No cold wave conditions prevailed in any part of country from 1st to 6^th February 2013.

Dense fog was observed over some parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar from 31^st January to 3^rd February.

The lowest minimum temperature of 4.4°C was recorded at Nazibabad (Uttar Pradesh) on 31^st January 2013 in the plains of the country.

An upper air trough extended from northeast Arabian Sea to north Rajasthan with embedded cyclonic circulation over Gujarat & adjoining south Rajasthan in lower levels from 31^st January to 4^th February and became low pressure area on 4^thFebruary 2013 over West Rajasthan and neighbourhood, intensified into a depression in the morning of the 5^th February. It weakened into a low pressure in the evening on the same day and further weakened into an upper air cyclonic circulation in the afternoon of 6^th February 2013.

The upper air cyclonic circulation over Assam & neighbourhood extending upto 2.1 Km above mean sea level continued to persist from 31^st January to 2^nd February and moved to Mizoram-Tripura & neighbourhood on 3^rd February and became less marked on 5^th February 2013.

Western disturbance as an upper air system lay over Afghanistan & neighbourhood on 1st February and continued to move slowly eastwards and lay over north Pakistan& adjoining area till 3^rd February. The western disturbance as a trough in mid level westerlies lay along Long. 65.0°E & north of Lat. 18.0°N on 4^th, along Long. 68.0°E & north of Lat. 20.0°N on 5^th and along Long. 70.0°E & north of Lat. 25.0°N on 6^th February 2013.

Widespread to fairly widespread rainfall occurred over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and Punjab, Rajasthan and West Madhya Pradesh from 4th to 6th February.

Isolated rainfall occurred over Andaman & Nicobar Islands for many days; over Tamilnadu & Puducherry for a few days and over Assam & Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura, Gangetic West Bengal, West Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat State, Marathawada, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala for one or two days of the week.

During the week the minimum temperatures were markedly below normal over Odisha for one or two days of the week.

Markedly above normal over West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Punjab, East Rajasthan, West Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat Region for a few days and over East Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Rajasthan, East Madhya Pradesh and Saurashtra & Kutch for one or two days of the week.

Below normal to appreciably below normal over Gangetic West Bengal, Odisha, Jharkhand and Coastal Andhra Pradesh for a few days and over Assam & Meghalaya, Bihar, East Uttar Pradesh, East Madhya Pradesh, Saurashtra & Kutch, Konkan & Goa, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Tamilnadu & Puducherry and North Interior Karnataka for one or two days of the week.

Above normal to appreciably above normal over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim, Jammu & Kashmir, Saurashtra & Kutch, Madhya Maharashtra and Marathawada for many days; over Himachal Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat Region, Vidarbha and Chhattisgarh for a few days and over Assam & Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Punjab, East Rajasthan, East Madhya Pradesh, Konkan & Goa, Telangana, Rayalaseema, Tamilnadu & Puducherry and Karnataka for one or two days of the week.

Near normal over rest region of the country.

State wise distribution of number of districts with excess, normal, deficient, scanty and no rainfall during south west monsoon season rainfall (01st January to 06th February 2013)

Table 1. State wise distribution of number of districts with excess, normal,
deficient, scanty and no rainfall (01.01.2013 to 07.02.2013)

Dry weather prevailed in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra state during this week. Maximum temperature is 1.0°C above normal and the minimum temperature was 5.5°C above normal. Irrigation in wheat, late chickpea, seed bed preparations for summer groundnut, sesame, sunflower, harvesting of papaya is in progress. Wherever irrigation facility is available, cultivation of fenugreek, spinach, okra, bitter gourd, tinda, gourds, cowpea, cluster bean, coriander may complete these days. Irrigation and basin mulching of established and juvenile plantations are in progress. Early/timely sown chickpea at harvest stage and depending upon the sowing time still in some areas the irrigated late crop is at seed formation stage, timely sown safflower at seed maturity stage, rabi maize at grain filling stage, rabi sorghum at grain formation stage, normal sown wheat crop is at milk/dough stage, late sown (December) wheat crop is at panicle initiation/flowering stage, mustard crop is at harvest stage, rainfed castor tertiary spike at harvest stage and papaya fruits is at harvesting stage. No major pests and diseases were noticed.

