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Download PDF The agriculture ministry has approved a fund of Tk 69 crore for immediate distribution in the first phase of its rehabilitation programmes to recover from agricultural damage caused by cyclone Sidr.
The ministry has also prepared four alternative programmes for rehabilitation in the second and third phases with the highest fund of Tk 371 crore.
Ministry sources said considering the cultivation season of Boro, vegetables and betel leaf, the Tk 69-crore fund will be distributed among farmers within 10 days.
This rehabilitation programme includes 39,700 hectares of land and distribution of 1,300 tonnes of seed and 9,588 tonnes of fertiliser.
“The ministry will provide seeds, fertilisers and irrigation to the affected farmers of 29 cyclone-hit districts under the three-phase rehabilitation programmes,” said a high official of the ministry.
He said the supports would be given to the farmers for cultivation of Boro, Aush, wheat, maize, beans and vegetables.
“We will consult the NGOs and banks to learn about their programmes for the cyclone victims, before finalising it,” a source said.
The agriculture ministry, Bangladesh Bank and NGOs will take a coordinated rehabilitation programme for equitable distribution of funds among the Sidr victims.
The sources said the ministry has already prepared a policy for distribution and management of assistance.
One of the draft rehabilitation programmes says the government will provide financial support to farmers for cultivation of 3.35 lakh hectares of land. “It will need Tk 371 crore,” added a source.
To implement the second programme, Tk 266 crore will be needed to provide support for cultivation of 2.27 lakh hectares of land.
The third programme requires Tk 204 crore for supports to farmers for cultivation of 1.72 lakh hectares of land. As per the fourth programme, the government will provide support for cultivation on 1.3 lakh hectare of land at the cost of Tk 156 crore.
According to the government plan, each farmer of badly affected four districts — Barguna, Patuakhali, Bagerhat and Pirojpur — will get financial support for cultivation on a maximum of three bighas of land.
The rehabilitation programmes also say each farmer of 25 cyclone-hit districts will get support for cultivation of paddy and other crops on highest one bigha of land.
Besides, the farmers will get support for cultivation of vegetables on highest three decimals of land.
Farmers will also get Tk 1,389 against per bigha for cultivation of high yielding variety of Boro paddy, while Tk 1,916 will be provided for cultivation of hybrid type of Boro.
The ministry sources said the farmers will get Tk 1,331 and Tk 2,138 per bigha for cultivation of Aush and maize.
Earlier on Sunday, the agriculture ministry held a meeting with NGOs on rehabilitation programmes, while the Bangladesh Bank governor visited Barisal the same day to urge local bankers for distributing loans to the victim farmers.
The central bank governor is scheduled to make a similar visit to Khulna today.
The government had earlier provided Tk 106 crore for rehabilitation of agriculture sector after the floods.
The agriculture ministry in its estimation has found that six lakh tonnes of Aman paddy has been damaged in the recent cyclone. The total loss of Aman paddy in the current year is about 14 lakh tonnes due to floods and the cyclone.
The government officials said at least 31 lakh tonnes of rice will have to be imported to meet local demand, while the last year’s import was 24 lakh tonnes.
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