Hundreds of thousands of farmers are losing sleep over the extensive damage to their crops caused by floods that hit Jamalpur in multiple phases this year.
This year the prolonged flood situation, lasting over a month in the district, has caused severe damage to agriculture in seven upazilas of the district.
The agriculture department has finally managed to assess this year’s damage on standing crops as floodwaters have receded from homesteads, roads and croplands across the region.
According to official data, a total of 26,206 hectares of Aman seedbed, Aush, jute, vegetables, maize, sugarcane, pepper, banana, sesame, nuts among other crops in 677 villages under 59 unions of 7 upazilas, including Islampur, Dewanganj, Madarganj, Melandah, Sarishabari, Bakshiganj and Sadar were damaged.
15,492 hectares have been completely damaged and the remaining 10,714 hectares have been partially damaged.
The damaged croplands include 2,092 hectares of Aman seedbed, 4,288 hectares of Aush, 7,044 hectares of jute, 1,838 hectares of vegetables, 10 hectares of maize as well as pepper, sugarcane, banana, sesame and nuts.
According to official data, a total of 190,027 farmers have suffered a loss of over Tk140 crore in standing crops because of this year’s floods.
Siddique Mandal, Waz Uddin, Shamsul Haque, Abdur Rahman of Islampur Upazila, Abdul Karim Miya, Julhas Miya, Abdul Majid Sheikh and Mohsin Mollah of Dewanganj upazila expressed grave disappointment and despair at suffering extreme losses.
Many affected farmers have bemoaned the lack of government support and demanded immediate government assistance to help them make up for the losses.
Meanwhile, other affected farmers of the area, in spite of all the hardships, have begun cultivating again to make a fresh beginning.
The district agriculture department has set a target of preparing 6,300 hectares of Aman seedbed by combining past and present Aman saplings. 72% of the sapling plantation has already been completed. If there is no new flood, the affected farmers will be able to recover their losses.
Md Aminul Islam, deputy director, Department of Agriculture Extension in Jamalpur, said: “Due to the flood situation lasting over a month in Jamalpur, standing crops on 15,492 hectares have completely been damaged. Moreover, the overall losses incurred by a total of 190,027 farmers have been estimated to be over Tk140 crore.
“However, planting of Aman seedlings have already begun on 6,300 hectares of land. Weather permitting, the farmers will be able to turn their losses around.”
