Miscreants have destroyed papaya trees on three bighas of land belonging to a farmer named Hafiz Uddin (40) in Jhaudia village, Shailkupa, Jhenaidah, by poisoning them.

On the morning of 21 July he went to the field and found all the papaya trees dying. Hafiz Uddin is the son of Mofiz Uddin of the Shailkupa municipal area.

Enquiries found that Hafiz Uddin had grown papaya on three bighas this year, and the trees had begun to bear fruit. But under cover of darkness someone poisoned all the trees, which are now dying. Of the 1,500 papaya trees in the orchard, 800 have already died.

Hafiz Uddin said: "I built the papaya orchard at a cost of about five lakh taka. The trees had started bearing fruit. This morning I came to the field and saw all the trees dying."

Shailkupa Upazila Agriculture Officer Arifuzzaman said the damage was initially thought to have been caused by a liquid poison called glyphosate. The affected farmer has been given all necessary advice.

Masum Khan, officer-in-charge (OC) of Shailkupa police station, said such hostility towards crops was utterly inhumane. The victim had been advised to file a complaint at the police station, and action would be taken subject to investigation.

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