A cold wave has been sweeping Bhola for several days, with dense fog and intense cold. The hostile weather is causing severe damage to boro seedbeds. Rice seedlings are turning red, yellow and white and dying, leaving farmers anxious.

Farmers said on Friday morning (9 January) that boro cultivation would begin in a few days once the seedlings were fully grown. But dense fog and intense cold have stood in the way, and the seedlings are dying.

Farmers Saidul Rahman and Md Ismail of West Joynagar village, in ward 2 of South Joynagar union in Daulatkhan upazila, said each of them had separately made boro seedbeds on 16 decimals of land. But the dense fog and intense cold of the past few days have damaged them, and the seedlings are turning red, yellow and white and dying.

Abdul Aziz, a farmer from the same village, said he made his seedbed with a loan from an NGO. The extreme cold and dense fog have destroyed his seedbed twice, and 5-6 days ago he made one again for the third time. If this one is also destroyed, he will not be able to repay the loan.

Anis Faraji and Md Sabuj, farmers of Bhelumia union in Sadar upazila, said that if seedbeds keep being destroyed like this, there will be a shortage of rice seedlings. Cultivation will be disrupted, and many fields will lie empty for lack of seedlings.

Khairul Islam Mallik, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Bhola, said a cold wave is under way in Bhola as in the rest of the country. Farmers have been advised not to make new boro seedbeds until the weather returns to normal. Those who already have seedbeds are being advised to cover them with polythene at night and to use pesticides to protect them.

He added that this year the target for boro seedbeds in Bhola's seven upazilas is 3,905 hectares, of which 3,700 hectares have been prepared so far.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.