Experts ask growers in Punjab, Haryana to irrigate crops

As the northern region is witnessing a rise in the mercury level, growers in Punjab and Haryana have been advised to irrigate their crops mainly fruits and vegetables to save them from getting burnt due to heat.
Experts have also advised farmers to keep the cattle in a cool environment especially buffaloes in order to minimise the impact of heat stress on milch animals.
Blistering heat wave conditions have been prevalent in Punjab and Haryana with mercury soaring to around 42-45 degree celsius.
"We are advising farmers to irrigate horticulture crops like fruits and vegetables regularly as prevalent high temperature can lead to burning of plants which will adversely impact the crop," Haryana Horticulture Department, Joint Director, D S Yadav said today.

Horticulture experts said fruits like kinnow, guava, mango, litchi and vegetables like tomatoes, bottle gourd, okra (bhindi) are sensitive to heat wave and their yield may dip if recommended irrigations are not followed by growers.
The plants get wilted because of hot weather which ultimately impacts photosynthesis activity and will result in low yield, the officer said.

"We have advised fruit growers to take care of their orchards in the wake of heat wave and they should regularly irrigate their crops," Punjab Horticulture Director Gurkanwal Singh said.
"Irrigation should be done as per recommendations given by experts. Watering of crops in excess of requirement is also not advisable," he further said.

Punjab has about 77,000 hectares of area under fruits with annual output of 16.44 lakh metric tonne. It has about 2.14 lakh hectares of area under vegetables including potato, onion, tomatoes, garlic, brinjal etc with annual production of 42.40 lakh MT.
In Haryana, acreage under fruit is about 60,000 hectares with output of 7.03 lakh MT. In case of vegetables, area is about 3.60 lakh hectares with production of 52.85 lakh MT.
As heat stress in summer can cause about 25 per cent lesser milk yield in cattle, dairy experts advised cattle owners to keep them cool so that milk production should not affect.

"Cattle especially buffaloes should be allowed to stay in nearby ponds so they can keep themselves cool. Water can be sprinkled over them in regular intervals. Moreover, fans or cooler should also be installed in their sheds," Punjab Dairy Development, Director, Inderjit Singh said.
Further, farmers have also been advised to regularly
monitor crops like cotton, sugarcane and pulses and irrigate the fields.
Officials said there have not been any reports of crop damage due to the intense heat yet.
As the temperature is rising, irrigating young as well as bearing fruits such as peach, pear, plum and citrus is very important, they said.

To avoid adverse effect of hot weather on fruit trees, apply white-wash on the trunks of the trees if it is not done earlier, they added.
Growers have been advised to apply irrigation to grapes at weekly intervals during this month. The young litchi plants may need irrigation twice a week.
Due to prevailing hot weather conditions, sugarcane crop require frequent irrigations at 8 to 10 days interval, farm they said.