Crops worth Tk 724 cr washes away due to heavy rains, landslides in only 15 days

Heavy rains and landslides in 17 districts caused damage to crops worth Tk 724 crore, revealed Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) under ministry of agriculture in a report on Wednesday.

Around 2,83,000 farmers were affected in 15 days ranged between August 3 and August 17.  Moreover, 2,32,000 metric tonnes of crops have been damaged.

Since vegetables have suffered the most damage, out of a total of 45,192 hectares of summer vegetables, 9,620 hectares of vegetables were completely washed away, which is 21.29 percent of the total vegetable cultivation in the affected 17 districts. 

The amount of damaged vegetables is 1,66,000 tonnes with a value of Tk 488,34,00,000.

Other crops affected include 20,946 tonnes of Aush paddy on 5,956 hectares of land worth Tk 56 crores. Moreover, 43,859 tonnes of Ropa Aman paddy on 13,044 hectares of land worth about Tk 150 crores also damaged.

In addition, 784 tonnes of ginger worth Tk 8,20,00,000 on 61 hectares of land, around 277 tonnes of turmeric worth Tk 40 crore on 63 hectares of land and 154 tonnes of Aman seedbed on 3,588 hectares of land have been completely damaged which valued at Tk 18,20,00,000.

As many as 8,403 hectares have been completely damaged among 59,568 hectares of partial damage. The 8,403 hectares‍‍` complete damage took the tally of devastated land to 32,332 hectares, which is 3 percent of the total cultivated land in 17 districts.

Additional Director of the Field Service Wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Md. Ashraf Uddin told TheReport.Live, “A proposal has been sent to the ministry to provide free seeds and fertilizers to the affected Ropa Amon farmers. This time, this incentive will be provided to the affected farmers of 7 districts of Chittagong division."

However, he acknowledged that it was not possible to support farmers of other crops right now. He expressed shared government‍‍`s plan to give incentives to rest of the affected farmers at the beginning of the winter season.

Bandarban district was the worst affected as crop worth Tk 310,73,00,000 damaged in this district. Chittagong is standing next with Tk 184,15,00,000 worth damage, followed by Cox‍‍`s Bazar Tk 65,76,00,000, Rangamati Tk 61 crore, Lakshmipur Tk 16,90,00,000 and Khagrachari Tk 11 crore.

Meteorologists said that the pattern of rain this year is different from others. Therefore, even though 15 days of damage has been calculated, there is a possibility of a huge damage. The specialists also warned of heavy rain as well as sudden floods and also advised to prepare for that. 

Abdul Mannan, Meteorologist of Bangladesh Meteorological Department said, “Monsoon wind will put us at risk of rain. Now it started raining again. There is a possibility of heavy rainfall in Chittagong region.”

He referred that the climate is behaving differently. This year‍‍`s rainfall pattern was different from previous years as heavy rain has been observed nationwide which has not been seen before. 

Earlier, if there was heavy rain in any area, it would not happen in other places, he added. 

"It will not be surprising if the sudden floods that have been witnessed in hilly districts due to landslides also cause floods in the plain lands in the future," Abdul Mannan warned and urged the concerned stakeholders to be prepared.