The hopes of early potato growers in Thakurgaon have gone under water. Two days of continuous rain have flooded land freshly planted with early potatoes, affecting about one and a half thousand farmers in the district. Growers say those who planted seed potatoes within the past week fear serious losses.

In the potato fields of Akcha in Sadar upazila, every early-planted plot was under rainwater. In field after field, farmers were soaking in the rain as they dug out the submerged seed potatoes. The district office of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), however, does not think it necessary to lift the seed from the fields yet.

According to DAE Thakurgaon, the target this season is to grow potatoes on 28,515 hectares, of which about 500 hectares have so far been planted with early potatoes. The district received 65.6 mm of rain in two days, and about 255 hectares are affected.

Azmat, with his son beside him, was picking potatoes out of a flooded field and putting them in a basket. "If they stay under water the potatoes will rot. We planted them only a few days ago and now we have to lift them. We have lost a lot. I don't know how I will repay the loan," he said.

Mansur Mia, standing nearby, has planted early potatoes on 2 acres this year. "We made big losses on potatoes this year, so I dreamed of recovering some of it by growing early potatoes. But all my dreams have drowned," he said.

Potato grower Farukh Modi said farmers in the area plant early varieties every year hoping for higher profits in the potato season. "Last Wednesday morning I planted hybrid seed of the Romana variety on 40 decimals. The continuous rain has put us in trouble. If I cannot lift the seed from the field today, it will all rot," he said.

According to growers in Akcha village, about 30 farmers there have each planted seed potatoes on at least 8 to 10 bighas. Kamal has planted 14 bighas, Majed Uddin 12, Sohel Rana 12, Kamet Saku 12, Zaker Hossain 11 and Alauddin 10.

The same problem was seen in other parts of the district. Kamal said he had planted 56 sacks of seed potatoes on 14 bighas at a cost of about Tk 98,000. With about Tk 97,000 more for fertiliser, labour and ploughing, planting alone cost him nearly Tk 2 lakh. "Two days of continuous rain have caused me huge losses," he said.

Abu Hasen, deputy director of the agriculture department in Thakurgaon, said early potatoes are grown in the district every year in the hope of higher profits. The two days of rain are likely to have spoiled the seed on a good part of the planted land, and the extent can be measured once the water goes down.

He advised farmers not to lift potatoes from the fields while it is still raining but to leave them as they are, since lifting them will do no good and they will rot even if taken out. Once the rain eases, fungicides and bactericides can be used depending on conditions.

Source: Bangladesh Pratidin. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.