Fresh spells of snow and rainfall in Himachal, orange alert issued for THIS day
1 min read 23 Mar 2023, 07:58 AM ISTAccording to Director Agriculture Rajesh Kaushik, rainfall is beneficial for vegetable and wheat crops in Himachal Pradesh.
PremiumHimachal Pradesh on Wednesday received another spell of snow with Kadhrala and Gondla receiving 3 cm and 1 cm of snow, while mid and low hills were lashed by light to moderate rains, according to the weather department.
In the past week, light to heavy rains reduced the rain deficit from 86% on March 15 to 54% on March 22 as the hill state received 39.1 mm of rain against the normal rainfall of 85.5 mm in March till day.
Speaking to the news agency PTI, Director Agriculture Rajesh Kaushik said rains are beneficial for vegetable crops in the transplanting stage in Solan and Sirmaur districts, and wheat crops during the grain formation stage.
Wheat is being produced in 3.30 lakh hectares in the state with a production target of 6.17 lakh MT (metric ton) while an area of 82,000 hectares is proposed to be covered under vegetables with a production target of 1,759 thousand MT, PTI reported.
From January 1 to February 28, the state witnessed an overall rain deficiency of about 36% which stood at nearly 100% last December. About 10-15% of the total Rabi crops have been damaged in the state due to inadequate rains and the maximum damage of up to 33% was reported in rainfed areas.
Light to moderate rains lashed several parts of the state during which Sundernagar received 34 mm of rain followed by Mandi at 26 mm, Dalhousie 24 mm, Chauri 21 mm, Narkanda 19 mm, Palampur 14 mm, Dharmshala, Pandoh and Nahan 13 mm each, Kothi and Janjehli 12 mm each, Gohar 11 mm, Aghar, Shillaro, Banjar and Karsog 10 mm each.
The local meteorological (MeT) office has issued an orange warning for thunderstorms, lightning, and hailstorm on March 24 in six districts, including Una, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla and Solan and a yellow warning for the same in the remaining six districts of the state. It also predicted a wet spell in the region till March 28.
(With PTI inputs)
