Waterlogging damages aman seedbeds

An aman seedbed got damaged due to massive waterlogging at Ghabkhan village in Sadar upazila of Jhalakathi district. Photo: Star

Aman seedbeds in large areas in the district got damaged due to inundation for long this season.

Massive waterlogging affected the seedbeds as water cannot easily flow away during the ebb tide due to encroachment on small canals in the area, said Sontosh Kumar Mandol, additional director of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), Jhalakathi.

The flooding destroyed aman seedbeds on 336.5 hectares of land out of the total 4,365 hectares in four upazilas of the district, office sources said, adding that seedlings on more areas were also badly affected due to the situation.

A total of 9,095 farmers in the district, including 3300 in Jhalakathi, 1,595 in Nalcity, 2250 in Rajapur and 2050 in Kathalia upazila were affected due to the situation, they said. 

The marginal farmers are facing worst crisis as they cannot afford to buy the aman seeds or unwilling to plant hybrid seeds.

“All my aman seedlings were destroyed due to waterlogging in my seedbeds,” said Hemayet Uddin, a marginal farmer of Putiakhali in Rajapur upazila.

Khokon, a farmer of Indrapasha in the same upazila, said he could not plant all his land due to the damage of seedbeds.

The aman seedbeds were prepared in May-June and the seedbeds were plucked mostly in August for transplantation.

Earlier the DAE set a target of aman cultivation on around 43 thousand hectares of land in the district this year.

“We have informed the matter of seedbed damage to the higher authorities for arranging help for the affected farmers,” said the DAE official.