BADC runs dry on seed, little hope for flood-hit aman

Farmers carry aman seedlings on boat yesterday from Kahalu to flood-hit Dhunat in Bogra. PHOTO: STAR

Full recovery of the loss of aman paddy in the month-long devastating floods might not be possible as Bangaldesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) does not have any seed stock of the crop for distribution among the farmers, agriculture experts said.

Agriculture ministry has decided to buy seeds and give that to the flood- affected small and marginal farmers but experts fear it will not help them because there is not enough time for aman cultivation. "We gave all our seeds before the floods, which have already been damaged," said Mohammad Ismail, chairman of the BADC.

Dr Asaduzzaman, an agriculture economist and director of research at Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), came up with a solution to the problem, saying farmers should be given aman seedlings instead of seeds in view of the shortage of time.

Akbar Mia, a farmer in Kanta Golora village of Saturia upazila in Manikganj, said, "I am not sure about my next aman crops as I have no seeds. Standing beside his flood-ravaged field, he said with a blank look, "I went to the block supervisor (of Department of Agricultural Extension, DAE, which distributes the seeds) and asked for seeds but he told me to wait. We are really running short of time."

"If I do not get seeds in time, what shall I do with them?" a frustrated Akbar asked.

Mostofa, a small farmer in the same village said, "We have heard the government announcement on seeds over radio and television many times but we do not know how and from where we have to collect them. Block supervisors never come to us."

Like them, more than 46.50 lakh flood-hit farmers in 46 districts are longing for aman seeds while the government has decided to provide five kg seeds of different crops to 26.65 lakh small and marginal farmers free of cost by November.

Distribution of aman seeds among farmers has already started in many districts and ends on August 25 while seedlings will be distributed till September 10. They will also be given 25 kg of fertiliser against one bigha of land.

Some agriculturists however claimed there would be no seed shortage in the country because farmers do not wait to get seeds from the government. " If you go to villages now, you will see farmers are busy working at their fields and seedbeds," said an agriculture economist.

"There are enough seeds in the market as farmers of the areas that were not flooded grew seeds and are now selling them to the flood-hit farmers," he added.

The BADC now has 36,000 tonnes of seeds of boro paddy, wheat, maize and mashkolai pulses for distribution and plans to import 100 tonnes of maize seeds from Thailand and India by next month.

The authorities have to reach seeds and fertilisers to the target people in time and this is really a tough job, said Quazi Shahabuddin, director general of the BIDS.

"Whatever we want to give the farmers, we should give them now," he added.

The BADC chairman however thinks the floods have not damaged aman crop fully as there is still time for cultivation of its late variety. "Loss of aman could be covered by bumper production of boro as submerged lands gathered huge silt during the flood," he said.

Dr Asaduzzaman of the BIDS said ground water was highly recharged due to the floods and that will help irrigation for farming.

Meanwhile, DAE block supervisors are preparing the list of marginal farmers with the help of union parishad chairmen and members.

"Corruption is likely in preparing the list. If only rich farmers and ruling party men get seeds, it will not work," said Dr Asaduzzaman.

The BADC chairman said if floods do not hit again, it is possible to recover 80 percent of the total loss of crops with the comprehensive agriculture rehabilitation programme taken up by the government.

The floods have damaged 8.30 lakh hectres of crops causing the farm sector a loss of Tk 2,291 crore, according to the agriculture ministry.

Many experts however expressed doubts on the success of the government's post-flood rehabilitation programme for agriculture sector, terming it an 'eyewash'. The coalition government has 'politically' chalked out this programme to satisfy the rural people keeping in view the next general election, they thought.