National Agromet Advisory Bulletin Friday, 8th March, 2013 (For the period 8th to 12th March, 2013) Significant weather and realized rainfall during last East India Major crops week:  Gram, lentil (pod formation/maturity), Wheat  Significant rainfall occurred in Chamba and Kullu districts of (flowering / milking / dough stage) and potato (tuber Himachal Pradesh, Baramula, Kulgam, Kupwara and Shopian formation / tuber maturity). districts of Jammu & Kashmir and Nagapattinam,  Farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the Ramanathapuram, Pudukottai, Sivaganga, Thanjavur, standing crops. Tirunelveli and Tiruvarur districts of Tamil Nadu. Mainly dry weather prevailed over rest parts of the country. Northeast India Major crops Major Feature of Weather Forecast up to 0830  Boro rice (active tillering / panicle initiation), early hours IST of 11th March, 2013 ahu rice (nursery raising / sowing), wheat (flowering  Rain/snow would occur at one or two places over Jammu & /milking/ dough stage), rapeseed, mustard (capsule Kashmir during next 24 hours and at a few places thereafter. maturity / harvesting) potato (tuber maturity / Rain/snow would also occur at one or two places over harvesting.) Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand on 9th and 10th March.  Farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the  Rain/thundershowers would occur at one or two places over standing crops. Tamilnadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep.  Rain/thundershowers would occur at one or two places over West India coastal & south Karnataka and Andaman & Nicobar Islands Major crops during next 24 hours.  New suru sugarcane (late planting / germination),  Rain/thundershowers would occur at one or two places in summer groundnut (early vegetative / vegetative / Arunachal Pradesh on 10th March. flowering), summer bajra (early vegetative), summer  Rise in maximum and minimum temperatures over northwest groundnut (vegetative/flowering/pegging), wheat and central India by 2-3°C from tomorrow onwards. (milk / dough stage).  Mainly dry weather would prevail over rest parts of the country  Farmers are advised to apply irrigation to summer bajra, summer groundnut, sugarcane and vegetables in Regionwise Salient Advisory Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha and Northwest India to vegetables and fruit crops in Gujarat. Major crops  As day temperature is rising, farmers in Maharashtra  Wheat (ear head emergence / flowering / milky), mustard are advised for mulching with crop residues and other (capsule formation/ maturity) plant waste products in the orchards and sugarcane fields to minimize the rate of evaporation. Farmers of Konkan region are advised to use black polythene mulch between 2 trenches or beds of the fruit crop nursery.  Postpone irrigation to standing crops in Baramula, Kulgam, South India Kupwara and Shopian districts of Jammu & Kashmir and Major crops Chamba and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh. As mainly dry weather will prevail over the region, apply irrigation to the  Sunflower (flowering / seed formation), rice fallow standing crops in the remaining parts of the region where no pulses (vegetative), puncha rice (grain formation / significant rainfall occurred. maturity stage), sugarcane (ratooning).  Postpone irrigation to standing crops in Central India Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Major crops Shivaganga, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and Thiruvarur  Wheat (grain filling / maturity / harvesting), autumn districts in Tamil Nadu. As mainly dry weather will sugarcane (vegetative), yellow sarson, mustard (capsule prevail over the region, apply irrigation to the formation / maturity) standing crops in the remaining parts of the region where no significant rainfall occurred. (Detailed regionwise summery is given in page no.2)  Farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the standing crops. Issued by National Agrometeorological Advisory Service Centre, Agricultural Meteorology Division, India Meteorological Department, Shivajinagar, Pune. The bulletin is also displayed in the website (http://www.imdagrimet.gov.in) of the Division 1 Executive Summary Northwest India  As Significant rainfall occurred in Baramula, Kulgam, Kupwara and Shopian districts of Jammu & Kashmir and Chamba and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh during last week, farmers are advised to postpone irrigation to the standing crops. As there was no significant rain over the remaining parts of the region and mainly dry weather is likely to prevail, apply irrigation to the standing crops.  