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Farmers worried as rainwater floods Boro fields in harvesting period
PHOTO: STAR
Star Country Desk
The torrential rain during the last couple of days submerged paddies in low lying areas of different districts including Tangail, Pabna and Sirajganj.
Flooding due to overflowing of rain-fed rivers hampers harvesting of Boro paddy in different places in Tangail, reports our correspondent.
Shortage of labourers adds to the problem while many of the farmers who have already harvested the crop cannot dry it due wet weather.
Boro was cultivated on 1,69,529 hectares of land in 12 upazilas of Tangail this year with a target to produce 6,58,857 tonnes of rice, said officials of the Department of Agriculture Extension.
The district saw a bumper yield of the crop and around 65 percent of it was harvested till Saturday, they said.
But the paddies in large area were submerged due to heavy rain as well as overflow of the waterbodies in several upazilas including Basail, Mirzapur and Sadar.
Moreover, til (oil seed) on 2050 hectares, jute on 1600 hectares and Aush paddy on 40 hectares of land went under water in Bhuapur upazila.
Ripe and half ripe Boro paddy on about 75 hectares of land submerged at Tholpara, Boinnatoly, Govindapur and Sutanory villages in Fotepur union of Mirzapur upazila due to rise water in the Banshai river and its branches, locals said.
Many of the farmers along with their family members are harvesting the crop from the water and taking these by boats.
​“I along with my family members have started cutting the submerged paddy plants of my field. However, it will not be possible to reap all the crop of the field,” said Israil Hossain of Tholpara village.
Besides, ripe and half ripe Boro paddy of vast lands at Budhirpara, Mondirpara and Paharpur villages in Mirzapur and different villages including Kanchanpur, Basulia, Poulee, Moteshwar, Singardak and Jutuki in Basail upazila submerged due to heavy rain, local sources said.
Shariful Islam, a sub-assistant agriculture officer of the DAE in Tangail, said they have started getting information from the upazila offices about the submerged Boro paddies.
Our Pabna Correspondent reports: The huge waterlogging due to weeklong rain after the onslaught of super cyclone Amphan hampers harvesting in the peak period.
“I have bumper yield of paddy on 20 bigha land in Khalishagari beel, a part of the vast Chalanbeel in Dhulauri-Beluri Mouja, but I won’t be able to reap all the crop as the field submerged a week before start of the harvest,” said Abu Sayeed, a farmer of Dhulauri village in Pabna’s Chatmohar upazila.
“I have managed more workers from different areas for additional charge to harvest paddy in the waterlogged field within a couple of days,” said Taijul Islam, another farmer of the area.
Most of the farmers of Chalanbeel area in Chatmohar upazila cultivate paddy a bit late after harvesting mustard and so, the reaping of the paddy gets delayed too, said Masum Billah, upazila agriculture officer.
The incessant rain during the last few days led to the rise of water level in the river, which caused huge waterlogging in the vast waterbody.
A similar picture is found in Kukragari Beel, Diksheer Beel, Chiroil Beel, Dholar Beel, Jial Beel and other parts of Chalanbeel region in Pabna.
Most of the growers are harvesting paddy in a hurry in a bid to recover at least the production cost.
Farmers of Vangura upazila of Chalanbeel region made earthen embankment in Char Vangura area on Saturday to save their hundreds of acres of paddy fields.
Md Azhar Ali, deputy director of Pabna DAE, said 51,313 hectares of land was brought under Boro cultivation in the district this season and 61 percent of the crop has already been harvested.
“Sudden flooding due to the days-long raining after the hit by super cyclone Amphan and the increase of water in the Jamuna submerged most of the Chalanbeel areas. Hopefully the water will subside within next few days,” he said.
​Meanwhile, the problem of the farmers of Chalanbeel in Sirajganj is even more as the water level has rapidly increased in the mighty Jamuna and overflooded low-lying areas and the waterbodies in the district.
“I am worried about recovering the production cost of Boro paddy as a large portion of the crop got damaged due to the waterlogging,” said Md Mozammel Haque of Nischintopur village in Sirajganj’s Kazipur upazila.
A total of 1.41 lakh hectares of land was brought under Boro cultivation this year, of them 71 percent was harvested last week, Md Habibul Haque, deputy director of DAE in Sirajganj, told The Daily Star.
The sudden rise of water level will not do much harm as the farmers have continued harvesting in water, he said.