Extensive damage to farm sector feared due to floods

Farmers, agriculturists and officials fear extensive agricultural damage in the current flooding that has already inundated nearly 0.1 million hectares of cropland in southern and southeastern districts.
Their prognosis is stoked up by onrush of hill waters from beyond borders and frequent rain the country has been witnessing for the last few days under the influence of a cyclone.  
The cyclonic storm Komen from the Bay of Bengal made a landfall through Chittagong, triggering incessant rain that submerged farmlands.
As cataclysmic raining also deluged low-lying parts of the neighbouring countries, barge of waters kept rolling down the common rivers and the flooding took a turn for the worse, experts said.           
The sources said the situation could worsen further in the coming days for the onrush of hill waters coupled with rain.
Seasonal Aus paddies, Aman seedbeds, vegetables, flower gardens, ginger fields and shrimp enclosures (ghers) witnessed severe damage by the floods, according to the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) and the Department of Fisheries (DoF).
Locals said fishes from many pisciculture ponds in Rajshahi, where fish farming expanded to a great extent, were washed away as swelling water burst their banks.                
Officials and farmers, however, said if the ongoing flood situation deteriorated further or remained static for the next several days, then it would take a heavy toll on the ongoing Aus and Aman plants.  
The monsoon rain, intensified by the recent cyclone, caused floods in Bandarban, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Noakhali, Feni, Laxmipur, Khulna, Bagerhat, Bhola, Patuakhali, Barguna and some parts of Jessore.
Farming and other business activities have totally been halted for the flooding in those areas, as many remained virtually marooned.
According to the regional offices of DAE in Chittagong, Chittagong Hill Tracts, Barisal and Jessore more than 0.115 million hectares of cropland were inundated by the flood which might cause severe damage if water doesn't recede in next few days.
The Department of Fisheries said nearly 2,000 hectares of shrimp ghers (enclosures) have been affected badly by the flood onslaughts in Khulna and Bagerhat districts.
Chittagong region that includes Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Noakhali, Feni and Laxmipur was worst hit, with nearly 66,000 hectares of cropland submerged.
Additional director of DAE, Chittagong Region, Md Mujibur Rahman said 38,961 hectares of Aus fields, 16182 hectares of Aman seedbeds, 6483 hectares of Transplanted Aman, and 4871 hectares of vegetable fields have been flooded in the five districts that fell under the eye of the storm.
He said the highest 24,361 hectares of Aus land got submerged in Chittagong district-close by the sea.
The inundation might cause severe damage if water doesn't move in next four or five days.
AKM Harun-ur-Rashid, additional director of DAE, Chittagong Hill Tracts Region, told the FE that more than 10,000 hectares of T-Aman, Aman seedbeds, Aus, ginger fields have gone under water in Bandarban hill district in last seven days.
An official at the DAE, Barisal Region, told the FE over cell phone that nearly 22,000 hectares of Aman seedbed and Aus crops have gone under water in Patuakhlai, Bhola and Barguna districts.
"But the water is in a falling trend. If it falls in next two days, it would rather help in increasing production of rice and upcoming vegetables," said additional director of the DAE Abdul Aziz Farazi.
Nearly 500 hectares of flower gardens in Gadkhali under Jhikargacha in Jessore have been severely damaged by the floods as the Kopataksha Nod (the river Kobadak) started flowing over the danger mark.
Md  Sher Ali Sarder, a pioneer in commercial flower gardening in the country and flower farmer at Gadkhali, said farmers in twenty villages in his area incurred huge losses due to the flooding.
An official at DoF told the FE that nearly 2,000 hectares of shrimp ghers have seriously been affected by rainwater.
He said ghers in Khulna and Bagerhat witnessed losses worth Tk1.0 billion for the floods.
Dr Jibon Krishna Biswas, a rice scientist and director-general of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), said Aus crop is now in her tillering and butting stages in many places.
The areas where Aus is in her flowering stage may witness a damage, he said.    
"But, if the water recedes from the farmlands in next some days, then the production of rice or vegetables will increase significantly," he said, about a blessing in disguise in the bane.
He said the DAE should start its activities immediately to help farmers make Aman seedbeds again.
However, the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre (FFWC) in its latest observation at 6:00pm Sunday said water in 50 rivers increased and declined in 32 others on the day while two rivers in three places were flowing above the danger level. The rivers in spate include Kobadak and Sangu.
Its data also showed water falling down in the Brahmaputra-Jamuna basin but was in a rising trend in the Ganges-Padma twin.
The Met Office predicted light-to-moderate rain/thundershower may occur at most places over Khulna, Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka and Rajshahi divisions and at many places over Rangpur and Sylhet divisions with "moderately heavy to heavy falls".
It said the rainfall also declined in many places, including Cox's Bazar,Chittagong, Feni and Bandarban, on Sunday compared to that of Saturday.
The fall in rainfall indicates "an improvement in flood condition", said the Met office.
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