DHAKA, Dec 15: The World Bank may provide more funds to Bangladesh, in addition to about $350 million already pledged, to help its badly damaged farm sector recover from the effects of a deadly cyclone, a senior official said on Saturday.

Bangladesh is seeking $2.21 billion in assistance from donors to help recover from damage by the November 15 cyclone that killed more than 3,200 people and made millions homeless.

The World Bank is prepared to help Bangladesh rehabilitate the agricultural sector in the affected coastal areas, said Praful C. Patel, vice president for the South Asia region.

“The World Bank has assured us it will come forward in implementing rehabilitation programmes for the cyclone affected farmers including crop production, imports of food grains and house building,” said Abdulla-Al-Shahin, spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture.

“Rice production might suffer a shortfall of up to 1.4 million tons for repeated natural calamities,” he told Reuters.