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Diesel scarcity hampers irrigation

Drought hits Boro, Rabi crops in Jamalpur

From Our Correspondent
JAMALPUR, March 31 : Prolonged drought .has severely affected Boro. Rabi and other crops throughout Jamalpur district
Boro paddy is usually harvested in the months of Chaitra and Balshak in the low lying areas of Jamalpur Sadar. Melanda. Sharlsha Bari. I slam -pur. Bakshiganj. Dewnaganj and Madarganj upazilas. But the persistent drought has caused substantial damage to the standing crops.
It is estimated that at least 25 per cent of Boro Paddy has already been damaged due to absence of rains.
On the other hand lands prepared for cultivation of Aus and jute have been lying fallow for want of rains.
Besides. Aus Paddy, jute, vegetables and other seasonal crops are either drying up or becoming retarded. To cope with the situation the con-
cerned dfepartment has under taken a programme to cultivate jute on 25.000 acres of land, but the Jute seeds have been sown so far on only five per cent of the total acreage.
Betelnut, another essential cash crop of the district has already been damaged following drought.
The prospect of pulse production also seems to be bleak in the absence of shower.
Acute shortage of diesel and its abnormal price hike has left 150 deep tubewells (DTW) and 1000 shallow tubewells (STW) out of operation in Sherpur district.
As the DTW s and STWs could not be utilized, the cultivation of Irri- Boro paddy has been hit very badly In the current farming season. The standing irri-Boro paddy in thousands of acres of lands have already turned grey.
The agricultural extension officials, who were optimistic
of a bumper production during the current season are now reassessing the situation with a grim note and expecting a shortfall in production compared to the earlier targets.
The scarcity of diesel has aggravated the farmers' woes in such a time when they put their best to raise the production to the optimum level for making over the losses they sustained during the devastating floods in the last two Aman seasons.
BPC admits shortage
The three oil companies — Jamuna, Meghna and Burma Eastern which are the subsidiaries of the state-owned of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has declared scarcity of oil last month and refused to supply required oil to Baghabart oil depot
The dally requirement of diesel during the current Irri-
Boro season is one million litres, supply of which is very short in the oil depot
According to the sources, diesel used to sell at Taka 14.40 per litre previously which is now being sold at 45 to 50 per litre in different hats and bazars of the districts.
Dishonest traders
It is further learnt that the unscrupulous dealers and traders are allegedly mixing cheap kerosene with diesel to reap additional benefits In this scarce situation. But such mixture of kerosene with diesel will ultimately cause severe damage to irrigation machinery and also to automobile engines.
Meanwhile, kerosene price has also shot up which Is now selling in several places in Jamalpur and Sherpur district at Taka 90 per gallon.