RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The country will receive less than normal rains during August and September, Pakistan Metrological Department (PMD) said on Tuesday.

According to Director General (DG) PMD, Dr Ghulam Rasul, the country received good rains in July and early August but now the monsoon current has entered in weaker phase. He said that in rest of the August and September less than normal rainfall is expected. However, some extreme localized rainfall events are likely to occur which may generate localized fold flash flooding in mountainous regions of KPK, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, he said.

Talking about the impacts of the rains on agriculture sector, he said that at present various crops are sowed across the country. He said that paddy and sugarcane crops are water intensive while cotton, maize, different pulses and vegetables need no huge quantity of water. He said that the trend will help in achieving good produce of all the crops.

He said that cotton plants in Sindh at the end of ongoing month will attain full strength while in Punjab cotton plants will attain full height at the end of September, so this trend will help increase cotton production. In case the country receives heavy rains, it will have severe negative impacts on the cotton crop in Punjab, while normal rains will result in getting better produce.

The recent rains have proved beneficial for two main crops, sugarcane and paddy, which are water intensive. As for sugarcane, the entire monsoon spell proved a blessing in disguise. Sugarcane stalks have become stronger after absorbing additional water. And agriculturists say it would help boost the sucrose content i.e. sugar millers would be able to extract more sugar out of canes.

According to Cotton Commissioner Dr Abdullah Khalid, the cotton crop for the season 2017-18 is progressing well in Sindh and Punjab. He said that picking of seed-cotton (phutti) started in lower Sindh in first week of July. Crop outlook is stable and encouraging production was expected during the season, he added.

Due to heavy rains in Mirpurkhas, picking activity has slowed while some crop damage has also been reported, he said. He said cotton crop is in good condition in rest of cotton belt of Punjab and Sindh, besides the pest situation is also below the economic threshold level.

According to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) flooding triggered by the recent monsoon rains have resulted in the killings of 126 persons, injuring 158 and destroying over 400 houses countrywide.

Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan remained top flood hit areas as 33 people killed in Punjab, 28 in KPK, 26 in Balochistan, 18 people killed in Federally Administrated Tribal Areas (FATA), while deaths of 21 people reported other parts of the country.

According to NDMA data, the floods have injured 158 people of which 83 in Punjab, 33 in KPK, 17 in Sindh, one in Azad Kashmir, 20 in FATA and 4 in Gilgit-Baltistan. Among the destroyed houses, 34 are in Punjab, 232 in KPK, 5 in Sindh, 36 in Balochistan, 29 in Azad Kashmir, 9 in FATA, 55 in Gilgit-Baltistan and one in Islamabad.