Farmers advised to irrigate wheat crops

Farmers of the agricultural plain areas have been advised to irrigate the just sown wheat crops keeping in view the prevailing dry weather. "Normally, first irrigation is given after 20-25 days after sowing," the Met Office said in its 10-day farmers' advisory.
The office said the wheat cultivation is in progress in the agriculture plains of the country. It urged the farmers of the irrigated plains of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to finish sowing till December 15 to produce maximum yield. "In case of late sowing, recommended varieties should be cultivated to minimise loss in yield," it added.
It said the in order to avoid loss in the yield from weeds farmers should start using 'weedcide' or manually remove them to let the standing crops thrive. The office warned weeds eat a huge share of food and moisture of the standing crops, causing a considerable loss in the yield every year.
Lahore correspondent adds: Director General Punjab Agriculture Extension Services, Dr Anjum Ali told Business Recorder that wheat sowing has almost been completed in the rain fed barani areas whereas it has been completed over 73 percent target area in the province till 30th November 2011.
He furthered that wheat crop is being sown over 16.9 million acres in Punjab to produce 19 millions tons of wheat during FY 2011-12. The federal government has fixed wheat production target at 25 million tons this year. In a special advisory to farmers, the met office said that mostly dry weather has been reported from agricultural plains of the country during the past 10 days.
It said temperature is likely to remain normal in most parts of the country. However, parts of Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, Upper KP and Upper Punjab may experience 2-3°C below normal temperatures during 6th -10th December 2011. It furthered that mainly dry weather is expected in most parts of Punjab till 10th December. However, plains of Punjab including Lahore, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan and Bahawalpur may experience misty/foggy mornings. Thunderstorm-rain with snowfall over the hilltops may also occur at a few places of Upper Punjab during 6th to 8th December 2011.