Sowing of summer groundnut/sunflower/sesamum can be undertaken up to first week of February. Varieties recommended for the region include TAG-24 and TG-26 for summer groundnut; AKT-101 and NT-11-91 for sesamum; PKVSH-27(hy), KBSH-1(hy), PKVSF-9 and TAS-82 for sunflower. BBF sowing with sprinkler irrigation is advisable for summer groundnut. Need based timely plant protection (wheat rust, mango hoppers) be undertaken to avoid possible yield reduction. Considering irrigation facility and market response, time to time cultivation of leafy vegetables (fenugreek, spinach, coriander, etc.) can be undertaken during this period. Similarly cultivation of summer vegetables (okra, cluster bean, cowpea, cucumber and gourd) and water/musk melon can be initiated during this period. For green fodder purpose, African tall variety of maize or sorghum varieties Pusa-Chari, MP-Chari, SSG-898 may be sown. Provision of green forage/water and also screening of farm livestock, draught/milch animals for diseases be considered and they be dewormed and vaccinated.

Dry weather prevailed in Marathwada region of Maharashtra during this week. During the end of week some pockets of region recorded rainfall/hails tom caused lodging of crops. Maximum temperature was near to normal and minimum temperature was above normal by 2.0 to 4.0°C. Picking of cotton, spraying in lat sown gram and safflower and irrigation to all crops is in progress. Rabi sorghum is at flowering to grain filling stage, safflower is at flowering to grain formation stage, gram is at pod development to pod maturity stage, wheat is at ear head emergence to grain filling stage, vegetable crops are at fruiting stage and mango is at fruit formation to fruit development stage. Low intensity of pod borer in gram and aphids in safflower crop was noticed.

Farmers are advised for Farmers are advised for planting of seasonal sugarcane crop. For planting use developed varieties viz; Co 86032, COM 7125, CO 8014, CO 740, CO 7219 etc. Irrigation in banana, turmeric and ginger crops at weekly interval and spraying of 20 gm Asifate 75% or 10 ml Diamethoate and 14 ml Profenophos 45% in 10 liters of water in safflower and gram crops to control the attack of aphids and pod borer respectively.

Dry weather prevailed in Madhya Maharashtra region of Maharashtra during this week. The maximum temperature ranged between 31.8 to 33.0°C and it was above normal by 0.4°C. The minimum temperature ranged between 15.8 to 19.1°C and it was above normal by 2.3°C. Sowing of groundnut before 3rd week of February, harvesting of early sown chickpea, sunflower and apply soil dust through hand weed hoe is in progress. Rabi season crop sunflower and chickpea are at maturity stage. Low intensity of shoot and fruit borer in brinjal and wooly aphids in sugarcane was noticed.

Light rainfall received in Tamil Nadu state during this week. The maximum temperature was above normal and minimum temperature was appreciably above normal at few places and above normal at some places and remains normal over rest of the places. Harvesting of sorghum, maize, bajra and pulses, picking of cotton is in progress. Paddy is at tillering to maturity stage, maize, sorghum and bajra are at harvest stage, chilli is at fruiting stage and cotton is at boll bursting stage. Low intensity of leaf miner in ground nut, rhinoceros beetle in coconut, leaf hopper & aphids in cotton and thrips in chillies crops were noticed.

