Farmers in Lakshmipur are going through busy time cultivating winter vegetables, as they are trying to recover the losses they faced due to the flood this year.
Excessive rain and prolonged flooding in the past two months caused extensive damage to vegetable cultivation in Lakshmipur. Many vegetable plants and seedlings rotted in the field due to waterlogging. However, the farmers are now working to regain their losses.
The farmers are currently preparing fields for winter vegetable cultivation, although they would normally be harvesting and selling early winter vegetables in the market at this time of the year. Farmers said that this year, locally grown winter vegetables will arrive in the market later than usual due to interruptions in production. They are also worried about whether they will receive a fair price for their crops compared to their production costs. However, the agricultural department has promised support for affected farmers.
It was learnt that every year, farmers across fields in areas like Tumchar, Kalirchar, Laharkandi, and Bhabaniganj in the Lakshmipur sadar upazila grow early winter vegetables to catch the early winter market. Hoping to make a profit from vegetable farming, they cultivated crops like gourds, beans, okra, red spinach, radishes, cabbage, cauliflower, hyacinth beans, and bitter gourd this season as well. However, unexpected flooding and rainfall this year left many farmers in despair.
Excessive rainfall and prolonged flooding caused extensive damage to winter vegetable production in Lakshmipur in August and September. The waterlogging caused by the flood ruined many vegetable plants and seedlings in the fields. Even though the floodwaters have receded, many low-lying croplands are still waterlogged, making cultivation difficult for farmers. Farmers are also concerned about whether they will get fair prices, considering the costs they’ve already incurred.
The farmers explained that by planting early winter vegetables in the middle of the Ashwin month (mid-September to mid-October), they would normally have been able to harvest and sell the produced vegetables in several batches by now, covering their investment. But the excessive rain and flooding ruined everything, leaving them in a bind as they had taken loans for vegetable farming. To support the struggling farmers, they are urging the government to take swift measures for financial aid.
According to the district Department of Agriculture Extension, farmers in Lakshmipur cultivate at least 12 types of vegetables, including winter vegetables, across 4,370 hectares of land. Due to the excessive rain and flooding, winter vegetable in 1,039 hectares of land were damaged this season. The target was set to cultivate vegetable was set at 4,500 hectares of land this year, but cultivation has started in only 730 hectares so far.
Sekander Mia, a farmer from Kalirchar village under Tumchar union in sadar upazila, said that he invested Tk 150,000 to grow early winter vegetables this year. However, all his vegetable seedlings were destroyed by untimely rain and flooding. Even though the floodwaters have subsided, his fields still haven’t dried out completely. Nonetheless, he is preparing to grow winter vegetables again and is currently busy clearing weeds from the fields. A few other farmers in the area reported similar losses. Though the agriculture department has prepared a list for providing aid, they reported that they have not yet received any financial support.
Meanwhile, Sana Ullah Sanu, an environmentalist and journalist in Lakshmipur, said that during the onset of winter, vast fields across the five upazilas in the district would typically be lush and green with winter vegetables. Now, however, large tracts of land lie barren. Floods and excessive rain have ruined fields of cauliflower, cabbage, beans, gourds, and other early winter vegetables that farmers had grown. Many farmers are unable to repay their debts, and he emphasized that with proper supervision and agricultural incentives, the farmers would have a chance to recover.
Mohammad Manzur Hossain, District Training Officer of the Lakshmipur district Department of Agricultural Extension, said that winter vegetable cultivation has suffered extensive damage due to the excessive rain and flooding. Around 20,000 farmers who are cultivating high-yield varieties and 38,000 farmers cultivating hybrid varieties are being brought under government incentive programme to help them recover the losses. Agricultural officers are working at the field level to ensure that aid is delivered quickly to the affected farmers. He added that the winter season itself is expected to bring good production of winter vegetables