In Rajasthan, taking the advantage of dry weather and increasing ambient temperature farmers are advised to harvest early mustard crop when 75% pods turn yellow and seed moisture content about 35% seed weight. Harvest the crop during morning hours to avoid shattering losses. Keep harvested products in safe place. It is also advised to harvest matured gram crop.  In Sub Tropical Zone Chatha of Jammu & Kashmir, weather conditions are congenial for aphids and thrips in mustard crop. Farmers are advised to spray the crop with Chloropyripous @ 0.05% or [email protected]%.  In Cold Arid Zone of Jammu & Kashmir, as the prevailing temperature is low farmers are advised to cover the polythene of greenhouses with black polythene in the night for proper growth of crops or maintain 2 layers of polythene over greenhouse (at least 150 gsm each). Central India  As mainly dry weather prevailed over the States of the region during last week and no significant rain is likely to occur during the period, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the standing crops.  As temperature is increasing in Jhabua Hills Zone of Madhya Pradesh, there are chances of fruit dropping in mango, farmers are advised to spray Naphthalic Acetic Acid @ 20-25 ppm or Planofix @ 0.3 ml/litre of water or Kerathion @ 2.0 gm/ litre of water. Irrigation should be given to mango plant after fruit setting for good yield.  In Central Narmada Valley Zone and Bundelkhand Zone of Madhya Pradesh, present weather conditions are congenial for the incidence of leaf rot and fruit rot diseases in fruit crops, apply Bavastin fungicide for its control.  Due to favourrable weather conditions in Bastar Plateau Zone of Chhattisgarh, there are chances of purple blotch in onion. Farmers are advised to monitor the crops for the diseases and undertake plant protection measures. East India  As dry weather prevailed and no significant rain is likely over the States of the region during the period, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the standing crops.  Taking the advantage of prevailing dry weather condition farmers in North West Alluvial Plain Zone of Bihar are advised to harvest matured potato and tobacco crop.  In view of prevailing dry weather condition farmers in Jharkhand are advised to continue harvesting of potato, rapeseed and mustard and store the harvested products at safe place.  Due to prevailing weather condition in Coastal Saline Zone of West Bengal, there is chance of attack of blast disease in boro rice; farmers are advised to spray Ediphenphos 50 EC @ 1 ml / liter of water.  In East and South Eastern Coastal Plain Zone of Odisha, increase in temperature may favour increase in stem borer in the main rice field. As a control, place 4 Pheromone traps / acre, collect the adults and destroy them. Increase in difference between daily maximum and minimum temperature favours the infestation of blast in rice. Spray 1 g Beam / litre of water. Northeast India  As there was no significant rain over the States of the region during last week and no significant rain is likely to occur during the period, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the standing crops.  As reduced moisture is favourable for cracking in banana, farmers in Mild Tropical Hill Zone of Mizoram are advised for proper mulching and nutrient management especially application of boron to minimize cracking. In tomato, reduced soil moisture hinders availability of calcium; farmers are advised to ensure weekly irrigation for optimum fruit setting.  Weather is favourable for incidence of late blight and fruit borer in tomato in Mild Tropical Hill Zone of Mizoram. Farmers are advised to spray Mencozeb @ 1 g per litre of water for blight and 5% neem seed kenel extract or NPV @ 250-500 LE with 100 ml teepol / ha for fruit borer. West India  As dry weather prevailed over the State during last couple of weeks and dry weather is also likely during the period, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to summer bajra, summer groundnut, sugarcane and vegetables in Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha and to the standing crops in Gujarat.  As day temperature is rising, farmers in Maharashtra are advised for mulching with crop residues and other plant waste products in the orchards and sugarcane fields to minimize the rate of evaporation. Farmers of Konkan region are advised to use black polythene mulch between 2 trenches or beds of the fruit crop nursery.  