RECORDER REPORT

KARACHI: The Met Office on Monday asked the farmers to step up measures to safeguard standing crops and plant nurseries from impacts of extreme weather in winter.

It also alerted the growers of plain areas of Punjab and Upper Sindh to foggy conditions, asking them to schedule crops irrigation keeping in view the prevailing dry and cold weather spell until Jan 10.

However, the forecaster said that a light to moderate rain with snowfall over the hills of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan is expected over the period.

Night-time temperature may drop slightly by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius while during the day, it is likely to remain slightly normal in the most parts of the country. A normal wind pattern is expected to prevail in the most of agricultural plains with sandstorms in Southern Punjab and Upper Sindh, it added.

It said that the farmers should also remove weeds from their standing crops at earliest in a bid to attain a maximum yield. It warned that the growers face a considerable loss because of the outgrowth of weeds.

In the next 24 hours: Mainly cold and dry weather is expected in the most parts of the country with fog engulfing a few plain areas of Punjab and Upper Sindh during the morning hours.

The lowest temperature was recorded in Astore as minus 9 degrees Celsius, Skardu, Gupis and Quetta minus 8, each, Gilgit and Hunza minus 7, each, Bagrote and Ziarat minus 6, each, Kalam and Kalat minus 5, each and Dir minus 4 over the last 24 hours. “Continental air is prevailing over most parts of the country,” the Met said.