Potato cultivation hampered in Rajshahi
Friday, 22 January 2010
Our Correspondent
RAJSHAHI, Jan 21: Hundreds of Potato farmers of Rajshahi district are worried not to get a good yield due to bitter cold, low-quality seeds and adulterated insecticides.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources, in the current season the target of potato cultivation has been fixed at 31,500 hectares of land in the district. But the actual cultivation has already surpassed the target.
Farmers said, due to lingering cold wave and fog, the smooth growth of potato plant was being hampered. The stem and root of the plant were being severely damaged by a virulent form of virus commonly known as late blight disease.
Even application of various insecticides and pesticides were yielding no results, they complained.
Nazimuddin Shaikh, Abdur Rahim and Amzad of Saronjoy village under Tanore Thana informed that, not only adulterated insecticides were posing a threat to their potato crops but also low quality seeds they had purchased from ACI and Phoenix companies were also a major cause of damage of potato plants.
They further said, nearly cent per cent of plants that had sprouted from both types of seeds of that company had been affected by the virus. As a result, farmers were incurring a huge loss.
The farmers have demanded compensation from the companies from where they had purchased those seeds and insecticides.
RAJSHAHI, Jan 21: Hundreds of Potato farmers of Rajshahi district are worried not to get a good yield due to bitter cold, low-quality seeds and adulterated insecticides.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) sources, in the current season the target of potato cultivation has been fixed at 31,500 hectares of land in the district. But the actual cultivation has already surpassed the target.
Farmers said, due to lingering cold wave and fog, the smooth growth of potato plant was being hampered. The stem and root of the plant were being severely damaged by a virulent form of virus commonly known as late blight disease.
Even application of various insecticides and pesticides were yielding no results, they complained.
Nazimuddin Shaikh, Abdur Rahim and Amzad of Saronjoy village under Tanore Thana informed that, not only adulterated insecticides were posing a threat to their potato crops but also low quality seeds they had purchased from ACI and Phoenix companies were also a major cause of damage of potato plants.
They further said, nearly cent per cent of plants that had sprouted from both types of seeds of that company had been affected by the virus. As a result, farmers were incurring a huge loss.
The farmers have demanded compensation from the companies from where they had purchased those seeds and insecticides.