Bangladesh has ordered free electricity for millions of farmers to pump underground water after a severe lack of monsoon rains threatened its main rice crop, an official said Saturday.
Downpours normally lash Bangladesh from June to September and the impoverished South Asian country gets more than 75 percent of its annual rainfall during this period.
But the country's weather department said rainfall during June was 37 percent below average while the first 22 days of July saw 24 percent lower precipitation than average for the period.
Agriculture secretary Mustaq Ahmed told AFP the government had started distributing free power to farmers in the country's worst-hit northern food belt, where conditions are drought-like.
"We haven't seen such an abnormal weather situation for decades. Farmers have been waiting for week for rains. They can't irrigate their dried-up land and plant rice crops, which is important for the economy," Ahmed said.
"We're providing free electricity to farmers so they can pump out water from underground and sow paddy as soon as possible. Others who don't have access to power will get cheap diesel to run their pumps," he said.
The summer rice crop is crucial for impoverished Bangladesh as it accounts for 40 percent of the country's total foodgrain output.
Experts said a severe crop shortage would be disastrous for the country's poor farmers. More than 70 percent of Bangladesh's 144 million people live in rural areas and depend overwhelmingly on rice farming.
Ruhul Amin, the head of the country's Food Planning and Monitoring Unit, said earlier in the week that if no rain came by early August, the country would face a severe drought, leading to massive summer crop shortfall.
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