This season farmer Nazim Uddin grew tomatoes on 40 decimals of land. The yield was good, but last week a few plants in his field showed black and reddish colouring on the stems. Now all his tomatoes and tomato plants have been scorched, leaving him facing a heavy financial loss. It is not only Nazim Uddin: 11 more farmers in Imamnagar village of Bhatiary union, Sitakunda, are in the same situation, and every one of them has lost tomatoes that were ready for sale.

In Imamnagar, local farmers have grown various vegetables on large stretches of coastal land, but tomatoes are the main crop. The plants in almost every tomato field have died. The leaves have turned black and scorched, the stems have drooped, and large tomatoes are dropping off. The tomatoes too have turned blackish, and most have rotted.

Md Sohel of Imamnagar grew tomatoes on 28 decimals, and the same disease has appeared in his field. His whole crop has been scorched and has rotted; far from selling it, he could not even eat the produce he worked so hard for. Mostakim, Rubel, Nur Mia and Sumon are in the same state.

Twelve farmers grew tomatoes on 160 decimals of land by the sea in the Imamnagar area, and many others grew smaller plots. None of them has tomatoes fit to sell or eat; the blackening disease has ruined everything, leaving them deeply disappointed.

Farmer Nazim Uddin said: "My total cost was Tk 60,000. I can't sell even one taka's worth of tomatoes. Agriculture department people have never set foot in this area. They haven't even checked on us."

Md Rubel said: "If we had got advice, we could have been saved. But they didn't even give that much advice. We have no idea about this disease. This is the first time it has appeared in our area's fields."

Farmers allege that Mahbub Alam, the sub-assistant agriculture officer for the upazila's Bhatiary block, has never visited the area, has not given farmers the least advice, and does not even know most of them. The farmers do not know exactly what caused the disease. Some say the pesticide did not work; others blame chemicals from the shipbreaking industry.

Mahbub Alam, the sub-assistant agriculture officer in charge of the Bhatiary union block, denied the allegation. He claimed he visits Imamnagar regularly, but he could not name any farmer; the one or two names he gave were pure guesswork.

Mahbub Alam said: "The disease came to the tomatoes because of excessive fog. We suggested a pesticide to farmers for this disease. But the pesticides the Imamnagar farmers used were non-brand ones, used as they pleased. So the pesticide didn't work."

Habib Ullah, Sitakunda upazila agriculture officer, said: "The disease found in the tomato plants is called nabi dhosa [late blight]. Once affected, the crop is ruined within a few days. Any plant where it appears must be cut immediately and buried in the soil, otherwise the disease may spread. The medicine the farmers used is not for this disease."

On agriculture officials not visiting Imamnagar, he said: "Perhaps there wasn't contact with every farmer. Our officers and staff always serve sincerely."

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