Severe cold and thick fog persisting for the last couple of weeks has badly affected betel leaf cultivation in seven upazilas of the district.
Due to the situation, frustrated betel leaf growers in the district are now facing a major setback.
A number of farmers in the area said severe cold and dense fog for the last three weeks causes dropping of the betel leaves from the plants, which will force them to incur a huge loss this season.
“During this time every year, betel leaf drops off the plants but the amount of fallen leaves is huge this time,” said Hanif Mridha, a grower of Narkhali village in Sadar upazila.
“Being affected with cold injuries betel leaves are turning yellowish,” farmer Bimol Krishna Sikder of Baro Khalisakhlai village in the upazila said, adding that if the leaves continue dropping off the stalks the plants will start dying.
To save the leaves from dropping off the plants growers have covered their entire gardens with straw fencing and polythene sheets, but to no effect, he said.
Arbindo Biswas, training officer at the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Pirojpur, said in the beginning of this winter, they gave necessary advice to the growers about how to save their betel leaves from cold and fog.
According to the sources at DAE in Pirojpur, betel leaf is cultivated on 706 hectares of land in seven upazilas, including Bhandaria, Kawkhali and Nesarabad upazilas, of the district.
