Aman yield may be 30pc less in 8 N dists
DAE officials estimate 12 lakh tonnes less production due to flood, storm, pest attack
Rafique Sarker, Rangpur
Production of Aman crop in eight northern districts may be around 30 per cent less than the target this year because of flood and storm, followed by pest attack in different areas, according to DAE (Department of Agriculture Extension) officials. The target was 42 lakh tonnes from 21 lakh hectares of land in greater Rangpur and Dinajpur districts. But the yield may be about 12 lakh tonnes less, DAE officials here said seeking anonymity. They said they are very much worried now because large scale pest attack is reported from different areas now when the Aman plants are at the flowering stage. Despite crisis of seedlings after the untimely flood in mid-May, farmers in five flood affected districts of Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Kurigram and Gibandha cultivated transplanted Aman. But the September floods ravaged Aman lands in large scale, particularly in low-lying areas in the districts. In many areas, lands where Aman seedlings were planted are now barren, they said. The twelve-hour storm in early October affected Aman plants in these districts badly, they said. "The storm battered Aman plants when those were at flowering stage and there will be no crop in those plants", said a DAE Deputy Director seeking anonymity. Finally, pests like Gray Grasshoppers and Stemborar are destroying what ever left after the flood and storm, said an Upzila Agriculture Officer in Kurigram district. A DAE official in Lalmonirhat said he did not see such pest attack in the region in last five years. Pests are visible more or less in all the eight northern districts, he said. Rice traders in the region apprehend that rice prices might not fall with the beginning of harvest in late November because of less yield. The number of farmers with excess paddy for sale will be less. Most farmers will prefer not to sell rice to ensure food security, they said. The less yield in the eight northern districts will have its effect in other parts in the country, said Delwar Hossen Chowdhury, a wholesale rice trader at Mahiganj in Rangpur. He said the northern districts produce about 15 per cent of country's total rice output. About 20 lak tonnes of surplus rice is supplied to other districts from this region every year, Delwar said. "This year, we will have to bring rice to the area from other areas", he said. The less yield will also affect the government's rice procurement, which is yet to be fixed, said a high official of the Food Department. Dealers will not be interested to supply rice to the government as the market price might be higher than the government-fixed price, he said.
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