DOT Desk: Continuous cold wave coupled with dense fog that sweeps across the country is likely to keep an adverse effect on seasonal crops, including Boro seedlings, reports the Daily Star.
Because of heavy cold and dense fog, crops are getting attacked by insects resulting in fungal diseases, cold injury and late blight et cetera.
Boro seedlings may turn yellow and will subsequently die following cold injury in severe cold. Moreover, dense fog and intense cold wave hinder growth of different crops.
Moreover, dense fog continued to disrupt communications on
roads, waterways and airways across the country for the last couple of days.
Some flights were delayed while ferry services remained suspended for several hours due to thick fog on Saturday.
AZM Sabbir Ibne Jahan, acting director of the Plant Protection Wing of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), said to this correspondent that fungus might attack mustard, lentil and grass pea during severe cold while tomatoes and potatoes might be affected by late blight diseases. He also said that during cold wave, betel leaves might fall and mango flowers might be damaged.
“Farmers may protect crops taking early measures, but if ongoing cold wave continues for 10-12 days then their crops will be affected,” he said.
The DAE has asked the farmers to protect their seedlings from cold by covering them with polythene at daytime to increase temperature, but to keep it open at night.
“In a bid to prevent tomato and potato from late blight diseases, farmers should use fungicide,” the official said.
The DAE also provides support to farmers through field-level officers to help save their crops from being damaged.
Sahin Hossain, a farmer at Sirajganj, said to this correspondent that some of his tomato plants were affected by late blight disease and he is worried about the fate of rest of his crops.
He is spraying fungicide to protect the crops, but the diseases are not eliminating totally that already affected one third of plants on his two bighas of land.
The DAE official said that Boro seedling might turn yellow due to severe cold wave and fog.
“Farmers should water their seedlings to protect them from damage,” he said.
“Betel gardens must have to cover with polythene so that betel leaves can be protected from cold injury,” he further said.
Mild to moderate cold wave is sweeping over the regions of Tangail, Faridpur, Madaripur, Gopalganj, Mymensingh, Sitakunda, Moulvibazar, Rajshahi, Pabna, Noagaon, Dinajpur, Sayedpur of Nilphamari, Panchagarh, Kurigram, Khulna, Satkhira, Jashore, Chudanga, Barishal and Bhola, according to Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD).
The cold wave many continue through the month while two mild to moderate cold wave (8-10°C) or (6-8 °C) and two severe cold waves (4-6 °C) might hit in the ongoing month, said a meteorologist at BMD.
Light to moderate fog is likely to occur at places across the country during mid night to morning.
Night temperature may remain nearly unchanged and day temperature may rise slightly across the country.
The lowest 7.6 degrees Celsius was recorded in Jashore on Saturday, forecasted BMD.
If the intensity of cold wave increases then it will badly affect the crop output, agricultural experts feared.