The Met Office on Wednesday informed the farmers of irrigated areas of the country that less water will be available during the cultivation of Rabbi crops. It advises the farmers to complete sowing of wheat and other Rabi crops including seasonal vegetables on time to protect the crops from the effects of rising temperature.
"Late sowing reduces about 20-30 percent yield of the crop and also delays the sowing of Kharif crops especially cotton," the Met Office said in its 10-day farmers' advisory. The advisory urged the rain-dependent areas to prepare their land on time to make the field ready for sowing of Rabi crops particularly wheat and sugarcane.
Similarly, it advised the farmers of rain affected areas in lower Sindh to cultivate sugarcane in patches of dry or high land in the affected districts of the province. "Farmers are also advised to cultivate recommended varieties and follow the pre-sowing advice of the Agriculture Department regarding seeds and field for each region to get maximum germination and to get plants free of any expected pest eggs," the Met Office said.
It forecasted that temperature was expected to gradually fall during the period in most parts of the country. Particularly, during the night temperature is expected to recede between 2 degree centigrade and 3 degree centigrade below normal in the mountainous areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan and Northeast Balochistan.
Rain-dust/thunderstorm is expected in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, upper Punjab and Kashmir at isolated places anytime from October 29 to October 31, it said. The Met Office further said that strong gusty winds/dust storm was likely to hit many parts of upper Punjab and upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from October 29 and October 31. However, normal wind pattern was expected in other parts of the country.