Shorter monsoon will be favourable for Aman crop
Shakhawat Hossain | Tuesday, 3 June 2008
The annual monsoon that will set all over the country late this month will be shorter and favourable for cultivation of major Aman crop, said a weather expert.
"The monsoon will be fully active from the third week of this month," said Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) director Sujit Dev Sharma.
The monsoon that brings about 80 per cent of the country's annual rainfall has just set in southeastern Chittagong and will advance all over the country by the next three weeks.
"It will be a shorter one as its presence will not surpass 90 days," Sharma said.
He said: "A shorter monsoon means a slim chance of a major flood. And it will be good for the Aman crop."
Aman is the second largest rice crop after Boro that accounts for more than 40 per cent of total annual production.
The agricultural ministry has already taken initiatives to raise cultivation of Aman paddy for building food security following price hike of food grains globally.
"A good Aman production will be an added advantage for the country after the bumper Boro harvest," said a senior official of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
It will boost the country's food stock and make the country less dependent on import, he said.
The country's private sector imported rice worth US$ 721 million until March 27 after the loss of about 3.0 million tonnes of Aman paddy due to two floods and cyclone Sidr during July-November period of the last year.
The official said farmers are now busy preparing their fields for cultivation of Aman paddy in the coming season.
Sharma said the country has already experienced moderate-to-heavy rainfall twice during the past seven days as a consequence of 'interaction between easterly and westerly winds'.
But monsoon wind comes from the Bay of Bengal and it flows generally until September.
An extension of the monsoon causes prolonged flood in many low-lying areas of the country, he said.
In 1998, monsoon season lasted nearly 120 days setting off worst flooding in decades. The deluge killed 918 people and destroyed an estimated 2.2 million tonnes of rice. The Asian Development Bank estimated the economic losses at $3.5 billion.
"The monsoon will be fully active from the third week of this month," said Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD) director Sujit Dev Sharma.
The monsoon that brings about 80 per cent of the country's annual rainfall has just set in southeastern Chittagong and will advance all over the country by the next three weeks.
"It will be a shorter one as its presence will not surpass 90 days," Sharma said.
He said: "A shorter monsoon means a slim chance of a major flood. And it will be good for the Aman crop."
Aman is the second largest rice crop after Boro that accounts for more than 40 per cent of total annual production.
The agricultural ministry has already taken initiatives to raise cultivation of Aman paddy for building food security following price hike of food grains globally.
"A good Aman production will be an added advantage for the country after the bumper Boro harvest," said a senior official of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE).
It will boost the country's food stock and make the country less dependent on import, he said.
The country's private sector imported rice worth US$ 721 million until March 27 after the loss of about 3.0 million tonnes of Aman paddy due to two floods and cyclone Sidr during July-November period of the last year.
The official said farmers are now busy preparing their fields for cultivation of Aman paddy in the coming season.
Sharma said the country has already experienced moderate-to-heavy rainfall twice during the past seven days as a consequence of 'interaction between easterly and westerly winds'.
But monsoon wind comes from the Bay of Bengal and it flows generally until September.
An extension of the monsoon causes prolonged flood in many low-lying areas of the country, he said.
In 1998, monsoon season lasted nearly 120 days setting off worst flooding in decades. The deluge killed 918 people and destroyed an estimated 2.2 million tonnes of rice. The Asian Development Bank estimated the economic losses at $3.5 billion.