Potato farmers in Jashore fear a crop failure this year because of severe cold and dense fog.

Two cold waves 45 days apart, untimely drizzle at midnight and intense fog have caused problems in the potato fields.

Fearing losses, many farmers are now lifting immature potatoes and selling them in the market.

According to the district Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), potatoes have been planted on about 15,000 hectares in Jashore's eight upazilas this season.

There were few problems at the start, when the weather was favourable. But dense fog and two spells of light rain at the final stage of the crop have caused fields to start failing from late blight, the district DAE said.

In most fields the potato plants are drying up and rotting at the base, and farmers fear a severe yield loss.

They said that in late December, just as potatoes began forming at the base of the plants, a moderate cold wave swept over the Jashore region. When the weather did not improve for several days, the disease broke out.

The plants in every field began drying and turning yellow, they said.

Farmers got some relief by spraying fungicide on the advice of the agriculture department, but two weeks later another cold wave began. With late blight returning, many are in fear lifting immature potatoes and selling them in the market.

Experts say late blight appears in damp conditions and, if a suitable fungicide is not used, can destroy the whole plant within a few days of first appearing.

The stems are often attacked by soft rot bacteria, which quickly spread foul-smelling rot to the neighbouring potatoes.

Some farmers of Nongorpur field in Jashore Sadar upazila said spraying on the agriculture department's advice is not working, which seems strange to them.

Potato farmer Hasmat Ali said: "This year I grew potatoes on two bighas with borrowed money. The plants grew very well at first, but for a week they have been getting diseased. If we lifted the potatoes and took them to market 15 to 20 days from now, the yield would be higher. But for fear of rot, we no longer want to leave them in the field."

Emdat Sheikh, additional director of the DAE in Jashore, said they are aware of the matter. "We have already inspected potato fields in various parts of the district. Some fields have this kind of problem. In this situation we have advised spraying fungicide on potato fields," he said.

Source: Dhaka Tribune. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.