As day temperature is rising in Konkan, (around 390C), there may be premature fruit dropping in mango; farmers are advised to spray 1% Potassium Nitrate. Also provide 150–200 litres of water per tree fortnightly. 2  Rise in temperature is favourable for infestation of leaf curl in cucumber, chilli, tomato, leaf mosaic in papaya and yellow rust in okra in Pune region; spray Imidachloprid @ 4 ml or Methyl Dimeton @ 10 ml in 10 litres of water at 10-15 days interval.  Weather conditions in South Gujarat Zone are favourable for occurrence of mango hopper, leaf miner and powdery mildew in mango orchard; farmers are advised to spray Quinalphos 25% EC 400 ml + Carbendazim 50% 100 g or Thiophenate Methyl 70% @ 100 g in 200 liters of water. South India  As no significant rainfall occurred over most parts of the region except over Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Shivaganga, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and Thiruvarur districts in Tamil Nadu during last week, apply irrigation to the standing crops. Postpone irrigation to the crops in the above mentioned districts as there was significant rainfall during last week.  Due to low rainfall and saline water intrusion in the Problem Area Zone of Kerala, the salinity level is very high and hazardous to paddy. The high salinity level during seedling stage and panicle initiation is detrimental to paddy. Hence, farmers are advised to check the salinity level (EC) of field frequently and avoid flooding with water of EC >3ds/m. Since high temperature with low humidity and high wind speed is expected to increase evaporation loss, farmers are advised to increase frequency of irrigation in coconut, nutmeg and bananas and mulching with crop residues is also recommended.  Farmers in the Northern Zone of Kerala are advised to go for cover cropping in irrigated areas or mulch the soils to prevent evaporation loss of water to tackle drought in the region and cultivate vegetables as intercrops in coconut gardens.  As light to moderate rain is expected in forthcoming days in the Western Zone of Tamil Nadu, farmers are advised to conserve the moisture in the soil and also give propping to sugarcane to avoid lodging of the crop, since the wind speed is expected to go more than 10 km/ hour.  Present weather condition is congenial for the attack of brown plant hopper (BPH) and the outbreak of blast disease in the Problem Area Zone of Kerala. Farmers are advised to remove the severely affected plants in order to provide air circulation into the crop canopy and here by reducing the spread of the disease to the nearby plants. 3 Contour maps for Mean Maximum and Minimum Temperature and their anomaly for the week ending on 06.03.2013 Actual Mean Maximum temperature ranged between 36 to Mean Maximum temperature anomaly ranged between 4 to 60C 400C over some parts of Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, over many parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, North Interior Karnataka, Rayalaseema, 32 to 360C over some parts of Himachal Pradesh, Assam & Meghalaya, many parts of North East India (except Mizoram, Tripura), Mizoram, 2 to 40C over many parts of Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Chattiagarh, West India, south India, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Kutch, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, some parts of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, some parts of Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Assam, Tripura, Saurashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Gangetic West Bengal, 20 to 240C over Orissa, Konkan & Goa, Lakshadweep Islands, -2 to 20C over rest many parts of Jammu & Kashmir, some parts of Himachal of the country. Pradesh, 16 to 200C over some parts of Jammu & Kashmir, 24 to 320C over remaining parts of the country. Actual Mean Minimum Temperature ranged between 24 to Minimum Temperature anomaly ranged between 2 to 40C over 280C over many parts of Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar many parts of Himachal Pradesh, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal Islands, 20 to 240C over many parts of Coastal Andhra & Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, some parts of some parts of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Assam & Telangana, Lakshadweep, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, 4 to Meghalaya, -4 to -20C over many parts of West Madhya 80C over many parts of Jammu & Kashmir, 8 to 12 over many Pradesh, Vidarbha, Marathwada, Chattisgarh, Orissa, some parts parts of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, some of East Rajasthan, East Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Coastal parts of Uttarakhand, West Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Andhra Pradesh, North & South Interior Karnataka, -2 to 20C Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, 12 to 200C over remaining parts over rest of the country. of the country. 