Crops including Ropa Aman, mustard, winter vegetables, and paddy seedbeds on around 610 hectares of farmland have been damaged in the aftermath of Cyclone Midhili in Chandpur district, officials disclosed on Saturday.
Around 190 hectares of Ropa Aman, 140 hectares of mustard, 270 hectares of winter vegetables and 10 hectares of paddy seedbeds have been damaged due to the precipitation carried in by Cyclone Midhili.
Visiting various places in Chandpur’s Sadar and Faridganj upazila, it can be seen that most of the Aman paddy land went under water due to the cyclone.
Md Habib, a farmer of Sobhanpur in the Sadar upazila, was seen picking up the paddy from the water that he cut two days ago. He said that this year he cultivated Aman paddy on 3.5 acres of land spending Tk around 1 lakh. But most of the land is now under water. “I don't know what to do now”, Habib sighed.
Abdul Khalek, another farmer of Balithuba West Union of Faridganj Upazila, said that he spent about Tk50,000 and planted the BR-22 variety of rice on one acre of land. As this variety is very large in height, all the paddy has fallen to the ground due to the intense windspeeds during the cyclone.
Khalek apprehends he will suffer huge losses this year, and sought help from the government.
Deputy Director of Chandpur Agricultural Extension Department Dr Safayet Ahmad Siddiqui said that their officials are surveying the affected areas.
The extent of financial loss will be estimated as part of the survey report, he added.