Munshiganj is the country's leading potato-growing district. In a normal season, planting there should have finished in the first week of December, but not this year. Seed potatoes are still being planted and will be for some days yet. Cyclone Jawad has thrown everything into disarray.

Those involved say the cyclone struck just when potatoes were due to be planted. Water logged in the fields disrupted planting, and four days of rain during the cyclone destroyed most of the young plants in fields already planted.

Khurshid Alam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Munshiganj, told Jagonews that 13,450 hectares of potato land in the district were affected, of which potatoes on 11,600 hectares were damaged.

He said many farmers are now replanting potatoes, but yields will be lower because of the late planting.

Khurshid Alam said potatoes had been planted on 20,000 hectares in the district so far (as of 20 December), against a target of 37,900 hectares. The district produces 1.25 million tonnes of potatoes each year, and output will be well down this year.

The situation is not confined to Munshiganj. Although damage in the north was not very great, potatoes suffered considerably in the Dhaka division and in various districts of the south because of the cyclone. Overall this will have a big impact on this season's potato production, raising fears that output may fall below 10 million tonnes this year, against 10.6 million tonnes last year.

The government says the market will not be much affected because the country produces surplus potatoes. According to government data, 10.6 million tonnes of potatoes were produced in 2021, against demand of 8.5-9 million tonnes.

DAE director general Md Asadullah told Jagonews it was true that potato production was falling this year, but this would cause no problem, as production is far above demand.

Asadullah said output would fall, but where it would finally settle could not be said yet, not until information on completion of planting nationwide was available.

Agriculture ministry sources said this year's target is 10.651 million tonnes of potatoes from 487,400 hectares. Although the season is over, planting has been completed on only 397,612 hectares so far, 81 per cent of the target.

Meanwhile the association of cold storage owners says Cyclone Jawad and the depression caused extensive damage to potatoes.

It says potato farmers have been ruined by the cyclone. Four straight days of rain from Jawad and the depression that followed left water standing in potato fields in Dhaka, Munshiganj, Cumilla and other areas, destroying the seed potatoes. Along with farmers, cold storage owners will also face a crisis.

Mozammel Haque Chowdhury, general secretary of the Bangladesh Cold Storage Association, told Jagonews: "Given the situation, we are appealing everywhere to support potato farmers by supplying the seed, fertiliser and irrigation equipment they need, and to advise them. Many are replanting using table potatoes taken from cold storage as seed. That will not make up the loss, but it can reduce it."

Heavy rain from Cyclone Jawad also damaged aman rice on about 132,000 hectares of land. Together with potatoes and other winter crops, the damage will exceed 200,000 hectares.

The DAE says Jawad caused extensive damage to aman rice on about 132,967 hectares in 10 districts of the south-west. Precise figures for damage to other crops are not yet available.

The affected districts in the Jashore region are Jashore, Jhenaidah, Magura, Narail, Kushtia and Chuadanga, and in the Barishal region Barishal, Pirojpur, Jhalakathi and Patuakhali.

This is not the final tally of damage from Jawad, however.

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