As the floodwater recedes in Feni, the scars are becoming evident. Even though there are scaffolding in the field, there are no green trees. Turmeric, ginger, aush, aman and various autumn vegetable fields are floating from the water. In six upazilas of the district, the third round of floods in the period of one and a half months has caused a loss of more than Tk 451 crore 20 lakhs in agriculture alone. About two lakh farmers have been affected.
According to the sources of the District Agricultural Extension Directorate, 30 thousand 352 hectares of cropland in the district has been damaged by the flood. Which is 79.69 percent of the total cropland. Among them, 1 thousand 865 hectares of aman seedbed, 26 thousand hectares of aman, 1 thousand 854 hectares of aush, 525 hectares of autumn vegetables, 69 hectares of orchards, 7 hectares of ginger, 16 hectares of turmeric and 16 hectares of sugarcane have been damaged.
Ali Ahmed, a farmer of Kautli village in Parashuram, said that the Aman seedbed was damaged by the flood in the first phase of the year. Then after sowing the seeds again, after a few days of cultivation, everything was washed away in the flood water. Due to the third flood in a span of one and a half months, all the crop lands are now piles of sand. There is no longer any situation where we can grow and eat.
Another farmer named Saidul Islam said, we are going to face a severe food crisis. In addition to the destruction of the crops of the land, the paddy and rice in the house were also damaged by water. There is no situation to replant. If the relevant authorities do not stand by us, the future situation will become more dire.
In this regard, the Deputy Director of the District Agricultural Extension Department said. Ekram Uddin said that the flood has caused great damage to agriculture. Our district office was also submerged in water. Even then we are trying to stand by the farmers by assessing the damage and giving them various suggestions at the field level. A list of damages has been sent to the concerned department. Official discussions have come up regarding giving Aman seedlings to the farmers. Besides, to overcome this situation, farmers are advised to plant some crops of early varieties.
Incidentally, in the floods of last July, Aush plantations, summer vegetables, Aman seedbeds and summer chillies were severely damaged in Phulghazi, Parashuram and Chagalnaya. Most of the crop lands of three upazilas were swept away by the flood water. Then there was a total loss of 1 crore 17 lakh 58 thousand 600 rupees in agriculture. 1 thousand 719 farmers were affected.