Irrigate crops frequently, C'garh govt tells farmers

Chhattisgarh government has advised the farmers to take precautions to save their Rabi crops from the scorching heat.
"Agriculture department has advised farmers in a bulletin to irrigate their Rabi crops frequently to protect them from the scorching summer," a government official said here.
The bulletin said that 'evaporation rate' had reached 8-10 millimetres per day due to persistent hot weather in the past couple of days, resulting in increased water requirement for paddy, groundnut and vegetables.
Frequent irrigation is necessary to maintain enough moisture in the soil, said the official.
Peanuts and sunflower are more prone to damage from hot weather and need extra care, he said.

The agriculture department has also asked the farmers to take proper care of their livestock in the summer.

According to the Raipur Meteorological Centre, maximum temperature of 41 degrees Celsius or above was recorded in many parts of Chhattisgarh today.
The highest temperature of 44.2 degrees Celsius was recorded in Raipur while Bilaspur witnessed 42.5 degrees Celsius, he said.
Ambikapur in north Chhattisgarh had maximum temperature of 41.3 degrees Celsius, while Jagdalpur in the south recorded maximum temperature of 36.8 degrees Celsius.