Farmers in Chandpur fear damage to seasonal vegetables after several days of unbroken heat. They have already applied pesticides and taken other steps to save their crops, and the agriculture department is promising them full advice on keeping vegetables healthy.

In fields in the Kumardugi area of Shah Mahmudpur union in Chandpur Sadar upazila and elsewhere, the heat has caused various problems in vegetable plots. In some the leaves are scorched; others are infested with insects.

Farmers say that along with Boro rice, they have grown jute, maize, snake gourd, bitter gourd, taro, okra, amaranth stems and Malabar spinach this year. Many taro plots have dried out for lack of water, turning the leaves dry and red. Maize plants are also drying out very quickly in the extreme heat.

Latif Mal, a farmer in the Ghosherhat area, said he had grown bitter gourd on about twenty decimals of land. After several days of heat, the gourds are ripening and dropping, and the leaves are dying.

Jasim Uddin, a farmer in neighbouring Krishnapur village, said he had grown snake gourd and bitter gourd on several plots using improved seed. So far the vegetable plots are more or less fine, but if it gets hotter he will suffer losses.

Dr Shafayet Ahmed Siddiqui, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Chandpur, said there is no problem with Boro rice cultivation in Chandpur district and the yield has been good. He said vegetable damage is feared after several days of heat, and vegetables could be harmed because there is no rain and fields are not being irrigated. He said agriculture officers in the areas concerned have been instructed to stay in the field to keep vegetable yields good.

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