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The output from Gaibandha's Aman paddy cultivation is under threat as various fields of the rice variety were recently seen significantly damaged due to rodent infestation.
Although a source from the district's agriculture office said farmers are being provided with full support to get good yields, including poison baits to control the pest's population, farmers said they are worried.
In a district where 70-75 per cent families are directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture, farmers had been hoping to secure high yield from the Aman crops, which has now turned dark green across the district after plantation in July-August. However, this correspondent learned of a huge group of rats cutting down paddy plants in an effort to consume those and making the fields their home, putting marginal farmers in the face of hardship. Moreover, several fields were also attacked by insects.
Abdur Rahman, a farmer from Badiakhali Union in Gaibandha Sadar Upazila, told the FE that he was leased eight bighas of land to cultivate Aman paddy and his plantations have sustained a lot of damage from rat attacks.
"Even applying various types of pesticides to protect the fields from the rats is not working. I am worried about this."
Atiqul Islam, deputy director of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Gaibandha, said they are working on the field using various methods for pest control and growers are being provided with full support to secure good yields. According to the Gaibandha DAE office, Aman paddy has been cultivated on 132,146 hectares of land in the district this season.
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