despite the two recent floods which forced farmers to plant seedlings
late, Bangladesh has achieved season's target of cultivation of paddy on 5.3 million hectares,
say officials. In August and September, the country faced two massive floods which affected
two-thirds of its land, especially in the central districts around greater Dhaka. Many farmers
lost second paddy crops planted after the first flood.
Recently, from many parts of the country there were reports of isolated pest attacks on late monsoon amon crops. The
reports have caused widespread concern among farmers over an impending food crisis with the price
of essentials steadily going up. But officials at Bangladesh's Directorate of Agricultural
Extension (dae) say pest attacks on the amon crops are not going
to be as devastating as expected. Nure Elahi, director general of the Bangladesh Rice Research
Institute says most amon paddy crops are matured and are strong enough to survive pest attacks.
Moreover, insects that usually breed fast in the monsoon will disappear in the
winter and the current harvest in November will not be affected, says Altaf Hossain, director,
Plant Protection wing of dae . Another dae
official says the body also plans to give maximum support to the farmers for the next
boro paddy crop during the dry season which gives the highest yield of the three paddy crops.
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