60pc of crops in cyclone-hit areas completely destroyed
Courtesy New Age 17/11/07
Sidr, one of the strongest cyclones that have devastated Bangladesh, has partially or totally damaged standing crops on around five lakh hectares of land in the south and south-western districts, causing a loss of around six lakh tonnes of food-crops, particularly the aman paddy, according to the primary assessment of the agriculture ministry.
Sixty per cent of the crops ravaged by Sidr have been completely destroyed, said observers.
The total production of aman is likely to be decreased by 16 lakh tonnes as the recent flood caused a loss of 10 lakh tonnes of food-grains this year. The government had set an optimistic target of 1,30,00,000 tonnes of aman this year.
The field-level agriculture officers have been asked to submit, within 10 days, detailed reports on damage to the crops in the areas that are under their jurisdiction.
The directives were issued after an emergency meeting on Saturday which discussed the primary assessments of crop damage with the agriculture adviser, CS Karim, in the chair.
Agriculture secretary Abdul Aziz, senior officials of the agriculture ministry, the present and three former directors-general of the Department of Agricultural Extension, among others, attended the meeting to discuss the loss of crops and also work out a post-cyclone rehabilitation plan.
‘It will take time for the authorities concerned to assess the total crop damage in terms of money. We are planning to boost boro production to compensate for the loss caused by the cyclone,’ agriculture adviser CS Karim told reporters after the meeting.
He assured the farmers that there would be no shortage of fertilisers, seeds and no irrigation crisis in the boro season. ‘We will take all measures possible to compensate for the loss in aman production.’
Cyclone Sidr on Thursday night levelled thousands of thatched and tin houses, trees and other structures in around 23 districts, caused colossal damage to standing crops there and left a trail of devastation in Barguna, Jhahalakathi, Pirojpur and Patuakhali.
The cyclone damaged standing crops of winter vegetables, oil seeds, pulses, transplanted aman paddy of local and high yielding varieties and seedbeds of boro rice on vast tracts of land. Among the damaged vegetable crops are cauliflower, radish, cabbage, lal shak, mustard seed and various varieties of pulses. Many fruit trees, mostly papaya and banana, have been flattened by the cyclonic winds that raged through the region at speeds of up to 220 km and the tidal surges that were as much a 20 feet high in some places.
It will be difficult for the ill-starred farmers, who have already been hit hard by two prolonged floods in the July-September period, to make up for the losses, according to agriculturalists.
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