Peasants upset as wintry weather extensively damaging seedbeds

Extremely chilly weather marked by dense fog is taking a heavy toll on seedbeds of different crops, especially of Boro paddy, in Pabna and Sylhet causing an extremely worrying situation for the farmers in the districts.

Our Pabna correspondent says: Under the impact of the persisting cold wave associated with fogy atmosphere, the young seedlings of Boro paddy in the seedbeds are gradually turning from dark green to yellow.

According to the information provided by the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), when the temperature drops below 18°C (64.4°F), the seedbeds of almost all crops, including Boro paddy, usually get damaged.

But since the beginning of Bangla month of Paush this year, the minimum temperature in Ishwardi has fluctuated from 12 to 18.4 degrees.

Nazmul Haque, weather observer at the Ishwardi Meteorological Department, said on Wednesday that the minimum temperature in Ishwardi was recorded at 7.3 degrees Celsius on the day while it was recorded at 8.5 degrees Celsius there on Tuesday.

In the present situation, due to the cold wave and dense fog, the young seedlings of Boro paddy in the seedbeds are gradually turning from dark green to yellow.

Farmers say that if this situation continues for another week, they will not be able to raise Boro paddy seedlings and plant them in the field.

According to the local DAE office, there is a target of planting Boro seedlings on 2940 hectares of land in nine upazilas of Pabna district with the aim of producing Irri Boro paddy on 56,445 hectares.

Due to dense fog and low temperatures, it has not been possible to prepare half of the seedbeds here. Most of what has been done has been damaged due to cold waves. Even though special care is taken in the seedbeds, it is not possible to save the rice seedlings from turning yellow. The DAE has advised farmers to cover the seedbeds with polythene sheets and apply fungicides.

According to the Ishwardi Meteorological Office, the lowest temperature recorded on Wednesday was 7.3 degrees. In this situation, farmers are facing a lot of trouble with the Boro paddy seedbeds and livestock due to the severe cold weather and dense fog.

Motahar Hossain, a farmer from Manoharpur village in Pabna sadar upazila, said that the seedlings are turning yellow before they are ready for planting. The effects of fog cannot be prevented in any way.

Agriculture officials said that usually the seedbeds are damaged when the temperature drops below 18 degrees. The temperature has dropped to 7.3 degrees in Pabna. In this situation, out of the target of 2,940 hectares of land, Boro seedlings have been prepared only on 1,970 hectares. It has not been possible to prepare seedlings in the remaining land as yet.

Besides, Pabna region is also famous for vegetables. But in many places due to wintry weather and dense fog, vegetable seedbeds are also turning yellowish, with seedlings dying in some places.

Jahanggir Alam Pramanik, deputy director of the DAE, Pabna, told The Financial Express, "Farmers always have to work facing the challenges of weather and climate change. Rabi crop and Boro seedbeds mostly get affected during cold wave. For this reason, farmers are being advised to take preventive measures from the beginning."

Our Correspondent from Sylhet reports: Farmers in Sylhet region are in a kind of worry as their Boro and other crops' cultivation is set to face the burnt for extreme cold and fogy atmosphere damaging seedbeds on vast tracts of land.

Already in the haor areas, they have completed preparing seedbeds while it would take one week or two to complete the same in the non-haor region due to the prevailing cold wave, farmers and officials said.

Some people in Badaghat of neighbouring Biswambharpur upazila said there are one to one and a half hundred extremely poor families in each village who suffer extremely working in the Boro field.

It is the time for preparing Boro seedbeds and to transplant those in fields while some people have already transplanted those and some cold not yet do the job for the persistent chilly weather.

They said that winter this year has been the worst in almost last ten years.

Anwar Mia of Sunamganj Sadar said that the farmers need to move to the field in the early morning for preparing seedbeds as the transplantation season is nearing fast.

If the seedbed preparation is delayed for cold, they would face a lot, he feared.

Meanwhile, due to absence of irrigation facilities and absence of natural source of water, a large area of land would remain fallow in Moulvibazar and Sunamganj as well as in Sylhet district for various reasons this year.

Contacted, an official at the Sylhet divisional office of the DAE said that 13,571 hectares of land have already been used for seedbed preparation in haor areas against the targeted 12,869 hectares, which

is 105 percent. In non-haor areas, 10,312 hectares have already been used for seedbed preparation against the target of 10,548 hectares, which is 97.76 per cent.

The farmers are expected to complete seedbed preparation within a week.

On the other hand, 85,793 hectares of land, which is 29.48 per cent of the target, have already been brought under Boro cultivation in the division.

Of this, 1,157 hectares are in Sylhet, 3087 hectares in Moulvibazar, 17,062 hectares in Habiganj and highest 64,487 hectares in Sunamganj.

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