The Aman paddy, along with various winter vegetables in Thakurgaon, were damaged by the Cyclone ‘Dana’ as the gusty wind created by the storm battered the crop fields of the area.
There has been light rain in Thakurgaon since Thursday night. The rain, along with strong winds, has damaged the Aman paddy. Additionally, early winter vegetables have also been affected. To help mitigate these natural damages, the district Department of Agricultural Extension is providing various advice to the farmers.
When this correspondent visited the area, it was seen that ripe and semi-ripe crops in many farm land have been damaged due to the rain and wind, causing the plants to be flattened into the soil. Additionally, there are growing concerns that the fields of early winter vegetables may also be affected.
The sources from district Department of Agricultural Extension said this year, Aman paddy was cultivated on 137,560 hectares of land across five upazilas in the district. Among them, various early varieties of paddy were planted in approximately 15,000 hectares of land. Additionally, early potatoes and other vegetables were grown on 5,000 hectares of land.
Farmer Hamidur Rahman from Paikpara village in Thakurgaon sadar said the paddy was damaged due to rain and gusty wind, especially the paddy in the low-lying land. I used to get 30 mounds of paddy from each bigha of land. However, now I think I would not get even 10 mounds of paddy. The paddy on higher land are still doing well though. We hope that if the rain stops, the extent of the damage will be reduced.
A farmer named Nazrul Islam said untimely storms and rain cause significant losses for farmers. Crops like potatoes and other vegetables may start to rot, and radish field are waterlogged. This situation could lead to an increase in vegetable prices in the market.
Abul Kalam, a farmer from Baliadangi upazila, said I've already sown some early potatoes and was preparing to plant more. But with this unexpected rain, I'm now worried about the potatoes already in the ground.As the rain has made the soil too moist, I've had to delay planting for a few more days. On top of that, the price of potato seeds prices this are Tk 20 to Tk 25 higher per kilogram compared to last year, which made potato farming a big risk for me.
Md Sirajul Islam, Deputy Director of Thakurgaon Department of Agricultural Extension, said the paddy in the low-lying areas were damaged due to the rain. The amount is not that great though. It would not affect the paddy production. And there would not be much damage to the agricultural sector in Thakurgaon if there is no rain or gusty wind. We are advising the farmers to cut the damaged crop soon. We also advised them to quickly remove the water from the vegetable fields.
