Trackback URL
Download PDF The government estimates that at least six lakh metric tons of Aman crops have been damaged in Cyclone Sidr, adding to the existing food crisis.
Economists, meanwhile, have suggested that the government provides food for those affected in Thursday’s storm till harvest of the next crop which is Boro.
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials at a meeting with Agriculture Adviser CS Karim yesterday said that the cyclone has ravaged 60 percent of Aman crops standing across five lakh hectares of land in the coastal districts.
“Thursday’s storm was a huge blow to the country’s already sluggish economy. Casualties were less compared to those in the previous cyclones, but economically the losses are extensive,” an agriculture official told The Daily Star.
DAE officials told the adviser that the south and south-western districts have suffered heavy losses in vegetables, livestock, fisheries, trees and houses.
CS Karim asked the DAE to place a detailed report on agricultural losses within the next 10 days so that his ministry can place a rehabilitation proposal to the finance ministry in the light of the finds.
The government had a target of 1.30 crore metric tons of Aman yields for the current season, but at least 10 lakh metric tons had already been damaged in recent floods.
“So, we can say that loss of Aman rice this year stands at 16 lakh metric tons,” said a DAE official adding that Aman makes up 41 percent of the country’s total rice production.
The meeting decided to provide all-out assistance to farmers of Patuakhali, Barguna and Bhola for cultivation of Mug Dal (pulses) as those districts are not suitable for cultivating Boro.
Meanwhile, the food and disaster management ministry have gathered information of losses from deputy commissioners’ offices in 24 districts yesterday.
According to reports prepared by the deputy commissioners, crops on 142,176 acres of land have been damaged completely while those on 354,850 acres partially.
The reports said the cyclone has left at least 2,61,972 houses flattened while another 3,90,817 damaged to some extent.
The district officials said around 2,42,000 livestock have been killed in the storm that has razed at least 50 educational institutions and caused partial damage to another 29,991.
The deputy commissioners also reported that trees uprooted will approximate 3.45 lakh.
“The loss of trees in Thursday’s hurricane was immense,” said a government official adding, “We’ve never seen damage on such a massive scale.”
Uttam Dev, a senior research fellow at Centre for Policy Dialogue, told The Daily Star that the storm came as a total disaster for the farmers in coastal districts.
He suggested that the government widen different social safety nets and initiate rehabilitation work immediately. He said the safety nets programmes in the cyclone-ravaged areas should continue till the next harvest.
“The affected people will also face a cash crisis. The government should take measures for them to have easy access to loans,” Uttam said.
“Now all they hope for is a good yield in the next Boro harvest, and for that to happen the government must ensure timely and easy supply of seeds, diesel and fertiliser,” he observed.
Coming out of the meeting, Adviser CS Karim told reporters that the government would concentrate all its efforts on Boro and Aus cultivation.
“We will have to ensure that there will be no crisis of fertiliser, seeds and irrigation during the next Boro and Aus seasons,” he added.
Our Patuakhali correspondent adds: The District Agricultural Department has estimated crops loss to be worth around Tk 50 crore while losses of trees and fish were valued at Tk 200 crore.
A district agricultural official said they fear that almost two-thirds of the Aman paddies have been lost in the storm.
Comments are not moderated and only expresses personal views of visitors. BangladeshNews.com.bd is not responsible for commets posted by visitors.
Leave a Reply