Agricultural Rehabilitation is Needed to Recover from Flood Damage

Dhaka, Bangladesh || Thursday, 30 April 2026 || 17 Boishakh 1433

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Agricultural Rehabilitation is Needed to Recover from Flood Damage

Md Shafi Ullah

Published : Friday, 13 September, 2024 at 12:56 PM, Count : 4427

Agricultural Rehabilitation is Needed to Recover from Flood Damage

Due to sudden floods in the country, people's houses, chicken farms, seedbeds croplands, roads, and infrastructure have been damaged indescribably. People are trying hard to overcome the damage caused by this disaster. UN Secretary-General's spokesperson Stephen Dujarric said this flood is Bangladesh's fourth major climate change-related disaster this year.

According to media reports, the recent floods have caused a crop loss of Tk 3,346 crore in 23 districts of the country and affected more than 14.14 lakh farmers. According to the final damage calculation of the Ministry of Agriculture, the production of 9 lakh 86 thousand 214 metric tons of various crops including Aus-Aman paddy, vegetables, ginger, turmeric, orchard, pepper, betel nut, watermelon, papaya, tomato has been destroyed.

The most damage has been caused to the Aman paddy (4.12 lakh metric tons) and its seed beds. 6 lakh 85 thousand metric tons of paddy could have been obtained from the amount of affected land which is completely damaged. Apart from this, about 1 lakh and 6.5 thousand metric tons of Aus rice production have been affected. A total of 2 thousand 519 crores of paddy production has been damaged.

Vegetables are next on the list of losses after Aman-Aus paddy. 1 lakh 76 thousand metric tons of various types of vegetables have been damaged, which is worth about 700 crore rupees. According to the report, ginger worth Tk 20 crore, turmeric Tk 11 crore, sugarcane Tk 17 crore, betel nut Tk 40 crore, bananas and other fruits worth Tk 31 crore have been damaged.

According to the estimate of the Department of Fisheries and Livestock, the loss to the fish, fishery infrastructure, and livestock sector due to the floods is around Rs 2,000 crore. According to a report from electronic media, 4000 poultry farms have been damaged in the Comilla, Noakhali, and Feni districts alone. This year's floods have caused more damage in Comilla, Feni, Noakhali, and Lakshmipur districts.

According to the report of the Directorate of Agricultural Extension, Comilla, the most affected area under flood in Comilla district is 22 thousand 293 hectares, which is 85.67 percent of the total cultivated area. The total seedbed areas of Ropa Aman affected by flood is 3,178.5 hectares, which is 48.26 percent of the total crop area. The total affected area of Kharip-2 vegetables is 1,413 hectares, which is 52.39 percent of the total crop area.

According to the report, the total affected area of Ropa Aush is 22 thousand and 93 hectares, which is 27.54 percent of the total crop area. The total affected area of Bona Aman is 554 hectares, which is 2.81 percent of the total crop area. The total affected area of the sugarcane crop is 77.05 hectares, which is 16.75 percent of the total cultivated area. The total amount of the loss in BDT is 75520.58 lakhs.

According to local newspaper reports, 100 km road in Comilla has been severely damaged due to continuous rain and flood water. According to the report of Directorate of Agricultural Extension, Feni District, the total damaged cropland in Feni district is 35674 hectares, which is 93.66 percent of the total cropland loss. The amount of said loss is 52448.07 lakhs Taka. The number of affected farmer families is 166790.

On August 24, several important decisions were taken for the rehabilitation of agriculture in a meeting with all departments, including the Ministry of Home Affairs and Agriculture. In the meeting, Home Affairs and Agriculture Adviser said, 'The supply of fertilizers will be normal. There will be no shortage of fertilizer for the farmers. It is further said that all measures will be taken to ensure the production of Aman rice as per the target in the flood affected areas.

Munshi Rasheed Ahmad, the newly appointed Director (Research) of Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (Bari) said, after the water recedes in the flood-affected areas, the suitable crops should be planted in the areas taking into consideration the local needs and socio-economic conditions. Vegetables and spices can be grown on land where it is not possible to grow Aman paddy.”

For that, free distribution of saplings/seeds of various high-yielding varieties along with technical assistance will largely help to overcome the losses of the farmers, he said. It has been come to know that the Field Research Department, Bari, Comilla has taken up the production of around 40/50 thousand seedlings of various winter vegetables in order to distribute free seedlings to the farmers after the flood in Comilla region.

Ayub Mahmud, Deputy Director of Agriculture Extension Department, Khamarbari, Comilla said that 149 tonnes of seeds as incentive from the government, 105 tonnes from BADC and 15 tonnes as seed assistance from Syngenta Company have been received for Comilla district for fixing Aman seed beds. Along with that, the farmers have kept their own collection of 5-10 tons of rice seedbeds in progress.

They (farmers) are trying to compensate the loss of seedlings by collecting Aman paddy seedlings from flood-free areas. To providing free seedlings to the farmers, a plant production program of ‘Nabi’ variety of Aman rice has been undertaken in the Comilla cantonment area. In areas where Aman paddy cultivation will not be possible, efforts are being continued to increase the cultivation of early Rabi Crops especially vegetables, oilseeds and pulses.

Mascalai crops can be grown without tillage in soft soils. Similarly, it is possible to cultivate early winter vegetables including gima kalmi, stalks, and spinach.

Once the flood waters receded, livestock diseases increased. So, special care should be taken to protect against disease. The Ministry of Agriculture has already taken 12 important decisions about what to do after the flood, which is very practical. These measures will undoubtedly play a strong role in determining what to do after the flood by the agricultural departments to avoid immediate damage from the flood.

• Ensuring easy availability of Aman rice seedlings of late sowing varieties; planting Aman paddy at the right time, cultivating early winter vegetables, developing integrated farming systems in homestead areas after floods; Providing incentives and facilities for adequate seed production and conservation at farmer level;

• Risk management and capacity building of farmers to deal with disasters; Issuance of flood early warning,

• Introduction of crop insurance,

• Launching quality seed assistance to farmers from private seed companies; Ensuring storage and supply of fertilizers;

• Providing loan facilities to affected poultry farmers,

• Improving treatment of livestock;

• Repairing the canals and drains quickly for the flood water to go down quickly;

All the above-mentioned measures are necessary to be taken.

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