Soaring mercury hits cotton crop in Punjab

LUDHIANA - Leaves of the entire cotton crop grown in Punjab’s Ludhiana region have dried up on account of the scorching heat wave affecting different parts of the country.

The farmers engaged in cultivation of cotton are apprehending low yield and losses, since all their labour has gone in vain at the very maturing stage.

“We had grown cotton on 10 acres, all of which has been completely destroyed because of rising temperature,” said Navshankar Singh, a cotton farmer.

Over the past fortnight, the temperature has been hovering between 42 to 45 degrees Celsius, which is five degrees above normal.

Such extreme heat conditions have hit the germination process of cotton crops, which are at a vegetative stage.

The meteorologists have attributed the sizzling heat conditions to the scanty rainfall.

“The temperature has gone four degrees above normal. In the last three months there should have been 66 millimeters of rainfall but we have recorded merely 4.4 millimeters of rainfall,” said Agro Meteorologist Dr. K K Gill.

“As it is the cotton-growing season, we require rainfall for it. But there is no rainfall as such the situation of crops is very critical,” he added.

The locals here are having a tough time due to the water crisis, which has become severe due to unscheduled and prolonged power cuts. (ANI)