The spread and severity of the cold are steadily increasing, raising fears that crops will grow poorly and yields will fall. Pollination will be disrupted, and extreme cold will sharply reduce the output of potato, onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric and other crops. Severe cold and dense fog will damage Boro seedbeds, and farmers' beans, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, pumpkin, potato, leafy vegetables and other fields are being damaged.

At this point in the season the fields hold winter crops such as potato, tomato, brinjal, chilli, mustard, beans and various vegetables. In some places there are Boro seedbeds, and in others Boro seedlings have already been transplanted. Farmers and field-level agriculturists are worried that the ongoing cold wave will cause cold injury to Boro seedbeds and transplanted paddy and bring late blight to potatoes. Such weather helps wheat, but if it rains the fungal disease blast could spread.

Temperatures in various parts of the country have already fallen to 9-10 degrees Celsius, deepening farmers' worries about Boro seedbeds and potatoes. There is no fear of damage to Boro transplanting, but some concern remains over seedbeds, and concern about potatoes is growing. On the other hand, although the government had discouraged wheat in some areas in recent years because of blast, the situation is different this time. Severe cold and dense fog have put Boro seedbeds at risk, and spraying various fungicides is not working well.

According to the Meteorological Department, a cold wave has begun in the north and other parts of the country and may continue, and temperatures in the north have started to plunge. In this situation seedbeds could die, causing a shortage of Boro seedlings. Farmers say they are spraying fungicide on seedbeds and covering them with polythene to protect the seedlings from fog.

Blight appears in potatoes in winter, especially as fog increases, because the potato plant cannot tolerate extreme cold; tomato fields are hit too. Several days of dense fog and bitter cold have alarmed potato farmers in Bogura, Rajshahi and Joypurhat, where leaves are curling across field after field and there are fears of leaves and stems rotting. Farmers are applying fungicide every four days, and they say stems and leaves are attacked one and a half to two months after planting. The agriculture department says fungicide must be sprayed at least once a week to protect the crop from late blight.

Farmers say the cold has sharpened in the Rangpur region in recent days, and with fog covering much of the day, fungal attacks have appeared in fields. In some places paddy seedlings are turning yellow and drying out, and seedling burn and blight have appeared in many seedbeds, with 10-15-day-old seedlings turning white or reddish and dying. The report recommends the following to protect Boro seedbeds from severe cold and fog:

• Flood the seedbed with irrigation water every evening and drain it the next morning, and make sure the seedlings get sunlight.
• Keep 2-5 centimetres (0.78 to 2 inches) of water in the seedbed, draining the standing water from time to time and adding fresh water.
• Inspect the seedbed once every morning. If seedlings turn yellow, top-dress with urea at 200 grams per decimal of seedbed; if the yellowing does not ease, top-dress with gypsum at 100 grams per decimal.
• If the seedbed is hit by leaf blight, drag a rope over the seedlings in the morning to shake off the fog water, and apply potash at 50 grams per decimal.
• In extreme cold, scatter ash on the seedbed to hold in warmth, and prepare dry seedbeds covered with clear polythene.
• Spray insecticide at the approved rate a week before lifting seedlings, to protect them from pests.

For details, farmers are advised to contact their nearest sub-assistant agriculture officer or the upazila agriculture office.

Scientific officers of the plant pathology division said: "Extra measures are essential during a cold wave, or overall Boro production will suffer. In the field, seedbeds should be kept flooded with tube-well water, and they can also be covered with polythene. Dew should be shaken off, and fungicide applied along with urea at 280 grams per decimal of land."

The report says that in a country like ours, frequent and unwanted swings in weather and temperature caused by the warm climate and climate change, along with floods and other disasters, break down soil organic matter faster. Three and a half per cent organic matter would be enough for our soils, but levels are now below 2 per cent and in some places below 1 per cent. Scientists call soil organic matter the life of the soil, and environment and soil experts see frequent extreme heat, severe cold waves, untimely floods and rain as a major reason for its loss.

Along with extreme cold, untimely rain causes hardship. Heavy unseasonal downpours ruin many farmers, killing all their vegetable seedlings so they must replant in the hope that the plants survive. The Rabi season is the profitable season, when farmers spend heavily hoping for a return, and extreme cold is a heavy blow.

Farmers in Cumilla, Rangpur, Bogura, Rajshahi, Satkhira, Manikganj, Mymensingh, Sylhet and Dhaka said they are deeply frustrated by the threat of untimely rain and cold waves. Field-level agriculture officers are standing by farmers to prevent immediate losses, and local agriculture offices are giving overall advice on growing crops safely.

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