4 Distribution of rainfall of the country during week ending on 06.03.2013 Actual Kistwar ** ** Krishnagiri 0.0 -100 State/Districts % Dep. (mm) Kulgam 24.1 -36 Madurai 14.9 217 Himachal Pradesh Kupwara 20.1 -56 Nagapattinam 23.8 271 Bilaspur 9.4 -37 Ladakh(Leh) 0.0 -100 Namakkal 0.6 -80 Chamba 22.9 -48 Poonch 0.0 -100 Nilgiris 8.8 0 Hamirpur 5.8 -66 Pulwama 13.6 -26 Perambalur 2.2 -27 Kangra 5.7 -74 Rajouri 7.0 -21 Puducherry 0.0 -100 Kinnaur 15.0 -31 Ramban 16.3 -71 Pudukottai 43.2 799 Kullu 25.2 -6 Reasi 18.0 -54 Ramanathapuram 43.8 441 Lahaul and Spiti 18.0 -49 Samba 1.0 -92 Salem 0.4 -89 Mandi 8.6 -50 Shopian 41.0 122 Sivaganga 43.7 628 Shimla 3.3 -79 Srinagar 18.9 -10 Thanjavur 39 597 Sirmaur 0.0 -100 Udhampur 9.0 -77 Theni 4.2 -46 Solan 0.9 -95 Tamil Nadu Tirunelveli 26.4 114 Una 0.6 -95 Ariyalur 0.0 -100 Tirupur 0.0 -100 Jammu & Kashmir Chennai 0.0 -100 Tiruvallur 0.0 -100 Anantnag 12.5 -67 Coimbatore 0.1 -97 Tiruvannamalai 0.0 -100 Badgam 16.5 -10 Cuddalore 9.4 93 Tiruvarur 52.6 911 Bandipore ** ** Dharmapuri 0.0 -100 Toothukudi 16.3 81 Baramula 25 -24 Dindigul 16.1 222 Trichy 6.0 40 Doda 18 -68 Erode 0.0 -100 Vellore 0.0 -100 Ganderwal 4.4 -79 Kanchipuram 0.0 -100 Villupuram 0.2 -93 Jammu 17.7 36 Kanyakumari 3.7 -44 Virudhunagar 17.2 152 Kargil 0.0 -100 Karikal 6.9 17 Kathua 1.5 -85 Karur 2.0 -34 Legends (20% or more) excess rainfall (-60 to -99 %) scanty rainfall (-19 to +19%) normal rainfall (-100%) no rainfall (-20 to -59%) deficient rainfall ** Data not available Satellite image 0600 UTC dated 8th March, 2013, 20 13 5 Weather Forecast (Valid upto 0830 hours of 11th March, 2013) Major Feature of Weather Forecast up to 0830 hours IST of 11th March, 2013  The maximum temperatures are prevailing appreciably to markedly above normal over some parts of coastal areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra would continue today and respite from tomorrow onwards.  Northwesterly winds would continue to prevail over Gangetic plains during next 24 hours.  Rain/snow would occur at one or two places over Jammu & Kashmir during next 24 hours and at a few places thereafter. Rain/snow would also occur at one or two places over Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand on 9th and 10th March.  Rain/thundershowers would occur at one or two places over Tamilnadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep.  Rain/thundershowers would occur at one or two places over coastal & south Karnataka and Andaman & Nicobar Islands during next 24 hours.  Rain/thundershowers would occur at one or two places in Arunachal Pradesh on 10th March.  Rise in maximum and minimum temperatures over northwest and central India by 2-3°C from tomorrow onwards.  Mainly dry weather would prevail over rest parts of the country Weather Warning during next 3 days No weather warning. Weather Outlook for subsequent 4 days from 11th to 15th March, 2013  Rain/thundershowers would continue to occur at one or two places over extreme south peninsular India and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.  Rain/ thundershowers would occur at a few places over Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya on 11th March and at one or two places on 12th March.  A fresh western disturbance would affect western Himalayan region from 12th March onwards.  Mainly dry weather would prevail over rest parts of the country March. 6 Zonewise Agromet Advisories NORTHWEST INDIA [JAMMU & KASHMIR, HIMACHAL PRADESH, UTTARAKHAND, PUNJAB, HARYANA, DELHI, UTTAR PRADESH & RAJASTHAN]  Realised Rainfall: Significant rainfall occurred in Baramula, Kulgam, Kupwara and Shopian districts of Jammu & Kashmir and Chamba and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh during last week. Mainly dry weather prevailed over remaining parts of the region.  