MUZAFFARGARH:Assistant Director Agriculture Muhammad Talha Shiekh on Monday advised farmers to make immediate arrangement to drain out rain water from their cotton fields within 24 hours after rain to avoid damage to the crop.
According to assistant director agriculture department, cotton is a sensitive crop and its roots would be unable to absorb food in case of presence of rain water in the field for nearly 48 to 72 hours and it may cause plant’s death.
Rain water should be drained into cultivated-less ( empty) field, paddy, fodder or sugarcane fields. If water cannot be extracted from the cotton field then dig a pit four feet deep and two feet wide on one side of the field and accumulated rain water. Similarly, if drainage is not possible automatically, then pump should be used to suck water.
Farmers should also pay attention to removing weeds and must perform hoeing after rain. The weeds that are not removed by hoeing should be removed by hands, he said adding that weeds serve as habitat for enemy pests and can cause 30-40 per cent production loss by sharing resources meant for cotton plants. Talha also suggested farmers to contact department’s experts in their respective areas for further guidelines.