Quoting preliminary estimates, official sources put the damage at five to seven per cent of an average output of 6 lakh tonnes of summer vegetables at this stage.

However, officials of the agriculture extension and farm marketing departments said the floods during an 'in-between' period of a crop-cycle have spared the rice growers of major losses.

In the low-lying farmlands, peasants had already reaped the aus paddy before the floodwaters submerged the fields. On the other hand, most of the aman growers are patiently waiting for the water to recede.

An official of the agriculture marketing department, however, feared that if the flood period is prolonged it would be a looming threat to aman farmers. The official also said the farmers who raised aman seedlings in advance might have already lost some due to flooding of seedbeds in some places.

However, production of more aman seeds this year, compared to the past few years, by the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) comes as a solace to the farmers who have lost aman seeds.

Sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension, which has staff at the upazila-level and below, said it was too early for the department to give any correct assessment of the crop-loss scenario.

Identifying the one-month period between mid-July and mid-August as the most crucial, the sources said a clear picture of crop damage would emerge at the end of the next month.

They, however, gave an estimate of five to seven per cent loss of seasonal vegetables mainly leafy ones and papaya and banana adding that most of those vegetables were rotten in stagnant floodwaters in the northern and some of the central districts at the harvesting stage.

"High prices of vegetables indicate that the supply has declined. Damage to vegetables caused by floods and disruption of communication owing to the roads being submerged are responsible for the decline", an agriculture official told The Daily Star.

An expert said as the rainy season is known as a lean period for most of the vegetables, the damage to the late-sown summer vegetables would definitely have a market impact.

" Eggplants and leafy vegetables that we're getting in Dhaka markets are all coming from upland areas, not affected by gushing floodwaters," said a source.

Officials noted that if there is no heavy rainfall this month, growers might get a chance to recoup the loss of vegetables by going for another round of cropping. But in case of a prolonged inundation of farmlands along with more rainfall, as forecast by weather officials at a recent flood-assessment meeting, the hope will be dashed.

At an inter-ministerial flood-situation monitoring meeting on Thursday last it was said that 35 lakh people have been directly affected by the current floods in as many as 142 upazilas in 26 districts.

With its recent success in internal procurement of over five lakh tonnes of rice from boro farmers, who had a good harvest, the government is well-placed with over seven lakh tonnes of food grain stock in public granneries.

In case of a prolonged deluge, the officials said, the government's food relief programme would not face much of a problem.

The government has spent only 9,000 tonnes of rice for distribution among the flood-affected people so far.