Farmers incur massive losses due to flood

Although farmer Elahi Fakir had hoped for a bumper yield this year, all 129,600 sqft of his land—where he cultivated Aman paddy and jute—has been flooded. 

The Tk35,000 he had spent for cultivating the crops will not offer any return this season.

“All my crops have washed away,” said Elahi, a resident of Bogura’s Shariakandi Upazila. 

However, Elahi is not the only farmer to have suffered from this year’s flood. 

Abeda Begum, another farmer of the area also lost her crops to the flood. She has given up any hopes of receiving output from the Tk60,000 she borrowed from a local NGO to fund her farm. 

“How will we survive now? My husband is ailing and cannot work. Only God knows what our future holds for us,’’ Amena said, adding: “The lenders are asking me to pay the instalments.”   

According to the Department of the Agricultural Extension (DAE), farmers in Bogura district incurred total losses worth Tk293 crore due to this year’s flood.

The monsoon flood hit 31 districts, causing losses worth Tk1200 crore to farmers, inundating almost 100,000 hectares of agricultural land. About 29,000 hectares of Aman and 22,600 hectares of jute fields have been completely damaged by the flood.   

Farmers of Jamalpur district also faced the same fate as the Jamuna river submerged their farmlands. 

Abdul Mannan, member of parliament (MP) of Bogura-1, said the government has taken necessary steps to ascertain the losses of the affected farmers and that they have donated seeds and money to them. 

“The rehabilitation package has already covered 650 flood-affected farmers while more 78,000 are enlisted for it,’’ he said.