Four days of heavy rainfall from 9 to 12 July caused around Tk11 crore in losses to fisheries and agriculture in Khulna district, according to the District Fisheries Office and the Department of Agricultural Extension.
The preliminary assessment showed that fish farming suffered losses of Tk10.75 crore, while agricultural damage stood at around Tk1 crore. Hundreds of fish enclosures and crop fields were submerged due to the adverse weather.
District Fisheries Officer of Khulna Md Badruzzaman said eight unions across nine upazilas were affected by the excessive rainfall, damaging 1,462 ponds, lakes and fish enclosures.
He said 60 per cent of the fisheries losses were incurred by shrimp farmers. Dumuria, a major shrimp farming area in Khulna division, suffered the highest damage, with around 650 fish enclosures affected and losses estimated at Tk8.60 crore.
Of the losses in Dumuria, white fish farmers suffered damage worth Tk4.10 crore, while shrimp farmers incurred losses of Tk4.50 crore. Infrastructure-related losses were around Tk6 lakh, Badruzzaman said.
Shrimp farmer Mahtab Hossain of Dumuria said farmers could not anticipate such heavy rainfall.
“Shrimp farmers have just started fry cultivation, which will continue for another six months. It will take some time to recover from this loss,” he said, adding that further rainfall could increase the damage.
In the agriculture sector, Sub-assistant Agriculture Officer of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Khulna region, Foyez Ahmed Mina said nine upazilas of Khulna suffered around Tk1 crore in losses due to the rainfall.
Watermelon farmers faced the highest losses at around Tk65 lakh, while combined losses from paddy and vegetables stood at Tk31 lakh. A total of 1,340 farmers were affected and 33 hectares of farmland were damaged.
Foyez Ahmed Mina said the combined damage in Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira and Narail districts was around Tk4.5 crore. Aus paddy farmers suffered the highest losses among the four districts at Tk1.40 crore, followed by vegetable farmers.
The four districts together recorded 7,736 affected farmers and 180 hectares of damaged farmland.
Many farmers said they were unable to prepare seedbeds until rainwater receded, disrupting some vegetable cultivation.
Khulna Weather Office official Mizanur Rahman said the district received 424mm of rainfall in July until 14 July, compared with 360mm during the same period last year.
He said rainfall may increase slightly from 16-17 July due to the possibility of a low-pressure system forming over the sea. However, he said rainfall would not be as heavy as the 8-12 July period, which was caused by a depression.
