Cotton growers should begin preparing their fields for the next Rabi season crops, the Met Office said on Monday. It said that the farmers should also complete sowing of Rabi corps in time to avoid yield loss. Farmers of rain-dependent parts should sow their Rabi crops between October 15 and November 15.
It warned that the after the stipulated time, the crop yield of wheat crop would start decreasing gradually. Similarly, farmers of irrigated areas of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should complete sowing of wheat crop in November. Farmers of rain-dependent areas obtaining water through tube wells and irrigated parts in upper parts should schedule irrigation in line with the expected weather. Rainfall/ gusty winds after irrigation cause water logging of standing crops like maize, sugarcane and cotton. Farmers should be very careful in this regard, it said.
Farmers should cultivate winter vegetables in time so that present soil moisture may fully be utilised. Farmers should take in time precautionary measures to protect their crops, livestock and other property from any expected rain, it said. "Farmers of rain-fed areas of Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Punjab are advised to complete cultivation of Rabi crops as soon as possible. The status of soil moisture is very suitable after recent rains in these areas. Late verities may be cultivated in December," it said.
The night-time temperature is expected to drop slightly by 1-2 degrees Celsius and daytime almost normal. Winds are likely to blow normal in most of the agricultural plains of the country till November 10. Mainly dry weather is expected in Punjab. However, scattered light to moderate rainfall is expected in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala and Faisalabad divisions from November 3 to November 5 and 8 to 10. Dry weather is expected in most parts of the Sindh.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, widely dry weather is expected with light to moderate rainfall in Hazara division and rain-thunderstorm in Malakand, Hazara, Mardan, Peshawar, and Kohat divisions from till November 4. Widely hot and dry weather is expected in most parts of Balochistan with light to moderate rain in Quetta and Zhob from till November 4. In Gilgit-Baltistan, mainly dry weather is expected in its most parts with light to moderate rain in Gilgit and Skardu from till November 5 and then from November 8 to November 10. Light to moderate rainfall is expected in most of the parts of Kashmir till November 10.