Severe cold and fog for the past two weeks have damaged about 35 to 40 per cent of Boro seedlings across the country. Most farmers apprehend they would not be able to cultivate Boro in the current season due to shortages of seedlings and agricultural inputs.
Many farmers told The Independent that the cold wave that has swept through the country for almost two weeks has damaged the Boro seedlings. Besides, farmers in most places are facing serious problems in getting fine seeds for their Boro crop. The cold wave and poor quality seeds have damaged almost 50 per cent of the crop on the seed beds, officials said.
As a result of the damage by the severe weather conditions, the production of the seasonal crop might fall far behind its target, a high-ranking official of the agriculture ministry said on Sunday.
The farmers usually face difficulties in harvesting Boro rice due to inclement weather, said Anwar Faruk, additional secretary (seeds) of the agriculture ministry. But the seedlings would become strong again with sunlight, he added.
The government has set a target to produce 1.80 crore metric tonnes of Boro on 47 lakh hectares of land this year. In the previous year, the country produced 1.78 crore tonnes of Boro on 46 lakh hectares of land, sources in the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) said.
Abu Mia, a farmer at Salehpur of Savar upazila in Dhaka district, lamented that 35 per cent of his Boro seedlings has been damaged by this year’s cold. “I had planned to cultivate Boro crop on five bighas of land, but now, I have to cultivate only three bighas of land due to seedling problems,” he said.
Replying to a query on agricultural inputs, he said: “I have already spent Tk. 14,000 to prepare the fields for transplanting seedlings. We are not getting adequate agricultural inputs because of the hartals and blockades.”
Noor Hossain, a fertilizer dealer, said they are not being able to transport adequate agricultural inputs at this crucial juncture for Boro cultivation as there are not enough vehicles for ferrying them.
Another farmer, Nuru Gawal of Saturia upazila in Manikganj district, said that 40 per cent of his Boro seedlings were damaged this winter. He intends to grow the Boro crop on 15 bighas of land. “Now I have to curtail land allotment for Boro cultivation due to shortage of seedlings and high price of seedlings and fertilizers,” he rued.
About 1.82 crore farmers across the country are cultivating the Boro crop. Of them, 90 lakh poor Boro growers would get cash subsidies from the government.
According to government statistics, about 40 litres of diesel are needed to irrigate a bigha of land under Boro crop. About 15.5 lakh irrigation machines will be used this Boro season. Of those, 2.7 lakh are electricity-driven and 12.8 lakh are diesel-run.
Twenty-five lakh tonnes of various fertilizers, including 20 lakh tonnes of urea, would be needed for the upcoming Boro crops, agriculture ministry sources said.
-With The Independent input
