Agri production fall feared amid heatwave

Local people collect water in long queues at the Dharmarajika Buddhist Monastery at Basabo in the face of water crisis in the capital amid the ongoing countrywide hot spell. | — New Age photo Rice fields began developing cracks as vast landscapes lay parched from about two weeks of intense heat conditions, with farmers battling a severe power crisis in irrigating cropland. Farmers, hit hard by inflation for over two years now, on top of the Covid-19 pandemic aftermath, face potentially catastrophic consequences as the government has left them on their own, asking them to irrigate fields using diesel-run water pumps. Crop fields lay badly scorched from a blazing sun that has burned most of Bangladesh with temperatures above 36C since April 11, except for days when it got as warm as 40C or even more, squeezing every bit of moisture out of the soil. On Wednesday, Bangladesh’s maximum temperature of 41.6C was recorded in Mongla, with a severe heatwave sweeping over the entire division of Khulna and the districts of Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Rajshahi, Pabna, Faridpur, and Gopalganj. The Directorate General of Health Services confirmed three more deaths in heat strokes, taking the official death toll to four, less than a fourth of the deaths unofficially reported in the heatwave. The combined strike of heat and drought stresses could bear significant consequences, agriculturists warned, explaining how temperatures above 35C affect the physiology of plants, potentially decimating yields. Besides the staple grain boro, there are over a dozen crops in the field, agriculturists said, in addition to horticulture crops such as mango and litchi. The main concern, however, arose over potential boro production losses. Boro accounts for about half of Bangladesh’s annual rice grain production of about 4 crore. The heatwave showed no sign of letting up anytime  soon and rather worsened over the past two days. Load-shedding neared 1,500MW on Wednesday. ‘Four hours of power supply after midnight is all farmers need to save the day,’ said Abdullah Al Faisal, upazila agriculture officer, Jamalpur, reporting cracks developed in some fields in Chhobilapur. But power cuts are so frequent in the rural areas of Jamalpur, like many other villages in Bangladesh, that farmers do not get even the minimum supply of electricity. Faisal informed the local power office about the situation, but it yielded no result. ‘Farmers have been advised to arrange for irrigation using diesel,’ he said. High temperatures and droughts impact rice plants at every stage of their growth, agronomists said. The higher the temperature, the more the rice plant uses its energy to cool off rather than forming grain, explained Abdul Kader, who teaches agronomy at Bangladesh Agricultural University. High temperatures and drought also dry up the sticky substance on which pollen are stuck in the process of pollination, he said. ‘Rice production gets hampered when the temperature exceeds 35C,’ said Kader, sharing his fear that 40C might seriously affect production. ‘Only artificial irrigation can save farmers,’ he said. Over 80 per cent of boro cultivated on 48.56 lakh hectares is still in the field, mostly at the flowering stage, implying that their pollination could seriously be impacted by the extreme heat conditions, according to officials at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute. The present time is very crucial for rice growth in Bangladesh, the BRRI officials said, explaining that the temperature staying above 36C even for a very brief period could seriously hamper flowering, particularly between the hours of 9:30am and 11:30am. ‘Less flowering means less grain and more sterility,’ said Niaz Md Farhat Rahman, principal scientific officer, BRRI. The BRRI advised farmers to maintain a water depth of five to seven cm in rice fields and harvest rice once it is 80 per cent mature. The heat might not have any impacts on mature rice plants, BRRI officials said. The physiologies of other plants are impacted almost in the same way as rice plants by heat and drought stresses. Extreme temperatures also affect photosynthesis in plants by causing leaves to burn, cringe, or disfigure in any other way. The neck blast disease could also be triggered by high temperatures. Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute senior scientific officer Muhammad Nazim Uddin feared that a fourth of all vegetable production in the season could fall because of the heatwave. Excessive temperature at the time of flowering could result in plants having excessive male flowers, he said, adding that at least 15 summer vegetables were in the field. ‘Too much dryness could also make it difficult for trees to hold onto their flowers,’ said Nazim. New Age Staff Correspondent in Rajshahi reported a great loss of flowers and buds in mango and litchi trees. Ahsan Habib, a mango farmer in Shibganj, Chapainawabganj, said that his mango orchard lost 30 per cent of its buds because of heat and drought. Another farmer in Iswardi of Pabna, Selim Reza, told New Age that his litchi orchards on 15 bighas of the land saw fifty per cent less flowering. The heatwave and drought are also drying up jute and maize fields in the Chars in Rajshahi. The Bangladesh Meteorological Department, in its daily weather bulletin issued at 6:00pm predicted the weather to remain hot and dry the rest of the month, except for some rainfall in Sylhet and Chattogram. The BMD said that a mild to moderate heatwave was sweeping over Barishal division and the rest of Rangpur, Rajshahi, and Dhaka divisions, as well as the districts of Mymensingh, Moulviabazar, Rangamati, Chandpur, Noakhali, Feni, and Bandarban. Dhaka saw the temperature rise to 39.2C on Wednesday. At 1:00am on Wednesday, load-shedding reached 1,468MW with 14,163MW generated against the demand of 15,700MW. Bangladesh has an installed capacity of over 27,000MW. Half of the capacity stays idle because of fuel shortages. Almost all educational institutions have suspended in-person classes and switched to online classes because of the heatwave. Dhaka recorded the second-hottest day on April 20 in 64 years.
Published on: 2024-04-24 20:38:09.735988 +0200 CEST