Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) has started assessing the total loss of crops caused by nor'wester (locally known as Kal Baishakhi) recently.
Primary assessment showed that 10 to 20 per cent of crops, including cereal, vegetable and fruits were damaged as violent storms swept 10 districts of the country in a week.
The recent storms have not only wreaked havoc on crops in the country, but also left 30 people dead and few hundreds injured in the districts, according to Emergency Response and Communication Centre (ERCC) under Department of Disaster Management (DoDM).
The ERCC data showed that Kal Baishakhi killed 19 people at 12 upazilas of Bogra district.
Violent winds of over 70 kilometres per hour (kmph) with hailstorms hit Gaibandha, Bogra, Jamalpur, Kushtia, Sirajganj, Pabna, Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Jhenidah and Chuadanga, causing damage to houses, crops, shops and uprooting numerous trees in the districts.
Md Rafiqul Hasan, Director of Field Service Wing under DAE, told the FE that DAE has started assessing the losses which will be disclosed sometime later of this month.
"We are predicting that Kal Baishakhi will continue for some more days," he said.
Storms haven't caused much damage to Boro crop, but banana, papaya, mango and litchi growers have incurred huge losses in few districts.
"Rain, however, has helped Boro crop in the context of the whole country," he said.
Another official at the monitoring unit under DAE said primary field reports showed that storms caused damage to 10 per cent of crops in Gaibandha and Sirajganj while 20 per cent in Kushtia, Jamalpur and Bogra where farmers and extension workers are working together to cope with the losses.
According to DAE, Boro has been cultivated on 4.84 million hectares of land this year and the production target has been fixed at 18.9 million tonnes.
Last year the country yielded a record of 19.0 million tonnes from 4.78 million hectares of land.
Deputy director of DAE, Kushtia district Kinkar Chandra Das told the FE over cell phone that crops, including rice, maize, vegetables and chilli on nearly 5,000 hectares of land have been totally damaged due to hailstorms that hit the district on April 5.
He said Boro on 1,100 hectares of land and maize on 2,250 hectares of land had been destroyed by Kal Baishakhi.
Apart from crops and three people, hundreds of birds of different species were killed by the hailstorms, he added.
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Nor\\\'wester damages 20pc crops in 10 dists
Yasir Wardad | Published: April 10, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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