Flood in Faridpur: Crops worth over Tk 10cr damaged in 6 upazilas

Various crops on 1,852 hectares of land have been damaged by floods this year in six out of nine upazilas of Faridpur, according to data from Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in the district.

Out of the total affected land, Aus rice was cultivated on 1,368 hectares, Aman rice on 374 hectares, banana on 27 hectares, green chilly on 15 hectares and different varieties of vegetables on 67 hectares of land.

The croplands belong to a total of 11,051 farmers in the six upazilas. Among the affected, 5,000 are in Bhanga upazila, 2,263 in Sadarpur, 1,510 in Sadar, 1,125 in Alphadanga, 943 in Charbhadrasan and 210 farmers are in Madhukhali upazila.

Farmer Bilal Paul, from Manna Mandal Dangi village in Sadar upazila, said, "I spent Tk 17 thousand to cultivate Aus paddy on my two bighas of land. But the floods damaged it all."

Rajab Matubbar, another farmer from Dangi village in the same upazila, said, "I cultivated Aus on 10 acres of land this year and crops on three acres have been damaged completely."

In Taijuddin Matubbardangi village of the upazila, Siddique Jamadar said that he planted banana on 15 acres of his land and around 1,500 of the plants on five acres of land were damaged by floodwaters.

Aman rice planted at a cost of Tk 92 thousand on 15 bighas of his land, in Chowdhurykandi Sadardi village of Bhanga upazila, was ruined entirely due to the flood, said farmer Saharul Islam.

Contacted, Hazrat Ali, deputy director of DAE in Faridpur, said according to their estimates, the total value of the crops that have been damaged by the floods would be Tk 10.67 crore.

They have made a list of affected farmers in the district and the affected farmers in the list would receive government assistance including fertilisers and seeds, he also said.