For mitigating severe water stress the following techniques are recommended. 3% kaolin spray for mitigating moisture stress, mulching with crop residues, foliar spray of cotton plus, a growth regulator 2.5 kg/ ha and DAP 2 % + KCl 1 % for cotton.
Top of Form

Light to moderate rainfall occurred in all the region of Uttar Pradesh state, highest rainfall was occurred in western districts. Hailstorm was also reported in western parts which damaged the pulses, oilseeds and potato crops to the extent of 10 to 20%. Transplanting of rabi onion and digging of potato crops are in progress. Wheat is in jointing to flowering stage depending on sowing, pigeon pea, chickpea and mustard are in flowering stage and winter maize is in tasseling stage. Moderate intensity of blight in pea and pod borer in chickpea crop was noticed.

Farmers are advised to do bamboo support to banana plants and drain out of excess water from pulses and winter maize.

Light to moderate rainfall occurred in Eastern Uttar Pradesh region of Uttar Pradesh state during this week. Top dressing with urea and weedecide spraying in wheat, barley, irrigation in pigeon pea, nipping and spray in gram, pea, lentil and harvesting of brinjal, chillies and dig out early sown potato crops are in progress. Wheat, barley are at is at tillering to jointing, pigeon pea is at flowering, gram is at branching to flowering, pea is at flowering to podding, lentil is at branching to flowering and mustard is at flowering stage. Low intensity of powdery mildew in pea was noticed.

Spray 1.0 ml Boost flower-N/liter of water solution on gram, lentil, brinjal, tomato and seasonal flowers at clear sky as per need. Lodging has been occur and seen in major areas of mid and western parts of the state in long crops like as linseed, mustard, rabi maize, pigeon pea and sugarcane crops try to support with bamboo sticks.

Dry weather prevailed in West Bengal state during this week. Maximum temperature ranged between 27.3 to 31.0°C and minimum temperature ranged between 8.6 to 17.1°C. Irrigation and intercultural operation in potato, wheat, transplanting in main field to boro rice are in progress. Potato is in tuber bulking, wheat is at Panicle initiation stage, boro rice is at seedling and mustard is at pod maturity to development stage. Low intensity of blight in potato was noticed.

In the boro nursery, add water in the evening time and drain out the same water in the morning time to warm the nursery bed. Use polythene sheet cover over night.

Light rainfall received in Himachal Pradesh state during this week. Maximum temperature during the week ranged between 10.2 to 19.6°C which was above normal by 1 to 3.0°C almost during the entire week except 5th, 6th and 7th February. The minimum temperature ranged between 1.4 to 7.5°C which was below normal by 1.0 to 4.0°C almost during the entire week except 5th January. Arranging the fodder for cattle, dairy animals, hoeing and weeding are in progress. Wheat is at tillering stage, mustard is at flowering stage and vegetables are at reproductive stage. Low intensity of late blight in potato was noticed.

Dry weather prevailed in Odisha state during this week. Maximum temperature was 2.0°C above the normal (30.0°C) and the minimum temperature was 1.3°C below normal (17.7°C). Transplanting of summer rice, topdressing of summer rice, harvesting of pulses, sugarcane, planting of sugar cane, plant protection in rabi crops like mustard, sesame, sunflower, cucurbits and okra. Sowing summer crops like groundnut, sunflower are in progress. Summer rice is at tillering to transplanting stage, planting of sugarcane, ripening stage of pea, lathyrus and bengal gram and summer groundnut flowering stage, Sunflower is at seedling stage and rabi groundnut is at harvesting stage. Below ETL intensity of aphid and powdery mildew in beans, pulses, leaf minor & leaf spot in groundnut and powdery mildew in mustard crops was noticed.

Dry weather prevailed in Kerala state during this week. The maximum temperature ranged from 34.3 to 36.2°C and minimum temperature ranged from 22.2 to 24.8°C. Ploughing in paddy fields, mulching in coconut and banana and fertilizer application in banana are in progress. Coconut and arecanut is in harvesting stage, nendran banana is 4-5 months after planting stage. Low to moderate intensity of rice bug, leaf folder, blue beetle, gundhi bug & leaf folder in paddy, root wilt, red palm weevil & rhinoceros beetle in coconut, sigatoka leaf spot, rhizome weevil & pseudostem weevil in banana and spindle bug, yellow leaf disease in arecanut was noticed.

