MULTAN: The Agriculture Department has advised farmers to take special measures to protect their cotton crops during the rainy season.
According to official sources, while normal rainfall is beneficial for cotton, promoting growth and flowering, excessive rain can be detrimental. Prolonged waterlogging, where rainwater remains in fields for more than 24 hours, can cause significant damage.
Excessive moisture can leach nutrients deeper into the soil, making them inaccessible to plant roots and hindering photosynthesis. To mitigate this, farmers should take proactive steps in case of heavy rains.
They are recommended to dig deep trenches along the edges of their fields to facilitate drainage of excess water, which can then be redirected to larger channels for irrigation of paddy or sugarcane fields. If draining the water is not feasible, farmers should dig deep pits on both sides of the field to collect rainwater.
Two to three days after the rain, when soil moisture levels are appropriate, farmers should apply one bag of urea per acre to address potential nitrogen deficiencies. Immediate drainage of water from cotton fields is crucial, and farmers should also irrigate with light water based on the weather forecasts from the Meteorological Department.
