Blast disease attacks Boro paddy in Moulvibazar, Sunamganj

A good number of farmers in Moulvibazar and Sunamganj districts are worried as blast disease attacked their standing Boro paddy, which were about to be harvested in a fortnight.

DAE officials, however, claimed that they had asked the farmers not to cultivate the BRI-28 variety in this region, especially on the haors.

Farmers of 6 villages of Srimangal upazila of Moulvibazar yesterday (Saturday) staged a human chain and press conference at the upazila town demanding government assistance for the crop damage.

They alleged some of the private seed stores allured them claiming the seeds as high yielding varieties. But, it was not that, they added, several hundred acres of land at Isbapur, Noagaon, Rajapur, Uttar Bharaura, Lamua villages had dried up. Boro paddy of the haors is the prime source of income of the huge farmers, they noted.

Farmer Zobayer Mia of the Hail haor area of Srimangal said that the farmers are at a risk of huge loss for cultivating the BRI-28 variety. He had to spend Taka 75,000 for cultivating 12 bighas of land.

Landless farmer at Noagaon said that he had cultivated BRI-28 paddy on rented 7 bighas.

Some farmers alleged that almost 90 per cent of the paddy sheaves are already dried up (locally called chita) by now. The farmers are now compelled to harvest the plants for cow feed only.

Such reports are there from Sadar, Tahirpur, Shulla, Madhyanagar and Dhrmapasha upazilas of Sunamganj.

Contacted, Deputy Director at the Sylhet Divisional office of DAE Khoyer Uddin Molla admitted the blast attack. But, the official claimed the farmers were earlier advised not to cultivate BRI-28, but it was ignored by many.

The farmers had been advised to spray some anti-bacterial doses.

Meanwhile, UNB adds: The farmers in Sunamganj's Tahirpur upazila are facing great distress due to an outbreak of the blast disease, a common fungal infection that has severely impacted their harvest during the cultivation season.

The disease has been widespread in Bri-28 and Bri-81 rice varieties, leading to significant losses for farmers in the Haor Par region.

This year, paddy was cultivated on approximately 18,600 hectares of land in 23 small and large haors of the upazila, with high yielding paddy being predominantly cultivated.

The agriculture department has reported that the spread of the disease in Bri-28 paddy is due to the temperature, which is hot during the day and cold at night.

As a result, farmers such as Nilu Das, who harvested paddy on 11 hectares of land in Matian Haor Par, have had to deal with a loss of yield in their Bri-28 paddy.

Similarly, Abul Kashem, a farmer from Surjergaon, has lost crops from the Bri-81 paddy cultivated on 6 hectares of land.

White to grey-green lesions can be seen in the sheaf of paddy when it's time to be ripened, they said.

Despite the farmers spraying fungicides on the agriculture department's advice, there has been little improvement.

Asaduzzaman, the Upazila Deputy Assistant Plant Conservation Officer, said they have given advice to a lot of farmers, and some of them have benefited while others haven't.

Hasan-ud-Daula, Tahirpur Upazila Agriculture Officer, said they have advised the farmers not to harvest Bri-28.

"But in many cases, farmers didn't follow it (advice). Our Sub-Assistant Agriculture Officers keep farmers informed and provide guidance.," he said.

Suprabhat Chakma, the UNO of Tahirpur upazila, has witnessed the blast disease affecting some agricultural lands in Haors/ssk and has directed the agriculture officer to take necessary action.

Blast disease, also known as rice rotten neck, is a fungal infection that can affect all above-ground parts of a rice plant, including the leaf, collar, node, neck, panicle parts, and sometimes the leaf sheath. The initial signs of the disease are white to gray-green lesions or spots with dark green borders.

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