Floods caused by a week of continuous rain and hill runoff from 6 to 12 July have caused heavy damage to agriculture in Rangamati. Crops on thousands of hectares were washed away, and the district agriculture office says 3,675 hectares of farmland were damaged.

According to the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Rangamati, the flood damaged 3,675 hectares of the district's 53,766 hectares under cultivation. This includes 699 hectares of high-yielding Aus, 461 hectares of local Aus, 1,136 hectares of summer vegetables, 422 hectares of ginger, 344 hectares of turmeric, 203 hectares of Aman seedbeds and 410 hectares of horticultural crops.

The worst-hit areas in the district were Farua union in Bilaichhari upazila and Bhushanchhara union in Barkal upazila, while many low-lying areas of Baghaichhari and Juraichhari upazilas were flooded.

Jagatmoy Chakma of Jangeyachhara village in Bhushanchhara union, Barkal, said he had invested Tk 1,40,000 to plant 872 papaya trees on 2 bighas of land. The trees were bearing well and he expected a harvest of about 22,000 to 23,000 kg of papaya.

"But a week of continuous rain submerged the orchard and finished everything. The water has receded, but the papaya trees are now dying and the fruit is dropping. I have lost about Tk 8 to 9 lakh," he said.

Farm entrepreneur Sushanta Tanchangya of Magban union in Rangamati Sadar upazila said the rain caused the soil on about 80 decimals of his orchard to collapse, burying more than a hundred dragon fruit saplings, 100 jujube (boroi) saplings and 1,000 pineapple saplings. His financial loss is about Tk 1,50,000, he said.

Md Moniruzzaman, deputy director of DAE in Rangamati, said Baghaichhari and Bilaichhari were the worst-hit upazilas for agriculture. A total of 3,675 hectares of farmland were damaged in the district, about 11,000 farmers were affected, and the farm sector suffered financial losses of Tk 61.45 crore.

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