Steps taken to raise rice, vegetables production to recoup flood losses

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Shakhawat Hossain
The government has taken adequate efforts to increase production of rice and vegetables to recoup the losses of the agricultural products caused by the recent flood.
Already seedbeds of aman on some 1000 acre of land have been prepared as part of the programmes so that those can be planted with the recession of floodwater, said officials of the Department of the Agricultural Extension (DAE).
The government allocated Tk 650 billion for the purpose with almost half of the amount has already been distributed among the farmers of the affected areas.
The farmers even prepared floated seedbeds in areas, which are still inundated. Besides many private firms are preparing seedbeds of high quality aman, they added.
Supervising and monitoring committees are also formed at the district levels to assist the farmers. The committees comprise of officials from local administration, DAE, bank and army.
The government has already earmarked Tk 77.00 billion agricultural loans for the current fiscal aiming at recovering the flood losses on agricultural products.
Besides, the state-owned banks, private commercial banks and foreign banks operating in the country are expected to distribute agricultural loans.
The Palli Karmasahayak Foundation (PKSF) will distribute agricultural loan through non-government organisations (NGOs) at 10 per cent interest.
According to a government assessment, the severity of this year's flood is almost half compared to that of 2004 flood. Due to 2004 deluge, the country incurred losses to the tune of US $2.0 billion. The losses in the agricultural sector were $500 million.
Crops and vegetables on some 1.4 million acres of area have been affected due to the recent floods. Of them, agricultural products on almost half of the area have been totally washed out.
The DAE officials are, however, upbeat about a good harvest of aman and early winter vegetables. They pointed out that post- flood fertile land would help the farmers grow products easily.
The government has already sought $ 150 million additional budgetary assistance from the donor countries and agencies to help achieve the projected growth rate and maintain macroeconomic stability.
It has diverted budgetary allocation equivalent to 0.8 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) to recoup the losses caused by the floods.
The government has also sought food aid from the donor agencies and countries to avert any kind of food crisis.