Ploughing must be done in paddy fields. Vegetables like cow pea, bhindi, amaranthus, cucumber etc can be cultivated in paddy fields after ploughing. Irrigation should be given twice per week to retain moisture in the plantation crops.

Dry weather prevailed in Andhra Pradesh state during this week. The maximum temperature ranged from 33.0 to 35.0°C and minimum temperature ranged from 15.0 to 22.6°C. Late sown crop final pickings of cotton, transplantation of paddy under wells/bore wells, sowing of rabi crops like rice fallows black gram and rice fallow maize (zero tillage) and harvesting of sugarcane, chillies & redgram is in progress. Rabi pearl millet is at vegetative stage, red gram is at pod maturation to harvesting stage, rabi paddy is at tillering stage, cotton is at final pickings stage, rabi groundnut is at pod development stage and bengalgram is at harvesting stage. Low to moderate intensity of rice bug, leaf folder, blue beetle, gundhi bug & leaf folder in paddy, root wilt, red palm weevil & rhinoceros beetle in coconut, sigatoka leaf spot, rhizome weevil & pseudostem weevil in banana and spindle bug, yellow leaf disease in arecanut was noticed.

Dry weather prevailed in South Karnataka region of Karnataka during this week. Harvesting of red gram and chickpea and spraying in maize are in progress. Chick pea is at pod maturity to harvesting stage, maize is at tasseling to cob initiation stage and ragi is at tillering stage. Low intensity of cob borer in maize and pod borer in bengal gram were noticed.

Dry weather prevailed in North Karnataka region of Karnataka during this week. Harvesting of rabi jowar, pigeonpea, chickpea, safflower are in progress. Rabi jowar, pigeonpea, chickpea and safflower are at harvesting stage. Light intensity of leaf minor in groundnut, white wooly aphids in sugarcane and flee beetle in grape was noticed.

Light rainfall received in Haryana state during this week. The maximum temperature varied between 18.4 to 22.0°C and minimum temperature ranged between 4.2 to 13.5°C. Irrigation and top dressing of fertilizers in late sown wheat, harvesting of sugarcane, field preparation for autumn planting and irrigation, top dressing of N fertilizer in fodder crops including berseem, lucerne after regular cut, field preparation and sowing for early season vegetables like lady's finger, guar and cowpea and field preparation and sowing of cucurbit crops are in progress. Mustard in pod formation and seed development phase, sugarcane maturity to harvesting phase, wheat is at boot to anthesis stage depending upon sowing time. No major pests and diseases were noticed.

Sowing of early crop of vegetables like bhindi, guar, cowpea and cucurbits may be taken up. Sunflower sowing should also be completed as early as possible. Farmers are advised to apply 0.5% zinc sulphate in standing late wheat to correct zinc deficiency. Protect animals and poultry from cold. Supplemental mineral mixture should be given regularly to the milch and pregnant animals. Provide clean water for drinking to the animals. Keep watch for heat period in the bovine and arrange for mating accordingly. Vaccinate the animals against the foot and mouth disease. Sheep and goat should be protected against diseases. Poultry should also be looked after properly by giving sufficient protection against diseases.

Dry weather prevailed in Gujarat state during this week. Maximum temperature is lower in tune of 1.8°C and minimum temperature is higher in tune of 0.9°C. Irrigation to all the raib crops as and when needed and land preparation for summer crops are in progress. . Wheat is at dough stage, gram and mustard at maturity stage. No major pests/diseases were noticed.

Dry weather prevailed in Jammu region of Jammu & Kashmir state during this week. Both maximum and minimum temperatures remain almost normal and remain in the range of 17.6 to 20.8°C and 3.2 to 11.2°C, respectively. Top dressing of urea in normal sown wheat, under rainfed and irrigated areas as sufficient moisture is present in the soil. Transplanting of tomato, chillies, onion and brinjal crop can be done during these days. 2nd cut of oats crop, apply urea after each cut in berseem crop are in progress. Late sown wheat is at CRI stage, normal sown wheat & barley is at tillering stage, early sown wheat is at jointing stage, normal sown mustard is at flowering stage, early sown mustard is at pod formation stage and oat and berseem are at vegetative stage. Low intensity of aphids and thirps in mustard crop was noticed.

