Farmers of Rajshahi are worried about their seedlings of Boro paddy as the bitter chill and foggy weather threaten to wither away the seedlings at the seed beds in various upazilas including in Charghat of Rajshahi. Due to insufficient sunlight, seedlings in some seed beds have turned yellowish and bleached.
However, the local Agriculture Officials opined that seedbeds of the region being situated comparatively on elevated ground, the situation is not yet worrying enough to damage the seedlings. The field-level officials are regularly supervising the Boro seedbeds and advising the farmers about their dos and don'ts to save the seedlings.
According to the sources of the Rajshahi district Agriculture Extension Department, a target of Boro paddy cultivation in the district has been fixed on 65,600 hectares of land and the target of producing seedlings was on 3,400 hectares of land but the seedbeds have been made on 4,582 hectares of land. The farmers would be able to sell their seedlings outside the district after meeting the demands locally.
A delayed winter during this season has helped the smooth growth of Boro seedlings during mid-December but due to dense fog and bitter cold winter aftermath, the farmers are worried about their seedbeds. If the seedlings at the seedbeds are damaged, it would create an adverse impact on Boro Paddy production as well.
It is learnt, a dense fog with chilly, cold wind has been continuing for the last four days. There was no bright, hot sunshine throughout the days.
Abdus Salam, Senior Observator of Rajshahi Meteorological Office informed, the lowest temperature recorded this year was 10.7 degrees Celsius on January 8. In Rajshahi, the lowest recorded temperature was 11.8 degrees Celsius on January 10 and 13.5 degrees Celsius on January 11. He opined the cold weather with the wind is likely to continue for the next one week and the fog might hang further during the daytime.
Braja Hari Das, former Deputy Director of the Meteorological Department of Rajshahi informed if the adverse wintry weather and fog linger, the seedlings at the beds will be damaged but if the seedbeds get sufficient sunlight, there will be no damage to the seedlings.
However, farmers were weeding, spraying water and pesticides in their seedbeds and many farmers were covering their seedbeds with transparent polythene sheets from the afternoon to the late morning.
Farmer Belel Hossain of Koi Danga village under Charghat upazila has sowed Boro seeds on four bighas of land. He would transplant Boro seedlings on three bighas of land and would sell the excess seedlings in the market. He said, there was no substantial damage to the Boro seedlings as the seedbeds are situated on elevated lands but the seedbeds are facing scarcity of water. He is irrigating the seedbeds daily resulting in an additional cost for the production of the seedlings.
Lutfun Naher, Upazila Agriculture Officer of Charghat informed, some seedbeds of Boro paddy might be damaged due to winter and fog but the seedbeds on the elevated grounds are unlikely to be damaged. The farmers are advised about the ways of saving their seedbeds during such adverse weather. There is no reason to damage the seedlings on the beds if those are taken care of properly, she added.
