Seasons going wild
UNB, Dhaka :
Seasons in Bangladesh are shifting a bit arbitrarily as a result of changes in temperature, wind-flow and rainfall patterns, posing a serious threat to the country’s future food security, according to experts.
Changes in the elements of the climate can lead to changes in the behaviour of plants and other life forms that will eventually lead to a disarray of the agricultural calendar that have long been followed by the farmers of the country, they observed.
Take, for example, the rainfall the country has experienced this year. Although lesser than normal precipitation has been observed during the peak time of monsoon in July, heavy downpour is taking place in many places of the country as late in August.
Over 30 percent less precipitation was recorded in July this year against the expected rainfall, said Abdur Rahman, a meteorologist at Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
“We rely on rainwater for planting Aman paddy. But, this year, there was not that much rainfall during the planting period of July,” said Fazlur Rahman, a farmer of Kuliarchar upazila in Kishoreganj.
Khalilur Rahman, a jute farmer of Shovna village in Dumuria upazila, Khulna, said they fell in trouble in rotting and processing the fibre this year as there was a lack of water in rivers and
other water bodies due to scanty rainfall in July. He said, many of them have piled up harvested jute plants in their fields since there is lack of water to rot those.
Environmental expert Dr Atiq Rahman said farmers in the global south are facing difficulties with the cultivation of various crops according to the traditional agricultural calendar as they are experiencing late monsoon.
“Farmers are facing problem in rotting their jute plants for scanty of rainwater. Framers cannot plant their paddy in the traditional monsoon period due to lack of water. They obverse that something is not right,” he said.
The experience at the ground level also demonstrates the statement of a report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013.
The IPCC at its 26th session at Stockholm on September 26 last year published the ‘Summary for Policymakers’, which is based on the first component of the IPCC AR5, titled ‘Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis’. The report stated that prolongation of monsoon is taking place across the global south.
About winter, Dr Atiq noted that nowadays the winter is getting less biting, but with more fogs. “As the increased fog is affecting the crops adversely, the overall uncertainty in crop production is on the rise,” he said.
Besides rice, jute and other widely cultivated crops, flowering periods of various other plants have been shifting in the country due to the changing climate. Sheuli, an autumnal flower, is now blooming in the summer in some places.
Seasons in Bangladesh are shifting a bit arbitrarily as a result of changes in temperature, wind-flow and rainfall patterns, posing a serious threat to the country’s future food security, according to experts.
Changes in the elements of the climate can lead to changes in the behaviour of plants and other life forms that will eventually lead to a disarray of the agricultural calendar that have long been followed by the farmers of the country, they observed.
Take, for example, the rainfall the country has experienced this year. Although lesser than normal precipitation has been observed during the peak time of monsoon in July, heavy downpour is taking place in many places of the country as late in August.
Over 30 percent less precipitation was recorded in July this year against the expected rainfall, said Abdur Rahman, a meteorologist at Bangladesh Meteorological Department.
“We rely on rainwater for planting Aman paddy. But, this year, there was not that much rainfall during the planting period of July,” said Fazlur Rahman, a farmer of Kuliarchar upazila in Kishoreganj.
Khalilur Rahman, a jute farmer of Shovna village in Dumuria upazila, Khulna, said they fell in trouble in rotting and processing the fibre this year as there was a lack of water in rivers and
other water bodies due to scanty rainfall in July. He said, many of them have piled up harvested jute plants in their fields since there is lack of water to rot those.
Environmental expert Dr Atiq Rahman said farmers in the global south are facing difficulties with the cultivation of various crops according to the traditional agricultural calendar as they are experiencing late monsoon.
“Farmers are facing problem in rotting their jute plants for scanty of rainwater. Framers cannot plant their paddy in the traditional monsoon period due to lack of water. They obverse that something is not right,” he said.
The experience at the ground level also demonstrates the statement of a report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2013.
The IPCC at its 26th session at Stockholm on September 26 last year published the ‘Summary for Policymakers’, which is based on the first component of the IPCC AR5, titled ‘Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis’. The report stated that prolongation of monsoon is taking place across the global south.
About winter, Dr Atiq noted that nowadays the winter is getting less biting, but with more fogs. “As the increased fog is affecting the crops adversely, the overall uncertainty in crop production is on the rise,” he said.
Besides rice, jute and other widely cultivated crops, flowering periods of various other plants have been shifting in the country due to the changing climate. Sheuli, an autumnal flower, is now blooming in the summer in some places.