Application of nitrogenous fertilizer as top dressing in newly planted fruit plants. Prunning in grapevine, phalsa, peach and plum crop can be done during these days. Farmers can also plan for plantation of new orchards during these days.

Dry weather prevailed in Assam state during this week. The daily average maximum temperature was 26.8°C which was 3.2°C above normal and the average daily minimum temperature was 10.9°C which was 0.7°C below normal for the week. Fertilizer application and weeding of boro rice and harvesting of potato is in progress. Boro rice is at active tillering stage, rapeseed and mustard flowering to siliqua formation stage, potato is at harvesting and cole crops is at vegetative stage. No major pests/diseases were noticed.

Light rainfall received in Chhattisgarh state during this week. The area (in thousand ha) sown under different crops as under: Total cereals 416.30 (286.63, 69%), total pulses 943.14 (856.62, 91%), total oilseeds 301.71 (260.96, 86%) and total rabi crops 1852.80 (1567.44, 85%). Top dressing of N and third irrigation in wheat, need based application of insecticides in vegetables and pigeon pea and field preparation and transplanting of summer rice crops are in progress. Summer rice is at seedling stage, wheat sown during last week of December is at tillering stage, field pea, gram, mustard and safflower are at flowering and pod filling stages, linseed, lentil, toria and early sown gram are at pod filling stage, solanaceous vegetables are at fruiting stage while, crucifers are at head formation stage. Light intensity of pests/diseases like aphids in vegetables, fruit borer & white fly, leaf curling in solanaceous vegetables, grass hopper in rice and pod borer in pigeon pea & chick pea crops were noticed.

Light to moderate rainfall recorded in Northern and eastern part of Rajasthan state in early days of this week and hailstorm also reported at some places in the state during this week. The minimum temperature ranges from 4.0 to 13.6°C with mean of 7.5 °C and maximum temperature ranges from 22 to 27.2°C with mean of 24.3°C. Weeding, irrigation and fertilizer application in rabi crops, cutting of forage oats crops are in progress. Wheat is at tillering to grain development stage, opium poppy is at flowering to capsule development stage, gram is at grain development stage and mustard is at green seed to brown seed stage. Light intensity of aphids in mustard and pod borer in gram crop was noticed.

Irrigation should be done in late sown wheat and give remaining dose of N. Gram is at grain development stage so apply irrigation in gram. Give irrigation in opium poppy at 10-12 days interval. There is chance of aphids attack on late sown mustard crop so farmers are advised to spray melathion 50 EC @ 1.25 l/ha or Dimethoate 30 EC @ 1 l/ha.

Dry weather prevailed in Bihar state during this week. Maximum temperature ranged from 22.9 to 27.5°C and the minimum from 9.2 to 15.2°C. Harvesting of tobacco, irrigation in wheat, potato, maize, vegetable crops, planting of sugarcane setts and sowing of summer sown cucurbitaceous vegetables like pumpkin, cucumber, sponge gourd sweet potato and bhindi. Interculturing in onion, transplanting of summer tomato crop are in progress. Wheat is in maximum tillering to late jointing stage, potato crop is grand growth stage; maize is at knee high stage, spring planted sugarcane is in germination stage and mustard is in siliqua formation stage. No major pests/diseases were noticed.

Farmers are advised to take sowing of sweet potato: Cross 4 and Rajendra shakarkand 35 are recommended varieties for planting in this region. Bhindi: Parvani kranti, Arka abhay, Arka anamika, Barsha Uphar, KS 312, Okra 4, Punjab 7, Pant Bhind 1 are recommended varieties for sowing.