Farmers in Cox’s Bazar who faced loss due to excessive rain, flood and onrush of upstream water will receive agricultural incentives from Department of Agricultural Extension of the district.
Under the Agricultural Rehabilitation Assistance Programme, the District Department of Agricultural Extension initiated a plan to provide seeds, fertilizers, and cash support to 12,000 farmers in nine upazilas of Cox's Bazar for winter vegetable cultivation during the Kharif-2 season, aimed at helping those affected by recent damages.
Sources from the Department of Agricultural Extension said the special incentives will be provided to 3,500 farmers in Chakaria upazila, 2,000 farmers in Pekua upazila, 1,500 farmers in Cox's Bazar Sadar upazila, 1,500 farmers in Ramu upazila, 1,000 farmers in Teknaf upazila, 1,000 farmers in Moheshkhali upazila, 500 farmers in Eidgaon upazila, 500 farmers in Kutubdia upazila, and 500 farmers in Ukhiya upazila.
In addition to providing seeds for eight types of winter vegetables including tomato, sweet pumpkin, bottle gourd, chili, broccoli, eggplant, cauliflower, and cabbage, each listed beneficiary farmer will receive materials and Tk 1,000 in cash through mobile banking for one bigha of land.
Deputy Director of Cox’s Bazar Department of Agricultural Extension, Dr Bimal Kumar Pramanik, said a budget of Tk 3,68,41,200 has been allocated for the implementation of this incentive program in the district.
He said the Agricultural Extension Directorate has been continuously implementing various initiatives in Cox's Bazar, just like in other parts of the country, to overcome the damage caused by the floods. We hope that the affected farmers will benefit from the incentives program and be able to recover their losses.
Additionally, the upazila agricultural officers have been instructed to ensure that no more than one member from a single family is included in the list of beneficiaries. This precaution is to maintain fairness in the distribution process, he added.
Upazila Agriculture Officer of Ukhiya Department of Agricultural Extension said the process of preparing the list of beneficiaries is underway, and soon the incentives will be distributed among the affected farmers in Ukhiya.
Teknaf Upazila Agriculture Officer Zakirul Islam said in addition to the incentives, overall assistance will be provided to the beneficiaries during the seed planting of winter vegetables, as well as during the harvesting of the crops, if it is deemed necessary.
According to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, approximately 27 districts in the country have been affected by floods this year, with crops damaged in 23 of those districts, including Cox's Bazar. Among the 372,733 hectares of land affected by the floods, the amount of agricultural land that were damaged is 208,573 hectares.
The Ministry of Agriculture said the government has prioritized agricultural rehabilitation to recover from the devastating flood damage in the eastern and southeastern regions. Not only have they made this a priority, but the current interim government has also stood by the flood affected farmers by providing cash and material assistance.
