Severe Cold and Dense Fog
Late blight disease worries potato growers
Farmers spray pesticide 'Mancozed' in their potato field at Mondolerhat village of Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, in an attempt to minimise the effect of late blight disease caused by the unusually long cold wave accompanied by dense fog during the current season. Photo: STAR
Potato cultivators in the district are worried about the yield of the popular winter vegetable this season as severe cold and dense fog have caused late blight disease. As much as 5,450 hectares of land in the district have been brought under potato cultivation against the target of 4,150 hectares this season, said officials of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Lalmonirhat. But the prolonged cold and dense fog caused the outbreak of late blight in some potato fields, and the farmers, who cultivated potato on more areas of lands with hope to recover the losses from last year's paddy farming, now face production fall due to the disease, they said. Fourteen tonnes of potato is likely to be produced per hectare of land this year whereas the yield was around 20 tonnes last season, DAE sources said. Farmers, on the other hand, have expressed fear that the production may fall down to 10 to 12 tonnes. "I cultivated potato on four bighas of land last year. I have cultivated it on six bighas of land this season with hope to gain good profit. But about one bigha of potato field has already been attacked with late blight disease. I have been using pesticide but to no effect,†said Habibur Rahaman, 48, of Fulgachh village in Sadar upazila. Ansar Ali, 50, of Mondolerhat village in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila, said he has cultivated potato on 12 bighas of land at the village but late blight has affected the vegetable on two bighas. "I have sprayed pesticides two times during the last five days but to no result. If the spread of the disease cannot be stopped, I will have to incur loss due to production fall,†he said. Mobarok Islam, 52, of Komlabari village in Aditmari upazila, said potato on three bighas of land out of the 20 bighas cultivated by him has been attacked by late blight. "I have been able to save potato from the disease on one bigha by spraying pesticide 'Mancozed' but I am not getting any result in rest two bighas of affected field by spraying the same item," he said. Potato growers Jobbar Ali, 48, Moniruzzaman Miah, 57, Moshiur Rahman, 40, and a few others at Kakina village of Kaliganj upazila alleged that they went to the local agriculture office but the officials failed to give them 'proper advice' about dealing with late blight disease. Following suggestion from pesticide shop owners, they used pesticide but it did not bring good result, they said. Abdul Mazid, deputy director of DAE in Lalmonir-hat, said, "Agriculture officials are suggesting potato farmers to use anti-fungal medicines to save the crop from late blight. We always encourage farmers to come to agriculture offices for suggestion regarding any kind of problem."
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