A sudden hailstorm in Munshiganj has caused extensive damage to crops across a wide area. Bangi (melon), pumpkin, vegetables, boro paddy, jute and various kharif crops have been hit. The bangi and pumpkin fields are the worst affected: the plants were destroyed in one go, and field after field of crops was ruined before it could be marketed.

According to the agriculture office, crops on about 350 hectares were damaged. Hundreds of farmers are at a loss in the face of such hostile weather.

Agriculture office figures show that the rain on Sunday night damaged crops on 341 hectares in the district's Sadar, Gazaria and other areas: vegetables on 40 hectares, maize on 73, sesame on 62, bangi on 5, boro paddy on 139, jute on 21 and chilli on 1 hectare. Farmers face a heavy financial loss, and they say the damage is even greater.

On a visit to Ramjanbeg, Khaskandi, Char Kewar and other areas of Sadar on Monday, 6 May, crops were seen destroyed across field after field. Many farmers broke down in tears in their fields. The bangi and pumpkin fields suffered terrible damage: the creeper plants, shoots and leaves had been beaten into the ground by the hail, and the fruit lay scattered across the fields. Most of the maize plants were broken, and vegetable plants were torn to pieces. Farmers were trying to salvage whatever crop had survived on the damaged plants.

Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan had grown bangi and pumpkin on three kani of land in Ramjanbeg. He told Jago News: "I had sold some of the crop, but most of it was still there. Then the hail fell all night and it was all finished. I have lost Tk 6-7 lakh. If the government gives some help, we can survive."

Nahid, a farmer from the same area, said: "My bangi are no longer fit to sell. They will all rot once the sun comes out. I doubt anyone will even pay Tk 10-15 for pumpkins I used to sell for Tk 40-50. Hundreds of farmers in our area are in the same state."

Santona Rani, additional deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension in Munshiganj, said the extent of crop damage had been assessed, but the financial loss could not yet be confirmed. "Our advice is to drain fields where water has collected, and to tie up with sticks the plants that are leaning over but not completely ruined. That way some of the loss can be avoided," she said. "At the moment we have no incentive for the kharif season. If government help is available, it will be given to the farmers."

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