Weather Forecast: Rain / snow would occur at one or two places over Jammu & Kashmir during next 24 hours and at a few places thereafter. Rain / snow would also occur at one or two places over Himachal Pradesh and Uttrakhand 9th and 10th. Mainly dry weather would prevail over rest of the region. Rise in maximum and minimum temperatures over northwest India by 2-3°C from tomorrow onwards.  Advisory:  As Significant rainfall occurred in Baramula, Kulgam, Kupwara and Shopian districts of Jammu & Kashmir and Chamba and Kullu districts of Himachal Pradesh during last week, farmers are advised to postpone irrigation to the standing crops. As there was no significant rain over the remaining parts of the region and mainly dry weather is likely to prevail, apply irrigation to the standing crops.  In Rajasthan, taking the advantage of dry weather and increasing ambient temperature farmers are advised to harvest early mustard crop when 75% pods turn yellow and seed moisture content about 35% seed weight. Harvest the crop during morning hours to avoid shattering losses. Keep harvested products in safe place. It is also advised to harvest matured gram crop.  In Sub Tropical Zone Chatha of Jammu & Kashmir, weather conditions are congenial for aphids and thrips in mustard crop. Farmers are advised to spray the crop with Chloropyripous @ 0.05% or [email protected]%.  In Cold Arid Zone of Jammu & Kashmir, as the prevailing temperature is low, farmers are advised to cover the polythene of greenhouses with black polythene in the night for proper growth of crops or maintain 2 layers of polythene over greenhouse (at least 150 gsm each).  Other advisories are mentioned in Annexure I.  Stages of major crops are mentioned in Annexure II.  Suitable varieties of crops are mentioned in Annexure III. EAST INDIA [JHARKHAND, BIHAR, ORISSA, WEST BENGAL & SIKKIM]  Realised Rainfall: Dry weather prevailed over the region.  Weather Forecast: Dry or mainly dry weather will prevail over the States of the region.  Advisories:  As dry weather prevailed during last week and is likely also likely to prevail during the period over the States of the region, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the standing crops.  Taking the advantage of prevailing dry weather condition farmers in North West Alluvial Plain Zone of Bihar are advised to harvest matured potato and tobacco crop. Apply irrigation to wheat, maize, potato and vegetable crops.  Due to dry weather conditions in South Bihar Alluvial Zone of Bihar, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to wheat, maize and summer vegetable crops.  In view of prevailing dry weather condition farmers in Jharkhand are advised to continue harvesting of potato, rapeseed and mustard and store the harvested products at safe place.  As dry weather is likely to prevail, farmers in Jharkhand are advised to irrigate wheat crops.  Under prevailing dry weather, farmers in Old Alluvial Zone of West Bengal are advised to undertake harvesting of matured mustard and potato.  Due to increase in temperature, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to mango at flowering stage in the New Alluvial Zone and to banana in Laterite and Red Soil Zone of West Bengal.  In view of prevailing dry weather, the farmers of Western Undulating Zone of Odisha are advised to apply irrigation to vegetable crops and other Rabi crops to save the crops from possible moisture stress.  As dry weather is continuing, the farmers of Western Undulating Zone of Odisha are advised to apply irrigation at an interval of 7days when the sugarcane crop is at germination stage that is within 35 Days of planting.  The average temperature is now suitable for proper germination of cucurbits like pumpkin, bitter gourd and bottle gourd in North Eastern Plateatu Zone of Odisha; hence, farmers are advised to undertake sowing in the prepared field.  As the weather will remain dry and temperature is increasing, farmers of North Eastern Coastal Plain Zone of Odisha are advised to irrigate wheat and ground nut.  Due to prevailing weather condition in Coastal Saline Zone of West Bengal, there is chance of attack of blast disease in boro rice; farmers are advised to spray Ediphenphos 50 EC @ 1 ml / liter of water.  Under prevailing weather conditions there are chances of attack of stem borer in boro rice and mites in mango in New Alluvial Zone of West Bengal; farmers are advised to take appropriate control measures. 