Anisur Rahman Khan :
The ongoing power, diesel and fertilizer crisis may disrupt rice production as farmers are busy now to cultivate T-Aman and spreading Aman at this moment.
Though T-Aman is dependent on rainwater many areas of the country are experiencing frequent mild to moderate heat waves without any sign of rain in this full monsoon.
According to experts, the weather has become erratic due to global rise of temperature on account of massive industrialization and emission of green house gases which are contributing to climate change.
Farmers are in tension to get smooth supply of fertilizer as the government has already suspended production of two major fertilizer factories-Jamuna Fertilizer in Jamalpur and Chittagong Urea Fertilizer.
If farmers fail to manage irrigation in this volatile weather, it may give threat to the food security as the whole world is now facing such problem due to inflation.
According to Department of Agricultural Extension (DaE), the total amount of cultivable land in the country is about 84 lakh hectares. Of them, T-Aman and spreading Aman is cultivated in about 59 lakh hectares of land.
The DaE has set a target to cultivate T-Aman and spreading Aman in 59,05900 hectares of land in this current season which started this month (July).
Meanwhile, many seedlings are dying due to the lack of irrigation as the nation passing tough times with severe heat wave and power shortage.
The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has also contributed to the problem globally as prices of gas, fuel and food items went out of the control of regular prices.
“T-Aman is cultivated in 3,88200 hectares of land and spreading Aman in over two lakh hectares of land. Normally T-Aman season begins in July and farmers continue to plant it up to August,” Benojir Alam, Director General of DaE told The New Nation on Sunday.
When asked regarding power, diesel and fertilizer crisis, he replied, “I don’t see there is any problem. T-Aman is planted only after a single irrigation. So, there is no relation with electricity.”
The DaE chief said there is some problem in Barind region for irrigation, but which is not a major problem.
Benojir Alam, however, didn’t see there is any risk of disruption of the production target.
However, the farmers’ of Barind land areas are dependent on the deep tube wells of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMD) to irrigate their lands in case of cultivation of T-Aman.
According to experts, it is needed to keep the agriculture sector free from load shedding to ensure the country’s food security.
Farmers and owners are suffering financially to operate their pumps due to the high cost of diesel and electricity for irrigation purposes.
It is necessary to remove diesel and electric run irrigation pumps and convert them to environmentally friendly solar powered irrigation machines quickly, experts opined. Though the technology is foreign and the cost of solar panels is very high, the authority concerned and entrepreneurs of this sector should think about providing panels at a low price.
