Shamiran Biswas

Frequent load shedding is a threat to agriculture:

There is no electricity for hours across the country. Load shedding is going on everywhere from village-town to port-city, house-house, market, shopping mall or office-court. Hour-long load shedding has started across the country as per schedule.

However, the agriculture department is worried about the plantation. On one side is load shedding, on the other side, agricultural land is burning due to drought in full monsoon. Farmers want special facilities for irrigation. The country's farmers are expected to suffer the most from the impact of load shedding across the country. This decision of the government is thinking about the agriculture department.

On the other hand, farmers are struggling to irrigate with shallow machines as the price of diesel increases. In such a situation, load shedding has become a grave blow to the dead. They are worried about irrigation. Frequent load-shedding of electricity and shortage of water for irrigation in intense heat has disrupted public life.

As a result, no one including working people is able to work properly. This upazila known as Barendra region is burning due to severe drought. Heat and humid has increased. There is restlessness among people in extreme heat. Frequent load shedding and prolonged heat waves have made public life miserable. In the hope of earning, they have to work hard despite the hot weather.

It is reported that the water in the ring wells has dried up due to the installation of peas in various areas. On the other hand, irrigation cannot be done properly with underground water. As a result, many people believe that the production of Aush and Aman rice may be disrupted due to irrigation shortage in many areas.

This will increase the production cost of rice. Additional irrigation has to be given due to drought. They said that frequent load shedding is causing severe disruption to irrigation work. As a result, they are also worried about whether they will be able to maintain Aush and Aman production. They said, if this drought continues, the production of rice may be less. Frequent irrigation is required due to lack of rain.

He thinks that seasonal fruits like mango and jackfruit can be damaged in this season due to lack of rain. And if there is no rain, there may be some adverse effect on the production of Aush and Aman crops in this upazila. Load shedding, for this reason thousands of deep tube wells are running in our country; It is not possible for us to continue it continuously.

The impact of load shedding has started to fall on the agriculture, fisheries and poultry sectors. It is also negatively affecting producers who depend on irrigation to water their crops as the quality and quantity of crops is affected. The impact of load shedding can be severe on some primary producers and may even cause farmers to stop farming. Load shedding has affected the production of agricultural components in Bogra.

Irrigation pumps are shut down due to continuous load shedding. The soil of the field is cracking, but it is not possible to give water. If the land is not irrigated at this time, the desired crop production will be hindered. Farmers of the area are becoming disoriented due to lack of uninterrupted electricity.

Heat wave has put agriculture at risk!

According to a report published in World Bank Climate Knowledge, the average temperature of Bangladesh is 26 degrees Celsius. The temperature range is 15 to 34 degrees Celsius. Therefore, in our country, if the temperature of a region is maximum 36 degrees Celsius, it is considered as a mild burn. A moderate burn is considered when the temperature exceeds 38 degrees Celsius.

And if the temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius, it is considered that there is a severe fire. Temperatures are currently close to scorching in Dhaka. If an area experiences unusually hot weather for a period of two days to a month, it can be called a heat wave. This intense hot weather is called heat wave.

Burning is not good for biodiversity and agriculture. This results in severe crop damage. Thousands of people die every year due to heatstroke. Wildfires increase the risk of wildfires. Due to climate change, the weather is becoming unstable all over the world. Yet we are still burning fossil fuels, destroying forests, using plastic every day. As a result, agriculture has become a serious threat!

When something positive happens in agriculture, three more negative news come to the fore. When the crops were good, the flood came and swept them away. Sometimes the crops were destroyed by heavy rains. But this time there is a new fear. And that is intense heat or burning. According to the Meteorological Department, this heat wave may continue for some more time. Every year at the beginning of summer, intense wildfires sweep across the country. Due to the impact of global warming and climate change, it has been predicted by global organizations at different times that we will have to deal with such prolonged droughts, fires and no rains almost every year in the coming days.

Global warming will have a major long-term impact on agricultural production and food security in the future, experts said. According to the report titled 'Bangladesh Sector Assessment and Strategy' published in March, Bangladesh will lose 2 percent of its GDP by 2050 due to climate change alone. Along with this, crop diseases and insect attacks will also increase.

Even due to moderate climate change, rice production in the country will decrease by 17 percent. Due to heat its rate will decrease by 61 percent. The main cause of this crop loss will be prolonged fire and drought. Due to increased temperature and humidity in the environment, the productivity of the workers will be affected along with the production in the agricultural sector.

Apart from this, drought, salinity and other natural disasters will have a negative impact on the country's fisheries. Unplanned urbanization and development will further complicate these crises. Food security, livelihoods and lives will be affected overall.

Various damages due to climate change have become visible in the country's crop production. A few days ago due to wide difference in day and night temperature, rice blast disease occurred in different districts. It has caused some damage to crops. Again, there is fear of various types of damage including rice paddies due to fire. Rice researchers are seeing the danger of 'heat shock' in rice as the daily temperature is regularly above 35 degrees Celsius. Farmers in drought affected districts are now in dire straits.

They are having trouble working in the hot sun. Boro rice and vegetables have to be irrigated daily. On the one hand, the irrigation cost of the farmer has increased, on the other hand, there has been pressure on the underground water. 2-3 inches of water must be kept in the paddy till the grain hardens.

Irrigation should also be ensured to protect fruit and vegetable seedlings from heat wave damage. Due to the prolonged drought, the ground water level is getting lower day by day from different parts of the country. Weather experts said that the temperature may rise further. The impact of forest fires on the agricultural sector is severe. Rising temperatures due to climate change will increase drought levels in the coming days. It will also reduce the availability of water for irrigation. In addition to farmers being distressed, the food security crisis will also increase.

Since we cannot reduce the heat, we have to move towards heat tolerant agricultural systems. Coastal areas should be cultivated with salt tolerant varieties. Importance should be given to cultivation of various crops including mango and litchi in Barendra region. Agriculture depends on climate. Climate change will make the weather unbearable. Rainy season- will change. Salinity will increase. In the last Ashar-Shrabon there has been much less rain than normal. Again Bhadra-Ashain received more rain than normal. As coastal salinity increases, it will increase further. Floods in Haor region, heavy late monsoon rains in south-west, drought in north Bengal, overall increase in temperature and consequent increase in insect attacks will have gradual impact.

Climate change crises have also threatened the existence of beneficial crop insects. Again this problem has been made more evident by indiscriminate application of chemicals and pesticides in agriculture. The temperature is felt higher than that in Bangladesh, because the humidity has decreased a lot. As a result of dealing with climate change, their effects are reaching such a level that management is becoming very difficult. The management of which is becoming very difficult. Climate change is a global problem. Bangladesh can't really do anything alone. It will be very difficult for Bangladesh to deal with this problem alone in the coming days.

The writer is a, Lead-Agriculturist, Dhaka.