7  In Laterite and Red Soil Zone of West Bengal weather conditions are favourable for the attack of stem borer in boro rice at panicle initiation stage and mango hopper in mango; farmers are advised to apply Carbofuran 3G granule @ 25 kg/ha to control stem borer in boro rice and 2 g Carbaryl or Monocrotophos @ 1.5 ml / litre of water to control mango hopper.  In Laterite and Red Soil Zone of West Bengal, due to increase in temperature, there is chance of attack of rust and blight disease in wheat; farmers are advised to apply Mancozeb @ 2.5 to 3 g / litre of water.  Due to increase in temperature in Terai Zone of West Bengal, there is possibility of attack of aphids in chilli and cucumber and white fly in ladies finger. Farmers are advised to apply Acephate 1 g / litre of water to prevent aphids in chilli and cucumber and Imidaclorpid @ 3 ml / 15 litre of water for white fly.  In East and South Eastern Coastal Plain Zone of Odisha, increase in temperature may favour increase in stem borer in the main rice field. As a control, place 4 Pheromone traps / acre, collect the adults and destroy them. Increase in difference between daily maximum and minimum temperature favours the infestation of blast in rice. Spray 1 g Beam / litre of water.  Other crop advisories are mentioned in Annexure I.  Stages of major crops are mentioned in Annexure II.  List of Varieties are mentioned in Annexure III.  Pisiculture  Rise in temperature is favourable for growth of fishes. Farmers in Western Plateau Zone and South Eastern Plateau Zone of Jharkhand are advised to add cowdung and lime in the pond as natural foods for them and alternative feeds may also be used like rice bran and mustard cake (each of 5 kg per day per acre area of pond).  Poultry:  Due to rise in temperature, give poultry birds drinking water 2-3 times per day. Ranikhet disease in poultry also occurs during this season. The farmers are advised to vaccinate the chicks of less than three month old with Lassota as eye drop and R2b strain for birds more than three months @ 0.5 ml / bird with the help of L.I. or VAS. CENTRAL INDIA [M.P., CHHATTISGARH]  Realised Rainfall: Mainly dry weather prevailed over the region.  Weather forecast: Dry weather would prevail over the region. Rise in maximum and minimum temperatures over central India by 2-3°C from tomorrow onwards.  Advisories:  As mainly dry weather prevailed over the States of the region during last week and no significant rain is likely to occur during the period, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the standing crops.  As temperature is increasing in Jhabua Hills Zone of Madhya Pradesh, there are chances of fruit dropping in mango, farmers are advised to spray Naphthalic Acetic Acid @ 20-25 ppm or Planofix @ 0.3 ml/litre of water or Kerathion @ 2.0 gm/ litre of water. Irrigation should be given to mango plant after fruit setting for good yield.  In Central Narmada Valley Zone and Bundelkhand Zone of Madhya Pradesh, present weather conditions are congenial for the incidence of leaf rot and fruit rot diseases in fruit crops, apply Bavastin fungicide for its control.  Due to favourrable weather conditions in Bastar Plateau Zone of Chhattisgarh, there are chances of purple blotch in onion. Farmers are advised to monitor the crops for the diseases and undertake plant protection measures.  Other advisories are mentioned in Annexure – I.  Stages of major crops are mentioned in Annexure II.  Animal Husbandary  Temperatures are increasing hence farmers in Madhya Pradesh are advised to keep cattle in shades during noon hours. NORTHEAST INDIA [ARUNACHAL PRADESH, NMM&T, ASSAM, MEGHALAYA]  Realised Rainfall: Mainly dry weather prevailed over the States of the region during last week.  Weather Forecast: Rain / thundershowers would occur at one or two places over Arunachal Pradesh on 10th March. Mainly dry weather would prevail over rest parts of the region.  Advisories:  As there was no significant rain over the States of the region during last week and no significant rain is likely to occur during the period, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to the standing crops.  As reduced moisture is favourable for cracking in banana, farmers in Mild Tropical Hill Zone of Mizoram are advised for proper mulching and nutrient management especially application of boron to minimize cracking. In tomato, reduced soil moisture hinders availability of calcium; farmers are advised to ensure weekly irrigation for optimum fruit setting.  Weather is favourable for incidence of late blight and fruit borer in tomato in Mild Tropical Hill Zone of Mizoram. Farmers are advised to spray Mencozeb @ 1 g per litre of water for blight and 5% neem seed kenel extract or NPV @ 250-500 LE with 100 ml teepol / ha for fruit borer.  