Flood damage to agriculture estimated at Tk 6.0b
Tuesday, 14 August 2007
FE Report
The devastating flood, which is now on the retreat, has caused damage to crops and vegetables worth about Tk 6.0 billion, according to a preliminary estimate of the ministry of agriculture
Rice crops and vegetables on an area of about 0.1 million hectares have been totally damaged by the onrushing flood waters, official sources said.
The ministry of finance (MOF) requested the ministry of agriculture to make a preliminary assessment of the damage caused to the agriculture sector to help prepare an emergency rehabilitation plan.
According to report of the agricultural ministry, crops on some 441,240 hectares were inundated by floods in 56 districts.
In the flood-hit districts, the estimated production loss of rice and vegetables would be 418,753 tonnes. The financial loss has been estimated at Tk 5.91 billion.
The production loss of rice has been estimated at 132,753 tonnes covering an area of 70,572 hectares. The loss of Aus and Aman will be 45,532 tonnes and 87,210 tonnes respectively.
The loss of jute production has been estimated at 72,141 tonnes and vegetables 171,624 tonnes.
The last time, the country faced flood in 2004.
Country's donor agencies especially the World Bank has assessed the severity of this year's flood nearly one third of that of the flood in 2004.
More than half of the country was flooded in 2004 and the damage was estimated at US$ 2.0 billion and the agriculture production loss was about $500 million.
Meanwhile, with floodwaters receding in many areas of the country, agriculture rehabilitation has emerged as one of the major challenges for the caretaker government.
The government has intensified its efforts to recoup the losses suffered by the country's agriculture sector, especially the current 'aman' crop, due to the devastating floods, official sources said.
Terming the post-flood rehabilitation a crucial task for the government, an official said: "It will deal a blow to the current aman crop unless necessary rehabilitation measures are taken."
Another MOA official said the officials from related agriculture agency are expected to sit today or tomorrow to discuss the overall flood-related losses and the government's rehabilitation programmes.
According to the Flood Monitoring Cell under the Ministry of Agriculture, the floods damaged crops on at least 310,802 hectares of land across the country.
Of the total, transplanted aman and its seedlings on 192,756 hectares and standing 'aus' crop on 46,513 hectares of land were completely damaged by the flood.
Although the floods had hit a total of 58 districts, the agricultural crops were badly affected in some 39 districts, an official told the FE.
Considering the overall situation, the Chief Adviser's office has already instructed the Ministry of Agriculture and its related agencies to take allout steps for rehabilitating the affected agriculture, said officials.
An Agriculture Ministry official said the government has initially sanctioned Tk 650 million for the rehabilitation of agriculture sector.
The said fund will be spent for distribution of agricultural inputs like seedlings and fertilisers among the flood-hit farmers, the official said.
They also mentioned that various state-run agriculture agencies have already started preparing aman seedbeds on 500 acres of land for distributing it to the affected farmers after the improvement of flood situation.
The agencies include the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), the officials added.
Moreover, the MoA will also provide seeds and other necessary supports to the farmers for the preparation of aman seedbeds on 10 acres of land in every flood-hit upazila, said the official.
Apart from that, the ministry has already directed its organisations concerned including the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) to intensify their field-level monitoring of the flood situation and the post-flood requirements of farm inputs.
The devastating flood, which is now on the retreat, has caused damage to crops and vegetables worth about Tk 6.0 billion, according to a preliminary estimate of the ministry of agriculture
Rice crops and vegetables on an area of about 0.1 million hectares have been totally damaged by the onrushing flood waters, official sources said.
The ministry of finance (MOF) requested the ministry of agriculture to make a preliminary assessment of the damage caused to the agriculture sector to help prepare an emergency rehabilitation plan.
According to report of the agricultural ministry, crops on some 441,240 hectares were inundated by floods in 56 districts.
In the flood-hit districts, the estimated production loss of rice and vegetables would be 418,753 tonnes. The financial loss has been estimated at Tk 5.91 billion.
The production loss of rice has been estimated at 132,753 tonnes covering an area of 70,572 hectares. The loss of Aus and Aman will be 45,532 tonnes and 87,210 tonnes respectively.
The loss of jute production has been estimated at 72,141 tonnes and vegetables 171,624 tonnes.
The last time, the country faced flood in 2004.
Country's donor agencies especially the World Bank has assessed the severity of this year's flood nearly one third of that of the flood in 2004.
More than half of the country was flooded in 2004 and the damage was estimated at US$ 2.0 billion and the agriculture production loss was about $500 million.
Meanwhile, with floodwaters receding in many areas of the country, agriculture rehabilitation has emerged as one of the major challenges for the caretaker government.
The government has intensified its efforts to recoup the losses suffered by the country's agriculture sector, especially the current 'aman' crop, due to the devastating floods, official sources said.
Terming the post-flood rehabilitation a crucial task for the government, an official said: "It will deal a blow to the current aman crop unless necessary rehabilitation measures are taken."
Another MOA official said the officials from related agriculture agency are expected to sit today or tomorrow to discuss the overall flood-related losses and the government's rehabilitation programmes.
According to the Flood Monitoring Cell under the Ministry of Agriculture, the floods damaged crops on at least 310,802 hectares of land across the country.
Of the total, transplanted aman and its seedlings on 192,756 hectares and standing 'aus' crop on 46,513 hectares of land were completely damaged by the flood.
Although the floods had hit a total of 58 districts, the agricultural crops were badly affected in some 39 districts, an official told the FE.
Considering the overall situation, the Chief Adviser's office has already instructed the Ministry of Agriculture and its related agencies to take allout steps for rehabilitating the affected agriculture, said officials.
An Agriculture Ministry official said the government has initially sanctioned Tk 650 million for the rehabilitation of agriculture sector.
The said fund will be spent for distribution of agricultural inputs like seedlings and fertilisers among the flood-hit farmers, the official said.
They also mentioned that various state-run agriculture agencies have already started preparing aman seedbeds on 500 acres of land for distributing it to the affected farmers after the improvement of flood situation.
The agencies include the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), the officials added.
Moreover, the MoA will also provide seeds and other necessary supports to the farmers for the preparation of aman seedbeds on 10 acres of land in every flood-hit upazila, said the official.
Apart from that, the ministry has already directed its organisations concerned including the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) to intensify their field-level monitoring of the flood situation and the post-flood requirements of farm inputs.