gadirova said this during a panel session titled“Advantages and Challenges of AI-integration to the Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems,” held as part of Baku Climate Action Week 2026.

She said 151 meteorological stations currently provide data for accurate weather forecasts, while 30 additional stations are planned to be installed.

“Today, 151 climate stations provide data for accurate weather forecasts. Another 30 stations are planned to be installed, bringing the total number of stations in the network to 181. However, data only becomes valuable when we turn it into a service for farmers,” Gadirova said.

The deputy minister noted that the Agriculture Ministry's artificial intelligence program covers a number of practical applications in agriculture.

“For this reason, our artificial intelligence program includes practical applications such as crop health monitoring, assessing disease and pest risks, yield forecasting, forecasting water demand and managing irrigation,” she said.

According to Gadirova, crop health monitoring solutions will allow farmers to receive warnings up to 72 hours in advance, before disease and pest risks reach critical levels, depending on the crops they grow.

“Our irrigation management tools support more efficient use of water resources by using real-time data on water demand and irrigation activities,” the deputy minister said.

She emphasized that this approach represents a shift in agriculture from general data to targeted recommendations, from monitoring to forecasting, and from reacting to losses to preventing them as much as possible.

“However, technology itself will not make agriculture resilient to climate change. This is also one of the key messages. Azerbaijan raised this message at COP29 as well. Together with its partners, the Agriculture Ministry contributed to the development of the Baku Harmony Climate Initiative - the Initiative for Farmers, presented as part of COP29 in 2024,” Gadirova said.

The deputy minister said the initiative's main goal is to coordinate existing climate initiatives in agriculture, strengthen cooperation and ensure that opportunities related to climate finance, knowledge, technology and capacity building reach those who need them most, particularly smallholder farmers, women living in rural areas and young people.

“Harmony was created around a simple but important idea: the world does not necessarily need more fragmented climate initiatives in agriculture. We need to coordinate existing efforts, strengthen cooperation and ensure that opportunities for climate finance, knowledge and technology, as well as capacity building, reach those who need them most,” she said.

Gadirova emphasized that one of the key challenges for agriculture in relation to early warning systems is ensuring that all farmers can benefit from these systems.

“Azerbaijan's goal is to cover all farmers, including smallholder farmers, rural women and young farmers, with these systems and ensure that they have the opportunity to use and benefit from these technologies,” the deputy minister said.

She added that the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence must be considered alongside its limitations.

“Artificial intelligence should enhance human decision-making, not replace it. A reliable early warning system requires high-quality data,” Gadirova said.

The second day of the Fourth Climate Week (CW4) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in Baku.

The second day has focused primarily on sustainable cities, transportation, water resources and agriculture.

Government and state representatives from various countries, international organizations, experts, financial institutions, the private sector and civil society are participating in the events.

Baku Climate Action Week, which is being held for the third time, is taking place this year for the first time in parallel with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Climate Week. A number of sessions, panel discussions and other events on combating climate change, climate finance, sustainable development and accelerating climate action will be held as part of the Fourth Climate Week and Baku Climate Action Week.

Baku Climate Action Week (BCAW 2026) will continue through Sept. 11.

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