Other advisories are mentioned in Annexure - I  Stages of major crops are mentioned in Annexure II. 8  Suitable varieties of crops are mentioned in Annexure III.  Animal Husbandry  In Mild Tropical Hill Zone of Nagaland and Sub-Tropical Hill Zone of Arunachal Pradesh, farmers are advised to provide good shelter by additional bulbs in poultry, heating system to cattle shed or tie gunny bag on the back of animals to protect from cool temperature.  In Mild Tropical Plain Zone of Tripura, farmers are advised to feed / graze cattle during cooler hours and feed them fresh green fodder as temperature is rising.  Prevailing weather conditions are congenial for the occurrence of foot and mouth disease in cattle in Mild Tropical Hill Zone of Nagaland; farmers are advised to take precautionary measures. WEST INDIA [GOA, MAHARASHTRA, GUJARAT]  Realised Rainfall: Dry weather prevailed over the region during last week.  Rainfall Forecast: Dry or mainly dry weather would prevail over the States in the region during the period. The maximum temperatures are prevailing appreciably to markedly above normal over some parts of coastal areas of Gujarat and Maharashtra would continue today and respite from tomorrow onwards.  Advisories:  As dry weather prevailed over the State during last couple of weeks and dry weather is also likely during the period, farmers are advised to apply irrigation to summer bajra, summer groundnut, sugarcane and vegetables in Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha and to the standing crops in Gujarat.  As day temperature is rising, farmers in Maharashtra are advised for mulching with crop residues and other plant waste products in the orchards and sugarcane fields to minimize the rate of evaporation. Farmers of Konkan region are advised to use black polythene mulch between 2 trenches or beds of the fruit crop nursery.  As day temperature is rising in Konkan, (around 390C), there may be premature fruit dropping in mango; farmers are advised to spray 1% Potassium Nitrate. Also provide 150–200 litres of water per tree fortnightly.  As dry weather is expected, farmers of Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha are advised to complete the harvesting of already matured rabi jowar, safflower, gram, maize and continue harvesting of wheat in morning hours. They are also advised to store the produce in cool and dry place.  In North Gujarat Zone, as prevailing temperatures are suitable, carry out sowing of summer pearl millet under assured irrigation facility and complete sowing of summer vegetables like ladies finger, cluster bean, cow pea, bitter gourd, bottle gourd, small gourd etc. Taking advantage of expected dry and clear weather conditions carry out harvesting of mustard.  As dry weather prevailed during last few weeks and is also likely to prevail in South Gujarat Zone, apply irrigation in vegetables and fruit crops.  In view of prevailing dry weather in Middle Gujarat Zone, apply irrigation in summer groundnut. As prevailing temperatures are suitable for sowing, carry out sowing of summer crops like pearl millet, cowpea and green gram.  Taking the advantage of dry weather in Bhal and Coastal Zone of Gujarat, farmers are advised for timely harvesting of matured rabi crops like wheat, mustard and chickpea.  Rise in temperature is favourable for infestation of leaf curl in cucumber, chilli, tomato, leaf mosaic in papaya and yellow rust in okra in Pune region; spray Imidachloprid @ 4 ml or Methyl Dimeton @ 10 ml in 10 litres of water at 10-15 days interval.  As prevailing day temperature is 3-40C above normal, there may be incidence of thrips in pea stage mango in Konkan; spray 45% Spinosad @ 2.5 ml in 10 litres of water.  Under prevailing weather, there may be incidence of downy mildew in bitter gourd, cucumber, musk melon and water melon in Western Maharashtra Scarcity zone; spray Metalaxyl M-Z 72 @ 25 g + Mancozeb @ 20 g in 10 litres of water at an interval of 10 days.  Due to high temperature in Middle Gujarat Zone and North Gujarat Zone, there are chances of infestation of sucking pests in vegetables; spray Dimethoate 30 EC @ 10 ml in 10 litres of water.  Weather conditions in South Gujarat Zone are favourable for occurrence of mango hopper, leaf miner and powdery mildew in mango orchard; farmers are advised to spray Quinalphos 25% EC 400 ml + Carbendazim 50% 100 g or Thiophenate Methyl 70% @ 100 g in 200 liters of water.  