Torrential rainfall, flash floods, and hill runoff have caused extensive damage to the agriculture sector across five districts in Chittagong Division. Standing Aus paddy, Aman seedbeds, summer vegetables, betel leaf plantations, ginger, turmeric, and horticultural crops have all been submerged by floodwaters.
According to preliminary estimates by Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Aus paddy on 12,743.1 hectares of land has been affected by the disaster. Aus paddy was cultivated on 54,489.5 hectares of land across the five districts.
The DAE said the damage has been reported in the districts of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, and Bandarban.
Chittagong suffered the worst damage. Of its 30,022.5 hectares of Aus cultivation, crops on 9,043.5 hectares were damaged. In Cox's Bazar, 2,620 hectares of the 3,450 hectares under Aus cultivation were affected.
In Rangamati, 717 hectares of the 7,574 hectares under cultivation were damaged, while Khagrachhari recorded damage to 138 hectares out of 2,520 hectares. In Bandarban, 224.6 hectares of the 10,923 hectares under Aus cultivation were affected.
The floods also caused significant losses to Aman seedbeds. Of the 5,066.67 hectares of Aman seedbeds across the five districts, 1,812.16 hectares were damaged.
In Chittagong, 960.66 hectares of the district's 2,721.67 hectares of Aman seedbeds were affected. Cox's Bazar reported damage to 470 hectares out of 895 hectares, Rangamati 158 hectares out of 420 hectares, Khagrachhari 202 hectares out of 910 hectares, and Bandarban 21.5 hectares out of 120.9 hectares.
Summer vegetables have suffered the greatest impact from the ongoing floods. Of the 31,664.65 hectares under summer vegetable cultivation in the five districts, at least 2,594.17 hectares have been affected.
In Chittagong, crops on 907 hectares of the district's 17,828.65 hectares of summer vegetable fields were damaged. Cox's Bazar recorded losses on 955 hectares out of 2,510 hectares, Rangamati 987 hectares out of 3,235 hectares, Khagrachhari 143 hectares out of 4,085 hectares, and Bandarban 450.1 hectares out of 4,006 hectares.
Betel leaf plantations also sustained considerable damage in Cox's Bazar, where 156 hectares of the district's 3,065 hectares of betel leaf gardens were affected.
The three hill districts also reported losses to ginger, turmeric, and horticultural crops. Preliminary estimates show that 651.1 hectares of the 3,971 hectares under turmeric cultivation were damaged. In addition, 240 hectares of the 36,987 hectares of horticultural crops were affected.
According to the DAE, thousands of farmers in Cox's Bazar alone have suffered losses. The district recorded damage affecting 20,960 farmers cultivating Aus paddy, 5,640 farmers with Aman seedbeds, 14,325 farmers growing vegetables, and 3,120 farmers engaged in betel leaf cultivation.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, Deputy Director of the Department of Agricultural Extension's Chittagong Region, said the flash floods triggered by continuous heavy rainfall had caused extensive crop losses.
"We are still collecting damage data. Detailed information is not yet available from many areas because waterlogging persists and communication remains disrupted. A comprehensive damage assessment report will be prepared once data collection is complete," he said.
