Cold wave, fog wreak havoc on agriculture

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Jasim Uddin Haroon
The ongoing severe cold wave and dense fog sweeping across the country have wreak havoc on the cultivation of potato, winter vegetables and Boro paddy, agricultural experts said.
The four to five-day cold spell is likely to impact the prices of vegetables in the kitchen markets, they hinted.
They said Boro saplings might wilt in the severe cold and fog-induced fungal attack might reduce output of potato and winter vegetables especially, pumpkins and cauliflowers.
MA Hamid, liaison scientist of the IRRI in Dhaka office, told the FE: "The onslaught of the cold and fog will definitely affect the Boro saplings and winter vegetables."
He said, "We are hardly left with any option, but to surrender to nature, he added.
The Boro production target for the 2009-10 fiscal has been set at 19.0 million tonnes, 6.7 per cent higher than that of the last year.
At least 4.8 million hectares of land will be brought under Boro cultivation this fiscal, department of agriculture extension said.
Referring to such severe cold in the past in Gazipur, Mr Hamid said around 15 per cent of Boro saplings perished in 1998. This year it will be no different in the country's northern belts."
Z Karim, chairman of Caseed, a non-profit private research organisation, said pumpkin production will suffer to a great extent due to the cold and fog.
He said the price of pumpkins have already surged in the market.
Mr Karim, a former secretary, said farmers now will have to wait until the temperature rises saying, "Late cultivation will yield poor production."