Storm losses leave Bangladesh's maize growers under fresh pressure
March storms and heavy rain in Bangladesh have left maize growers facing new crop losses, weaker cash flow and a renewed risk of debt.
March storms and heavy rain have delivered another blow to agriculture in Bangladesh, and maize growers are among the producers now under the heaviest pressure. The source says potatoes, vegetables and Boro rice were also damaged, but the setback has been especially painful for farmers who had already shifted cropping plans this season in search of more dependable returns.
Across many northern districts, growers reduced potato area after last year's price collapse and moved into maize, hoping to benefit from stronger demand from the poultry and livestock feed industries. In the Rangpur region alone, the agricultural extension department said maize covered about 127,000 hectares across five districts, so the weather shock reached a large farm base.
The Department of Agricultural Extension said March rainfall damaged about 520 hectares of maize, especially on char lands. The article cites farmer Nurjahan Begum of Char Gobardhan in Lalmonirhat, who said she lost around 60% of the crop on 1.5 bighas and now may have to borrow again. For smallholders, losses at that scale immediately weaken working capital for the next planting cycle.
In the DAE's assessment across 18 districts, maize ranked as the second most affected crop after potatoes. Bananas, vegetables and Boro rice were also hit, adding to the broader income stress on rural households. For growers who had already reallocated land and cash from one crop to another, the latest storm damage showed that changing crop mix alone does not shield farms from climate and market risk.
Representatives of a platform defending landless laborers and small farmers called for immediate compensation and the introduction of crop insurance. Without those tools, they argued, farm families will be pushed deeper into debt after every extreme weather episode. The country's cold storage association separately asked for support for storm-hit potato producers whose output was also damaged by the rain.
The maize story points to a wider problem in Bangladesh's farm economy. Feed demand can encourage growers to pivot into crops with better market prospects, but weather shocks can quickly destroy those calculations before harvest. Unless public support systems for insurance, compensation and rapid loss assessment are strengthened, producers will continue to carry price, climate and debt risks at the same time.