Other advisories are mentioned in Annexure I.  Stages of the crops are mentioned in Annexure II.  Varieties of the crops are mentioned in Annexure III.  Animal Husbandry  Due to rise in temperatures (2 to 40C above normal) in Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra, for protection of poultry birds from heat, cover the poultry shed with cloth from outside and sprinkle with water. Apply layer of grass or gunny bags on the roof of shed and sprinkle water on it. Provide fresh and cool drinking water for the poultry birds and chicks. 9 SOUTH INDIA [TN, AP, KERALA, KARNATAKA, LAKSHADWEEP, ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS]  Realised Rainfall: Significant rainfall occurred over Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Shivaganga, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and Tiruvarur districts in Tamil Nadu and mainly dry weather prevailed over rest of the region during last week.  Rainfall Forecast: Rain/thundershowers would occur at one or two places over Tamilnadu, Kerala and Lakshadweep. Rain/thundershowers would occur at one or two places over coastal & south Karnataka and Andaman & Nicobar Islands during next 24 hours. Mainly dry weather would prevail over rest parts of the region.  Advisories:  As no significant rainfall occurred over most parts of the region except over Nagapattinam, Pudukottai, Ramanathapuram, Shivaganga, Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and Thiruvarur districts in Tamil Nadu during last week, apply irrigation to the standing crops. Postpone irrigation to the crops in the above mentioned districts as there was significant rainfall during last week.  Due to low rainfall and saline water intrusion in the Problem Area Zone of Kerala, the salinity level is very high and hazardous to paddy. The high salinity level during seedling stage and panicle initiation is detrimental to paddy. Hence, farmers are advised to check the salinity level (EC) of field frequently and avoid flooding with water of EC >3ds/m. Since high temperature with low humidity and high wind speed is expected to increase evaporation loss, farmers are advised to increase frequency of irrigation in coconut, nutmeg and bananas and mulching with crop residues is also recommended.  Farmers in the Northern Zone of Kerala are advised to go for cover cropping in irrigated areas or mulch the soils to prevent evaporation loss of water to tackle drought in the region and cultivate vegetables as intercrops in coconut gardens.  As light to moderate rain is expected in forthcoming days in the Western Zone of Tamil Nadu, farmers are advised to conserve the moisture in the soil from the anticipated rainfall and also give propping to sugarcane to avoid lodging of the crop, since the wind speed is expected to go more than 10 kms/ hour.  Present weather condition is congenial for the attack of brown plant hopper (BPH) and the outbreak of blast disease in the Problem Area Zone of Kerala. Farmers are advised to remove the severely affected plants in order to provide air circulation into the crop canopy and here by reducing the spread of the disease to the nearby plants.  Weather conditions are congenial for powdery mildew and jassids in mango in the North East Dry Zone of Karnataka. Farmers are advised to spray 80% Wettable Sulphur @ 1250 gm + 50% carbaryl @ 2 kg + Bavistin @ 500 g in 500 lit of water per ha. Because of continuous dry weather and increased temperatures, thrips activity might increase in onion/brinjal/bhendi. To control them spray Oxydemeton Methyl (1.5 ml) or Dimethoate (1.7 ml) with one liter of water.  Warm and humid weather is congenial for incidence of stem borer, blast in rice in Southern Telangana Zone of Andhra Pradesh. Farmers are advised to spray Tricyclozole @ 0.6 g per litre of water for control of Blast and apply Cartap hydrochloride 4G @ 8 kg or Carbofuran 3G @ 10 kgs per acre before boot leaf stage or spray Cartap hydrochloride 50 SP @ 2g per litre for control of stem borer.  Other advisories are mentioned in Annexure – I.  Stages of major crops are mentioned in Annexure II.  List of Varieties are mentioned in Annexure III.  Animal Husbandry  Weather conditions are favorable for Black Quarter (BQ) Haemorrhagic Septicemia and foot and mouth disease in animals in the North East Dry Zone of Karnataka. Farmers are advised to vaccinate all the animals as a precaution.  Outbreak of FMD is expected in the Problem Area Zone of Kerala in this weather. Hence, vaccination is recommended. 10