The first International Workshop on Climate Prediction and Agriculture, held at the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, in September 1999 [22] considered a number of important issues relating to climate prediction applications in agriculture: capabilities in long-term weather forecasting for agricultural production; down scaling; scaling-up crop models for climate prediction applications; use of weather generators in crop modelling; economic impacts of shifts in ENSO event frequency; and strengths and economic value of climate forecasts for agricultural systems. As part of the broader Task Force on Climate Prediction and Agriculture (CLIMAG) program, the Asia-Pacific Network for Global Change Research (APN) and SysTem for Analysis, Research and Training (START) supported a multidisciplinary research project to assess the potential for seasonal climate forecasts to reduce vulnerability to climate variability in south Asia. By using a systems analytical approach in southern India and northern Pakistan, the project demonstrated how cropping systems management can be altered by adapting to the underlying climatic variability.