New phenomenon: Floodlighting casts shadow over crops

Agartala: The floodlighting along the Indo-Bangla border has cast a shadow over the ‘normal’ production of paddy in the state’s border subdivision.
The floodlights which are installed along the international border to ensure full-proof security, it has reduced the production of agricultural outputs at Kamalpur subdivision.
Alarmed at the new phenomenon, a group of farmers have already raised voice against the installation of floodlights along the zero line of border and demanded to change the direction of the floodlighting  to an official of Agriculture officer- Biswajit Goswami.
In the memorandum, the farmers said if their demand is not met, they will choose the path of agitation.
According to agricultural experts, the farms are in no shape to yield more production due to the high-voltage of floodlighting .
They complained that the floodlight which falls in the farmland is proven harmful for the agricultural production.  It means the farmland where the floodlighting was erected, production has been dwindled significantly while, plots were kept out of the ‘facility’ have recorded bumper crops this year.
“Farmland is the main source of our income. But, the floodlighting which has been installed in the border line to check cross-border movements of insurgents or smugglers has been affecting the production of agricultural crops. We are not against the government’s decision. What we want is the direction of the floodlight should be changed,” said Anu Miah, a farmer of Manik Bhandar area.
While detailing their plight, the farmers said that the bud of the agricultural crops did not come out due to the excessive sunlight in the daytime and artificial floodlight during the night.
“Photosynthesis requires both light and darkness. Due to lack of darkness, the crops are not matured,” said Anil Sarkar, another farmer.