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Farmers in Narsingdi fear that potato cultivation could be seriously hampered in the district this year because of scarcity of seed.
   Potato farming in the district will face a serious setback unless the government takes initiative to supply seed to the farmers, local sources said.
   The amount of seed the farmers kept preserved in cold storages can meet only one-fourth of the demand, according to sources at the Department of Agricultural Extension.
   The total demand for potato seed is 1.50 lakh maunds in district while there are only some 40,000 maunds in the cold storages, the DAE sources said.
   Some farmers while talking to New Age expressed concern over the seed crisis as potato cultivation will begin in November.
   If potato seed is not supplied through government initiative, cultivation of the seasonal vegetable in the district will be seriously affected, they added.
   Some 6,000 hectares of land are expected to be brought under potato cultivation in the district this year against the last year’s 3,450 hectares, the DAE sources said.
   The farmers of the district are showing interest to cultivate potato in a larger way as they find cultivation of the vegetable profitable, the sources added.
   Some 3,450 hectares of land were brought under potato cultivation last year but the production was not satisfactory due to unfavorable weather, local sources said
   The farmers produced 40-50 maunds of potato by cultivating one bigha of land last year against the previous year’s 80-90 manuds.
   Poor production pushed up the prices of potato in the peak time of the last season.
   Farmers sold a 85 kg bag of at Tk 2,300-2,350 in the district while the retailers sold potato at Tk 28 30 per kg.
   In view of the price hike, farmers have planned to bring more land under potato cultivation.
   Jabbar Ali, a farmer of village Puranchar under district sadar upazila, told New Age that he had collected seed from Munsiganj and kept it in a cold storage in the district.
   In 2007, the country witnessed bumper potato production. Around 1 crore tonnes of potato was produced in the year but 10 lakh tonnes have been rotten because of shortage of cold storages across the country, sources concerned said.

Speakers at a discussion underscored the need for amendment to the Disabled Welfare Act to ensure rights of the persons with disabilities.
   Some clauses of the act should be revised for the wellbeing of the people with disabilities, they told the discussion held at the auditorium of Shilpakala Academy, Noakhali on Tuesday.
   Lawmaker Ekramul Karim Chowdhury addressed as chief guest the programme chaired by deputy commissioner Mizanur Rahman.
   The district police superintendent, Harunur Rashid Hazari, deputy director of Social Welfare Department, Mohammed Harun, Noakhali municipality mayor, Principal Belal Uddin Kiron and sadar upazila chairman Harunur Rashid Azad, among others, tooke part in the discussion.
   The speakers said the persons with disabilities make up 10 per cent of the country’s total populationa but a large number of them was deprived of their rights.
   They said the persons with disabilities would become a burden in the society if they are not mainstreamed in the society by providing them with facilities including jobs.
   The speakers also made some recommendations, including allocation for the
   disabled in the education sector under the education ministry instead of the social welfare ministry, education for them up to higher secondary level free of cost and introduction of Braille system in all the educational institutions, setting up ortho-pedic hospitals in each divisional city, provi-ding them with medicines free of cost and providing monthly allowances and loans.

Five persons sustained injuries in a bomb explosion at Jhitkapota of Maheshpur in Jhenaidah on Tuesday.
   The injured are Rustom Ali, Tozammel Haq, Amina Begum, Saiful Islam and Suza Uddin.
   The police and local people said Tozammel’s son Akidul found a bomb in a nearby pond and it went off when he took it home, leaving five persons injured.
   The injured were admitted to a local clinic.

The police recovered the body of a youth slitting by throat at village Laxmipur  under Debidwar upazila in Comilla Tuesday morning.
   The deceased was identified as Nasrul Hasan Shapon, 28, son of Jalil Sarkar of Laxmipur Moddampara of the upazila.
   The police recovered the body and sent it to the Comilla Medical College Hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination.
   The police quoting family members said Nasrul went out of his house Monday night and had not returned home.
   He might have been killed over previous enmity, the police suspected.

At least 20 activists were injured in clashes between two rival groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League, associate student wing of ruling Awami League on the Pirojpur Government College and General Hospital campus on Tuesday.
   Local people said two BCL groups, led by Mezbahuddin Shabu, BCL president and Faisal Mahbub Shuva, BCL leader and students' union general secretary of Pirojpur Government Sohrawardy College, clashed over dominance on the campus at about 11:00am.
   The clashes spread to Pirojpur General Hospital campus, where those who were injured in college violence went for treatment.
   At least 20 BCL activists from both the factions were injured in these clashes.
   Ten, including Mezbahuddin Shabu, Faisal Mahbub Shuva, and Mashiur Rahman Shuva, sports secretary of college students ' union and brother of Shabu, Mohsin, Russel Kazi, Jummon, Asaduzzan, Arif, Regan and Sadhan Barua were admitted to the hospital.