Crops over Tk 84cr damaged

Cyclon Bulbul that hit the country’s coastal areas on the night of November 9 damaged crops on some 7,421 hectares of land in 42 upazilas of six districts in Barishal division, said Aftab Uddin, additional director of Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in the division.

The districts are Barishal, Pirojpur, Jhalakathi, Patuakhali, Barguna and Bhola.

The DAE official also showed an accumulated loss of Tk 84.19 crore in damages by the storm that affected some 24,097 farmers in the districts.

In Barishal district, 4149 farmers were affected while 66,000 tonnes of crops on 1684 hectares of land damaged fully or partially by Bulbul.

Dulal Dasgupta, a farmer of Gaila union in Agailjhara upazila, said the storm mainly hit betel leaf gardens in the area.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Bipul Chandra Das said most of the betel leaf gardens were damaged under the influence of Cyclone Bulbul. 

Another farmer Jasimuddin of Gournadi upazila said Aman harvest would begin within seven to ten days but before that, his paddy field was damaged by the storm.

Meanwhile, 3550 farmers were affected while 3089 tonnes of crops on 558 hectares of land damaged in Pirojpur. The loss caused by the cyclonic storm could go up to Tk 11.6 crore.

In Jhalakati, 3645 farmers were affected while 3193 tonnes of crops on 530 hectares of land damaged fully or partially. The loss was estimated worth Tk 9.66 crore.

In Patuakhali, some 4814 affected farmers incurred losses of around Tk 11.89 crore. About 4513 tonnes of crops on 769 hectares of land were damaged by Bulbul.

In Barguna, 2501 farmers were affected while 2035 tonnes of crops on 374 hectares of land damaged. The farmers incurred losses of Tk 5.50 crore.

In Bhola, 5438 affected farmers incurred losses of Tk 21.34 crore. Some 7784 tonnes of crops on 975 hectares of land were damaged by the storm.

Annada Shankar, a farmer of Charfashion upazila in Bhola, has sought government’s assistance to recoup their losses.