Crops, especially winter vegetables, on vast areas have been damaged by the untimely rain that washed different districts across the country in the last three days. Many growers, who were taking preparation to harvest their vegetables, now fear incurring losses. The rains damaged crops including Aman paddy, different winter vegetables, fruits, spices and pulses in fields. Usually, prices of vegetables go down in winter due to adequate production and supply. However, this winter may be different due to the damage caused by the cyclone-induced rainfall.
In Khulna, around 70 per cent of Aman paddy, cultivated on about 93,170 hectares of land, have gone under water. Moreover, different vegetables on nearly 12 hectares of land in the district have been badly affected by rainwater. Due to the stagnant water collected by the untimely rain, cultivation of the next crop is also likely to be hampered. In six districts of the Barishal division, Boro seedlings were planted on around 3,000 hectares of land. Around three percent of these seedlings would be damaged by the rainwater. Some 15,000 people in the Sundarbans area depend on fish drying for livelihood. Fish worth around Tk 2 crore has already been damaged by the rain.
The Ministry of Agriculture should extend support to the affected farmers by providing soft loans, seeds, and fertiliser at lower costs. Farmers are the forerunners of the country’s food security strides and they need support for production and market linkage to get fair prices. Despite natural disasters caused by climate change, the farmers tirelessly produce food for us. Our farming is still highly dependent on manual labour and old fashioned methods, despite revolutionary development in some areas. To achieve the national target of food and nutrition intake, a major aspect of poverty reduction, the farmers require support for adaptation to adverse weather and climatic conditions to produce more food.
