Threat of dry January raises concern among farmers in Valley

The farmer’s prayers for rain or snow might get answered as a Meteorological department official said with prediction of fairly widespread rains or snowfall in Kashmir tomorrow, this January might not end completely dry.
"There has been no rain or snowfall in Kashmir since the New Year’s eve.
There was forecast of rain or snowfall several times during the month, but a set of changes took away the possibility," the official said.
In stark contrast to this January, during the first month of last year, Kashmir recorded 162.2 millimetres of rain and snow.
January 2017 was the wettest in the last 38 years in Kashmir.
"I think this summer, the agriculture produce, especially paddy, will be badly affected due to scarcity of water for irrigation at the sowing time.
According MeT department data, the average downpour during February over the past 17 years has been around 25 to 30 mm.
"Although trees do not need much water during winter, the dryness of the land can lead to death of trees.
"We still have almost two months of winter left.
Disclaimer :- This story has not been edited by Outlook staff and is auto-generated from news agency feeds.

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