Agriculture officials and farmers in the southern region, including Barguna district, fear that they will not be able to achieve the target of Aman cultivation this year due to seed shortage, caused by heavy downpour.
Farmers say that much cropland will remain uncultivated even after preparing the fields. The scarcity of seeds and high prices have raised concerns about the cultivation of Aman, the main crop of the coastal district of Barguna.
Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) officials in the district have said that it will not be possible to achieve the target of Aman this season.
The seed shortage has occurred in Barguna as the seedbeds were damaged due to waterlogging brought on by ceaseless rains.
According to data from the District Water Development Board, some 477mm of rain was recorded in Barguna during the last week of July. Apart from this, about 100mm of rain in August flooded the Aman seedbeds and destroyed the seedlings.
Farmers said that those who had built seedbeds on high land could save their seedlings. Many people are buying those seedlings. However, the price of rice seeds is at least Tk200 per kg in the local market. As a result, poor farmers are in trouble due to the loss of seedlings.
The Deputy Director of Barguna District DAE Office, Abu Syed Jobaidul Alam, said this year all the seedbeds of Aman were submerged due to the floods caused by continuous rains. Almost all seedlings have been destroyed.
He said: "Aman is the main crop of Barguna farmers. But it will not be possible to achieve our target.”
According to the DAE, the main crop of the farmers in the coastal area is Ropa Aman. The government helps the farmers with seeds.
Around 55% of Barguna's land is cultivated with three high-yielding rice varieties -- BR, Bri and Bina. Apart from the three, other local varieties are planted in the remaining 45% of the land.
The target for Aman cultivation was 980,800 hectares of land in Barguna this year.
Among them, 25,400 hectares were in Barguna Sadar, 23,371 in Amtali, 16,827 hectares in Patharghata, 16,230 in Taltali, 10,692 in Betagi, and 6,330 in Baman Upazila. Hybrid, high-yielding and local varieties of Aman are reported to be cultivated in these lands.
