Erratic rainfall damages crop yields

The flood-like situation triggered by unusual rainfall in July in different parts of the country, including the south-eastern region, has caused an extensive damage to agricultural produce.

According to a draft calculation of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), about 144,000 hectares of agricultural land of Aman, Aush and vegetables have been submerged by the flood.

Of them, districts like Cox’s Bazar, Chittagong, Feni, Noakhali and Lakshmipur have seen extensive damage to their crop land, putting farmers in real trouble, said an additional director of the DAE.

The soon-to-be finalised draft of the DAE says at least 43,760 hectares of Aman and 40,913 hectares of Aush land have gone under flood water in the southern zone.

On the other hand, farmers in the northern districts had to pay extra for the cultivation of Aman paddy as they had to turn to commercial irrigation due to insufficient rainfall.

Agricultural economist Mahabub Hossain said the Aush paddy is the most vulnerable in this situation as it is in its final stage and farmers usually harvest the paddy in August-September.

About Aman paddy, the former executive director of Brac said many farmers would not be able to cultivate Aman paddy this season as most of the seedlings had already been destroyed in those areas.

If the government comes forward to provide available seedlings to farmers, the damage could be recovered to some extent, but the major devastation has already taken its toll, he observed.

This year monsoon has experienced a pretty long period of unusual rainfall throughout the country.

According to Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the south-eastern part of the country that includes Chittagong, Rangmati and Cox’s Bazar districts have seen about 65% more rainfall in July, the month that is considered to be mid-monsoon.

However, the northern Rangpur division experienced 30% less rainfall during the same period, the Met office said.

The Met office data shows normal rainfall in Chittagong division in July is 720mm while it experienced 1,322mm this season.

In Rangpur division, usually 416mm rainfall is recorded in July but this time it was only 266mm.

The projected rainfall in the month of July in Bangladesh was 3,308mm while the country has already experienced 4,750mm, which is more than usual.

In Bangladesh, July-September is considered the monsoon.

The Met office in its one month climate outlook issued for August says the country might experience erratic rainfall across the country in the current month too.

It also forecasts more than one monsoonal depressions in the Bay of Bengal.

Arif Hossain, a meteorologist at Bangladesh Meteorological Department, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the variation in rainfall is not unlikely, but this year it is a bit more unusual. He cited the cyclonic storm Komen as an example, saying that Bangladesh had not experienced such a storm at this time of the year in the past few decades.

The cyclonic storm Komen hit the Noakhali coast on July 30 after weakening as a land depression.

Dr Saleemul Huq, director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development, said the cyclone during the monsoon could not be related to climate change directly although “such natural calamity could be the result of changing pattern of the global climate.”

According to the fifth assessment report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Bangladesh is at specific risk from the impact of climate change due to its exposure to sea-level rise and extreme events like salinity intrusion, drought, erratic rainfall, unusual cyclonic event and tidal surge, which will hamper the country’s food as well as livelihood security.

In addition, the landslide due to erratic rainfall last month in south-eastern Bangladesh including Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Bandarban killed more than a dozen people.