Over 1 million tons of rice destroyed by floods in Bangladesh
Floods in Bangladesh destroyed around 1.1 million tons of rice this year with August and October 2024 having had the worst impact.
Floods in Bangladesh - August 2024. Credit: Al Jazeera (stillshot)
According to the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, this year’s floods have destroyed nearly 1.1 million tons of rice, prompting higher rice imports as food prices increase.
“The government is moving quickly to import 500 000 tons of rice and is expected to allow private sector imports soon,” said an official from the food ministry.
More than 200 000 tons of vegetables were severely damaged by the floods. The estimated total agricultural losses due to flooding in the country are 45 billion taka ($338 million).
Bangladesh’s increased imports may boost exports from India, which reduced the duty on parboiled rice to 10 % in September.
August and October were the months most affected by heavy monsoon rains, causing floods that claimed about 75 lives and impacted millions. The eastern and northern regions bore the brunt of the damage, with the most severe crop losses in the country.
Bangladesh is the third-largest rice producer in the world, typically producing around 40 million tons of rice annually. However, natural disasters often disrupt production and increase the need for imports.
References:
1 Floods destroy 1.1 million tons of rice in Bangladesh – Reuters– October 20, 2024
2 Floods destroy 1.1 million tonnes of rice in Bangladesh – The Strait Times– October 20, 2024
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“How long shall My beloved wander in desolate places?! How long shall they strip the fruitful field bare and pollute the springs of living water?! The innocent are destroyed, and the earth is forsaken! The cities of men are a harbor for every foul and detestable bird, a nest for every kind of evil; behold, great wickedness dwells there!
Therefore the earth shall rise up against the sons of men, and nature shall break forth in its fury and fight against them, until all in the earth grow weary and the heart of this people is torn!–A rent which is deep, a rent made wide.
Behold, the earth shall shake and rumble from beneath, the cities shall break apart and the towers shall be toppled, and the glory of man shall be utterly devastated! The blood of the innocent shall cry out from the ground, every atrocity of man shall be remembered, when The Lord God strikes the earth with plague and famine and the waters turn to blood!
For the generation of My wrath shall be shaken, the generation of My fury shall be broken without hand! Behold, the storm is already overhead, the whirlwind breaks forth from the midst of the clouds! SEEK SHELTER! For I have set My face against you, O sons of men, and with a strong hand and an outstretched arm I shall surely punish the inhabitants of the earth!… Says The Lord.”
(From The Volumes of Truth, Volume Seven, an excerpt from “I Am Calling You Out! Part One”)