Amphan: Jhenaidah farmers suffer losses about Tk 900m

Farmers of Jhenaidah district have been counting huge losses as Boro paddy, vegetables, banana, beetle leaf on vast tracts of land were badly damaged by extremely severe cyclone Amphan that battered the country’s coastal districts on 20 May.

According to the district Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), over 227,000 farmers of six upazilas of the district are counting a huge loss as the cyclone devastated bananas of around 1500 hectares of land, vegetables of 1025 hectares, pulses of 1950 hectares, Chili of 750 hectares, Boro paddy of 100 hectares, betel leaf of 1500 hectares, mangoes of 2,875 hectares and litchi on 418 hectares.

The farmers are facing losses worth about Tk 900 million, said the DAE sources.

However, a number of houses were damaged, several trees were uprooted and many ponds were washed away during the storm.

Rashedul Islam, a farmer of Bhabanipur village in Harinakundu upazila, said, “I’ve lost beetle leaf of 1.5 bighas of land worth Tk 250,000. Now I will have to spend Tk 100,000 more for repairing my garden.”

Quader Mia, a banana farmer of Halidhani village in Sadar upazila, said “I brought 2.5 bighas of land with banana groves. All the bananas got matured and I was supposed to harvest in a few days but now all have been damaged.”

Shamim Hossain, another farmer of Natima village in Maheshpur upazila, said his fish enclosures were washed away while bananas on 10 bighas of land were damaged by the storm.

Zaminur Rahman Bipul, chairman of Phulhari union in Shailakupa upazila said government assistance can help the farmers to recoup their losses.

Kripangshu Shekhar Biswas, deputy director of Jhenaidah DAE, said, “A list of the affected farmers was prepared and the farmers have been advised for marketing their produces.”

Cyclone ‘Amphan’ left a trail of devastation when it hit Bangladesh’s coastal districts with wind a speed up to 180kph and over 10 feet tidal surges on 20 May evening.

It killed at least 10 people and inflicted heavy damage to livelihood, agriculture, infrastructures, environment, as well as the largest mangrove forest in the world, the Sundarbans, in southwestern part of the country.

An initial estimate suggested that the damage caused by the cyclone runs into at least Tk 11 billion.