Hailstorm damages crops in Lalmonirhat

Hailstorm damaged crops on around 1,500 bighas of land in eight villages of Mogholhat union under Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila on Friday night.

Eight tin-roofed houses were also damaged by the hailstorm in the union. The affected villages are Dakkhin Durakuti, Fulgachh, Banshtari, Chapartal, Kodalkhata, Bhatibari, Bamontari and Etapota.

tul Chandra Roy, 38, a vegetable seed producer at Dakkhin Durakuti village, said he prepared four bighas of land for producing hybrid chilli and bitter-gourd seeds, but they were destroyed. "I invested Tk 2 lakh, hoping to earn at least Tk 5 lakh by selling the seeds," he added.

Lakhkhi Kanta Barman, 48, a seed producer of the village, said "I produced hybrid chilli and bitter-gourd seeds on five bighas of land. I would have harvested the seeds from my fields in the third week of the current month, but all my preparation was in vain because the hailstorm damaged the crop," he said.

Sudhir Chandra Barman, 60, a farmer at Banshtari village, said the hailstorm damaged boro paddy on four bighas of land. "I had decided to harvest the paddy from my filed on Saturday, but it got damaged," he added.

Habibur Rahman, chairman of Mogholhat Union Parishad, said crops on 15,00 bighas of land were badly affected by the hailstorm and the damage could be worth around Tk 15 cr. "The affected farmers will get help from the union parishad and the local administration," he said.

Officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension visited the affected villages to assess the loss.