The government's post-flood rehabilitation programme will bring 'nothing significant' for the farmers, as less than one per cent of the affected growers have been brought under the coverage of special arrangements, opine experts.
The agriculture sector experts termed the scenario 'ridiculous', saying the apathy showed towards the affected farmers by excluding the majority of them would cause a massive blow to agro production.
The state-run Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) data revealed that 1.35 million farmers were hit by the three-week flood from August 15 to September 5.
The data also showed that nearly 0.267 million hectares of land with Aman, Aush and vegetables were inundated in 24 districts, of which crops on 0.152 million hectares were damaged completely.
The total damage of crops was estimated at Tk 1.59 billion, according to the ministry of agriculture (MoA) officials.
But MoA has set a target of providing seed incentive to only 1,083 farmers (0.08 per cent of the total affected growers) for their 144.5 hectares (1,083 bighas) of land under its post-flood rehabilitation programme.
The decision was made a few days back in the ministry, and the DAE officials have been asked to distribute seeds of high-yielding local varieties like BR-11, 22, 23, BRRIdhan 34, 46, Bina-16, and indigenous varieties like Ganjhia, Malsia, Joldhapa, Najirshail and Binashail, based on different agro-ecological regions, an official said.
He said the farmers of Bogra, Sirajganj, Jamalpur, Kurigram and Sunamganj will get the seed incentive.
When asked, farm economist Golam Hafiz Kennedy said it is nothing but a mockery.
"Thousands of farmers are struggling to collect Aman seedlings across the flood-affected 26 districts. A number of the Aush farmers witnessed total loss, as their crops were damaged at matured stage."
"Aman production, which has been showing gradual growth for the last few years, may be hampered this year for the government's apathy. To keep the production growth of Aman steady, the farmers should be given necessary incentives," he also said.
The farmers may shift to early winter vegetables, if they do not get necessary inputs in time, he added.
When asked, joint secretary of MoA (Extension Wing) Md Mosharraf Hossain told the FE that they have prepared the list of farmers following field-level assessments.
"We have so far decided to provide seeds at free of cost to those farmers, and will gradually help others also, if necessary," he said.
The DAE data showed that the flood caused massive damage to crops, including Aman, Aush, vegetables, sugarcane, jute, chili and maize.
The Aman farmers have counted the total loss worth Tk 14.16 billion, followed by vegetables Tk 1.34 billion, and Aush Tk 413 million, according to DAE.
The country produced an all-time-high 34.365 million tonnes of rice in FY 14, 1.68 per cent up compared to that of FY 13. Aman production also witnessed a record of 13.032 million tonnes in FY 14.
The country has set a target to get 13.4 million tonnes of rice from Aman season in FY 15.
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